EUREKA is an intergovernmental network launched in 1985, to support market-oriented industrial R&D&I projects. It mission is to stimulate growth and jobs creation by supporting the internationalization of businesses with innovative ideas. This mission is achieved through a network of more than 40 members and associated countries, facilitating the international coordination of national innovation programmes. EUREKA offers support to companies, research centers and universities, enabling them to develop innovative products and services. 

EUREKA remains to this day the only initiative of its kind committed to the ‘bottom-up’ principle - ensuring that any R&D&I project with a good business plan receives the support it deserves, independent of its technological nature, or the type of organisations involved.

Over 38 billion € of public-private investment has been mobilized to support more than 6.100 projects. EUREKA has 4 instruments to bring innovation to the market: 

1. EUREKA Network projects, involving at least two participants from the network; 
2. Eurostars, first European joint programme specifically dedicated to research-performing SMEs; 
3. Clusters, long-term strategically significant projects involving large companies that develop generic technologies; 
4. Umbrellas, thematic networks which focus on assistance to project generation in a specific technology area.

Recognizing that the investment and business readiness of innovative projects, start-ups and SMEs seeking capital needs to be improved in order to foster more investments, the EUREKA network promoted the launch of a new programme to address this challenge: EUREKA InnoVest Programme (E!nnoVest).
    
EUREKA initiated E!nnoVest  as a new EUREKA instrument in order to leverage one of EUREKA’s main assets – its incredibly rich reservoir of innovative companies. The programme is one of EUREKA’s priorities this year under the Spanish EUREKA Chairmanship, and serves as part of EUREKA’s efforts to develop new sources for funding innovation in Europe.

Contact Person, Ana Tomasek: ana.tomasek@eurekanetwork.org  
 

For additional information regarding EUREKA please visit the website: http://www.eurekanetwork.org/