Applications for the second Open Call of the PARSEC Accelerator ended on the 20th of June 2020. We are excited to announce that we have received a total of 60 submissions from consortia representing 34 eligible countries. All applicants will be invited to the PARSEC Demo Days to defend their Earth Observation-based solutions for food, energy or environment in front of an independent jury of experts. During this 2-day pitching event taking place online on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2020, the jury will select 15 winning consortia (#15PARSEC) which will access €1.5 Million in equity-free funding (€100.000 per consortia) and the second stage support services.
Who are the companies competing to become one of the #15PARSEC?
All 60 consortia are led by one of the #100PARSEC, one of the innovative SMEs and start-ups that since March 2020 have been benefiting from learning, networking, matchmaking and coaching provided by the first stage of the accelerator. Almost two thirds of consortia are comprised of two members, while the rest consist of three SMEs. Regardless of their size, all 60 consortia are either cross-sectoral or cross-border in their setup, or both, which was also one of the mandatory requirements of the call. This means that the solutions that will be showcased on the Demo Days come from companies who are based in different countries and/or represent different sectors.
In total, the PARSEC Open Call 2 attracted 142 SMEs and start-ups. About 80% of the companies come from one of twenty five EU countries represented in this call while 20% members of consortia are established in nine countries outside the EU, all of which are among the Horizon 2020 associated countries. This geographical spread is very similar to that of the first open call. Once again, Spain and Germany have brought in the highest number of competing SMEs and start-ups. We are also delighted to note that our applicants come from a wide variety of sectors. A significant part (30%) of SMEs come from the Earth Observation (EO) sector, bringing strong EO expertise to the solutions competing for the second stage. From the PARSEC focus sectors it is the environment sector which is the most represented (28%), followed by food (17%) and energy (12%). As expected, the call has also attracted a significant portion (13%) of companies mainly active beyond the aforementioned sectors which have successfully partnered up with other SMEs to develop solutions for our emerging industries.
What comes next?
After the successful closure of this last PARSEC call, we look forward to the Demo Days taking place online on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2020. Representatives of the 60 consortia will be invited to pitch their businesses which will be evaluated by a jury of experts consisting of industrial CEOs, investors and business leaders. The jury will choose 15 winners with the highest market potential by scoring the candidates according to a set of evaluation criteria. Winning consortia will access 100.000€ in equity-free funding each and will be able to work together with the PARSEC experts for one year to successfully launch their new products into the global market. During the second stage of the accelerator, the #15PARSEC will benefit from training in export promotion, coaching in attracting further capital, accessing the PARSEC investment readiness program and the tailor made solutions provided by the Business Catalysts.
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The PARSEC Accelerator timeline
PARSEC is a two-stage acceleration programme and will run until October 2021. If you get selected, you will benefit in the long-term from the supporting services that the programme offers.
