InoSens participates in kick-off meeting of new EU project for boosting blockchain technology adoption in finance, logistics and agrifood sectors
The European Union has just granted funding for the Blockchain Innovation Spaces (Block.IS) project, a new acceleration programme that aims to boost the adoption of blockchain technology by SMEs in the finance, logistics and agrifood sectors. The project’s kick-off meeting was hosted last week by its coordinator F6S Network Limited, gathering the entire Block.IS consortium consisting of tech founders, sector-oriented clusters and sectoral associations, international innovation and tech-transfer specialists, as well as Blockchain technology experts.
Block.IS aims to build an open and collaborative cross-border, cross-sectoral innovation ecosystem that will connect over 75 clusters from the financial, logistics and agrifood sectors with ICT players, to generate new value chains and develop innovative solutions embracing blockchain technology, in order to overcome the problems and challenges that the sectors are facing today.
The project’s goal is to provide a strong technical and business framework that will support and enable innovators to develop large-scale and competitive market-driven applications, and to ensure post-project sustainability and growth of the Block.IS ecosystem.
In order to help innovative SMEs and start-ups to build high-tech, venture-backable enterprises, the Block.IS acceleration programme will provide a total of €2.8 Million in funding to the selected candidates.
In addition to funding and business acceleration support, the Block.IS programme will include a series of events, hackathons and business missions to SME clusters across Europe.
Two open calls will be organized which will take place through a 3-phase process: INNOVATE, EXPERIMENT and COMMERCIALIZE.
In the INNOVATE phase, 90 best project ideas will be invited to fine-tune their concepts and present their tech-business pitches at the Block.IS Clusters-Innovators Assembly. The EXPERIMENT phase will select 45 best projects from the previous phase and offer them €50.000 each to develop their proposed projects in close collaboration with relevant cluster networks, sector specialists and technology experts. Finally, the COMMERCIALIZE phase will select 20 projects with the greatest business potential and support them in developing activities associated with the promotion and exploitation of their projects, in order to engage new customers, partners and investors.
We invite all digital SMEs and start-ups with ideas for blockchain-based business solutions to apply to the Block.IS Acceleration programme.
Stay tuned for more information coming soon!