By Anthony Clarke, Director, Angel Capital Group and member of ACCESS-ICT.

Out of the vast range of R&D projects supported by the EU, only a small number successfully attract external finance to commercialise their results and capitalise on the original EU investment. This means that many potentially very exciting, new technologies never get to the market place - and never get to the equity community. On behalf of the European Investment community, I am delighted to present a new guide that will enable entrepreneurs and research teams to become investment ready.

A key issue for research projects is how to become investment ready, and how to understand investor requirements. Do your R&D results offer the potential for creating a scalable business? Does your research team have the capacity to run a growth business focused on marketing innovative products and services? Is your IP protected and its ownership clear? Do you have a strategy for approaching the investment community and becoming attractive to investors?

It’s a tough and challenging road for entrepreneurs and research teams to commercialise ICT R&D results, but I feel sure that the European investment community will welcome the opportunity to see more innovative, investment-ready propositions coming from the EU R&D framework programmes. I strongly recommend you use the guide and the online tools to increase your odds of successfully attracting equity investment.
I would like to thank all of the private-sector investors and expert organisations that have kindly offered their experience and expertise to provide key content for this guidebook.

I wish you all success with bringing your innovations to market and accessing relevant investment.

Download the Access to Finance guide.