At the end of March Kaunas Science and Technology Park team, representatives from Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania and VC fund partners have visited AD Normandie in order to take part in the staff exchange, to share experiences between partners with a focus on the accelerator FFWD Normandie.
FFWD Normandie is one of the strongest promoters of business development in the region, taking the roles of business accelerator and incubator. The organization aims to share its business model with other institutions that promote young business development within the EU. For this reason, the incubator invites 10 new business companies or teams to apply for the program annually, as the companies compete for 150k Eur early seed investment form the co-investor Crédit Agricole.
The Lithuanian partners discussed the specifics of the actions of the investment funds in details and were interested in how this fund can help Lithuanian companies to settle in Normandy, and how they could replicate such a fund in Lithuania. Additionally, the participants found out more about Normandie Xport initiative. The Normandy region was the first to launch this public policy-driven tool to promote the internationalization of the emerging business market in the region. By setting up the Accelerator, the French have started to offer one-stop export activation services.
Kaunas Science and Technology Park joined the Project ‘Fast Forward Europe (FFWD EUROPE)’, which is a part of the ‘Interreg Europe’ programme. Together with the Project partners from France, Germany, Spain and other countries, Lithuanians will adopt the experience of European investors, entrepreneurs and business development policy advisers. The Project partners provide that the international cooperation will help innovative businesses to increase their visibility at contact fairs, find business partners and try new markets.
The Project ‘Fast Forward Europe (FFWD EUROPE)’, No. PGI02042, is implemented through the European Regional Development Fund and the Interreg Europe Programme 2014-2020. This publication only reflects the view of the author, and the management of the programme ‘Interreg Europe’ cannot be held liable for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.