In the European Research and Innovation Week, we talk about the role of the Fund of Funds in building a bridge between science and business. In a conversation on BNR, Konstantina Voynova, Head of Equity at the Fund of Funds, shared a vision of what the local ecosystem needs for successful innovation and technology deployment in the real business sector.
With the creation of financial instruments we aim to facilitate the path of innovation to the market, said Konstantina Voynova in the interview. This involves building an ecosystem that supports the development of innovative entrepreneurship and the first steps have already been taken. The five structured instruments for equity and quasi-equity financing in the past programming period were essential to support start-ups and innovation projects. 361 enterprises have been supported, many of them developing technological innovations such as autonomous drones, food products based on BAS developments, digital twins, etc.
For our instruments from the current programming period, the Technology Transfer Fund and the Innovation in Enterprise Fund, intensive market consultations were conducted to structure them. 41 discussions were held over three weeks with representatives from academia, universities, technology transfer offices, and competence, and excellence centers. From their feedback it is clear that Bulgaria has a high potential, but also a need to create better links between business and scientific organizations, Konstantina Voynova stressed. The environment shows a high demand for exactly this type of financial instruments to create a bridge between marketable scientific developments and companies - thus validate and enforce them through products and services and this will also lead to higher returns for the scientific organisations themselves. With the new instruments, the Fund of Funds will aim to build just such a bridge.
This year's Research and Innovation Week takes place between 18 - 24 March 2024. Several events across Europe mark the initiative, which focuses on the EU's priorities, technological sovereignty and competitiveness.
