Total funding available: € 14930.00

TERMS OF REFERENCE

All applicants must read the Terms of Reference, which present in detail the rules for this call.

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be eligible for funding in the “Internationalisation” call for proposals, the applicants must:

1. Be private entities which are considered SMEs, according to the definition of the EU recommendation 2003/361
2. The eligible applicants should have their headquarters in one of the EU countries, EXCEPT France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
3. The applicant must be a single SME. Consortium applications are not eligible.
4. SMEs funded in previous MedBAN calls are NOT eligible
5. The applications must be submitted in English
6. Independently of its position in the value-chain (e.g., producer, technology and equipment and infrastructure provider, end-user, support service provider), applicant SMEs need to be active in at least one of the following sectors:

• Sustainable acquaculture
• Sustainable fisheries
• Sustainable tourism
• Harbours
• Marine renewable energies

SUBMISSION

The application shall be submitted through the F6S platform. The complete application consists of the following elements:

a. Application form (filled online in the F6S platform)

b. Declaration of Honour – (template in Annex 1 of ToR) (upload in F6S platform)

The main steps of the application procedure for the MedBAN financial support:

1. Register on the F6S portal.
2. Consult the call documentation in the MedBAN calls and ensure that you are compliant with eligibility criteria for participating in the open call.
3. Select the application form for the MedBAN calls.
4. Select the service(s) you want to apply to.
5. When choosing each service (consulting or training), you will have to specify which challenge the service chosen tackles (refer to ToR).
6. Among the list of suppliers document, select the most suitable supplier for your needs
7. Prepare and submit the application, including signed offer from service provider (upload it in field of the Application Form). The application must be completed in English. Applications submitted in other languages will not be considered.
8. Shortly after the submission, the applicant will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt. This acknowledgement of receipt does not imply that the proposal has been accepted as eligible for funding. No additions or changes to the application will be considered after submission.

EVALUATION

The award criteria to select the entities which will receive financial support are the following:

1. Viability - the SME’s activity and the results from the service have real potential market and the value proposition has a real competitive advantage.
2. Feasibility – the SME’s has a full team with a CEO and the timing is right to introduce internationalisation in the SME’s business.
3. Scalability – the proposal is as global as possible; it is scalable and with clear possibilities of multiplying the investments.
4. Coherence – the proposal is consistent and clearly tackles the MedBAN challenge(s) it lists in the application.
5. Impact – the proposal sets appropriate, ambitious, objectively verifiable and achievable SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) performance indicators to measure its outcomes and expected impact, with relation to the MedBAN challenges selected; appropriate, effective and innovative dissemination strategy for ensuring sustainability and long-term impact; it presents sustainability of results after the end of the EU funding.

Each criteria is evaluated on a 1-5 scale. The minimum score to be reached in each criterion is 3.

The proposals with the highest score according to the award criteria will be selected until the budget is entirely allocated. Proposals not reaching the minimum score (per award criterion or in total) will not be selected.

In the event of a tie between scores per service, priority will be given as follows (in a descendent order):

1. To the application received from one of the less developed regions (where GDP per inhabitant was less than 75 % of the EU average).
2. If the tie persists, the application selected will be the one that has been submitted earlier, according to the day and time of submission in the application platform.

FUNDED ACTIVITIES

The present call intends to support SMEs in the Blue Economy, by financing the following services:

1) Consulting – this service entails a broad range of services which will underpin the internationalisation of companies, such as (but not limited to):

a.Market analysis - quantitative and qualitative assessment of the target market of SMEs, start-ups (market size and segments, customer buying patterns, competition, economic environment, competitive analysis, regulations, funding opportunities, etc.).

b.Digital Management Export - planning, development, adaption, from a technological, cultural and design point of view, of applications and digital solutions according to the target foreign markets; design, development and offer of digital ecommerce solutions and applications that facilitate internationalisation and export activities in the target countries; design and implementation of digital communication and promotion tools in the target countries (e.g. multimedia catalogues, corporate videos, apps).

c.Cost Analysis - process of reporting separate elements in a cost proposal, such as labour, equipment and materials that make up a product or service, as well as its proposed profit, support in achieving the requirements and their maintenance, to ensure that investors using margin accounts for leveraged investments do not find themselves unable to repair their margin loans, and the logistical needs required by client companies, planning and executing the efficient transportation.

2) Training - training services tailor-made for the internationalisation of companies. These will be adjusted according to the selected entities’ characteristics, objectives, target markets, among other aspects. SMEs will be encouraged to find common training needs and opportunities with other selected SMEs and to have joint training sessions given by the suppliers.

Single Market Programme Euroclusters EU funding Call