PUTTING KEYWORDS TOGETHER IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM Country Report

PUTTING KEYWORDS TOGETHER IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM Country Report LATVIA Kaunas, LITHUANIA May 28 -29, 2015

EU FUNDING Mo. E LV Entrepreneurship and Energy Efficiency 2014 - 2020 764. 15 m€ INNOVATION 193. 5 m 7 49. 5 SME COMPETITIVENESS 31 Business Incubators 61. 4 102, 3 4. 8 29. 9 Centers of Competence Innovation Motivation Training 333. 55 m 237. 1 m Innovation vouchers Technology Transfer ENERGY EFFICIENCY 6. 2 20 45 Access to Finance (loans, guaranties) Clusters 21, 7 Industrial zones Living houses – 150 m Public buildings – 97. 8 m Technology Acceleration Industrial buildings– 32, 5 m 31, 8 Advanced heating systems – 53, 2 m Foreign markets Venture Capital

INNOVATION SUPPORT PROGRAMMES TRL 2 TRL 7 TRL 6 TRL 5 TRL 4 TRL 8 Products Feasibility Technology Tehnology studies validation in validation demonstra- Prototyping ready for market tion laboratories in operation Implementation Applied research TRL 3 TRL 1 Centers of Competence and Innovation Vouchers Technology Transfer Platform Financial instruments to support implementation of new products and technologies Mo. E LV

REGIONAL BUSINESS INCUBATORS 2015 -2020 Objective – support establishment of new viable and competitive companies and creation of new jobs - EU funding - 25 mil. € o Maximum for each planning region 5 mil. € o Duration - 5 years o Public procurement o Tender for each region o One incubator in the region (regional branches are permitted) Mo. E LV

Mo. E LV

INDICATIVE FINANCING SCHEME q q Operation management - 1, 7 mil. € : q Direct and indirect administrative costs not related to incubation services - 0, 5 mil. € q Incubation services provided by the operator 1, 2 mil. € Pre-incubation - up to 1 mil. € Incubation services provided by external experts 2 mil. € Incentive bonus for the operator – up to 0, 3 mil. € q 10 k€ for each new successful company over requested 20 q Salary tax paid by incubatees in the certain taxation period exceeds the amount of the received support Mo. E LV

GREEN INDUSTRY SUPPORT PROGRAMME Norwegian Fund (Innovation Norway) Total – 12. 6 m EUR (11, 3 m € - NO; 1. 3 m € - LV) Duration – Sept. 1, 2014 - March 31 , 2016 3 programmes: - Green Industry Innovation Center (Incubator) – 2. 0 m € - Small Grant Scheme (10 – 140 k €) - 1. 8 m € - Open call for implementation of GTs – 7. 7 m € 2 activities: - Bilateral cooperation – 0. 3 m € - Programme management – 0. 8 m €

Green Industry Innovation Center (Incubator) Selected operators – RTU, LU (LV) and SIVA (NO) Supported activities - Research - Prototyping - Testing Goal – 15 new companies Actions: - Consultations - Market research - Development of business models - Small Grant scheme management - Pre-incubation activities (at least 70 potential business ideas) - Management of ~ 1800 m 2 space

Bootstrapping The term comes from the German legend of Baron Münchhausen pulling himself out of the sea by pulling on his own bootstraps. Definition: “The act of starting a business with little or no external funding” R. Bendis, USA, Baltic Dynamics 2013, Riga, LATVIA

Michael Eisner “There’s No Good Idea that Can’t Be Improved U”