They are joint sessions with SMEs and startups, where participants present their proposals through a presentation and expose an idea or a business in a defined place and amount of time.

It consists of collaborative work between the Evaluation and Coordination Team and the SMEs that, supported by an expert, will analyse and select the proposals of the startups that best fit the challenges and specificities proposed. This selection will be the starting point for developing potential business relationships that will lead to the signing of a project contract.

The B2B SME Connection facilitates networking between startups and SMEs, with a matching system that streamlines interaction between interested parties.

The second edition of the initiative will be carried out as a competitive activity, in which the ODCs interested in participating in the dynamics proposed by the programme will submit a “cluster application” to the BIND 4.0 Team that will be the value of a group of SMEs willing to participate in the programme, and consequently, SMEs that accept these rules.

For the participation of each SME in the programme, the ODC will have previously sent an application highlighting a group of SMEs with a common problem that they intend or aspire to solve with the help of a startup. This problem must be shared, and the intention is for it to be subsequently transferred to the market in the form of a joint sectoral challenge.

Applications must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Each ODC will prepare a single application proposing a group of companies to participate.
• These groups of companies must be made up of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 SMEs.
• Each working group can propose up to a maximum of 2 challenges. All SMEs in the working group must participate in the challenges, which means that no subgroups can be made within each ODC.
• The applications (challenges) will have a specific structure, must meet standard requirements for all of them, and will be evaluated on the basis of a set of predefined criteria. For more details on this point, see sections 5 (Application structure) and 6 (Criteria for evaluating applications).
• Those that meet the minimum quality criteria will be selected.

These are the characteristics that participating SMEs must meet:

• SMEs associated with the ODCs that are members of the initiative.
• SMEs external to the ODCs that have been accepted by the corresponding sectoral ODC to be included in its application.
• SMEs linked to the BIND 4.0 verticals and/or to the areas of the Basque Country RIS 3 smart specialisation.
• SMEs with at least one centre of activity in the Basque Country.
• SMEs with less than 250 employees.
• SMEs with interest in and commitment to working with the startups and that have the resources to provide sufficient dedication and involvement in the different activities of the initiative.
• SMEs with sufficient technological maturity, or human resources trained for the process, who assign a person to be responsible for the programme and who commit to the different activities of the initiative

BIND SME Connection is mainly focused on the following startup profiles:

• Startups that develop new innovative technologies applied to the industrial sector and its related services, or that have direct application in the production processes and/or services of the participating SMEs that have already completed their technological development, and that are in a position to finalise the configuration of their service/product. That is, that have a product or service that can be seen, tested, proven, or that is already available on the market.
• Startups no more than 8 years old, proposing the use of new technologies to improve business processes, and that need to accelerate their business development.
• Startups with application in the challenges proposed by the SMEs, and that are a fit with the specialisation sectors and opportunity areas of the Basque Country Specialisation Strategy.

Participating SMEs commit to:

• Accept and comply with the terms and conditions of the initiative.
• Attend and actively participate in the dynamics proposed in the initiative, and comply with the work and tasks defined.
• Provide the required dedication for the development of the project once a collaboration contract between the SME and the startup has been signed.

The latter implies a minimum dedication of 40 hours in order to get involved and benefit from the programme, which implies a proactive participation in the programme and the work to be done internally in the organisation.  The minimum tasks and hours to be performed are as follows:

• Launching + Identification and Characterisation of challenges = 12 hours
• Analysis + Selection of startups = 8 hours
• Matchmaking Sessions (Pitching + B2B Event with startups) = 10 hours
• Other internal reflection work + Communication = 10 hours

Participating startups will commit to:

• Accept and comply with the terms and conditions of the initiative.
• Attend and actively participate in the dynamics proposed in the initiative, and comply with the work and tasks defined.
• Provide the required dedication for the development of the project once a collaboration contract between the SME and the startup has been signed.

It is an initiative created to generate new opportunities for collaboration between SMEs and startups; opportunities based on a model of joint sectoral challenges posed between the participating SMEs.

After the SMEs prioritise their favourite startups, the corresponding startup proposal presentation sessions will be carried out by each ODC to the SMEs.

• During the pitch sessions, the startups will present their solutions applicable to the challenges posed and will serve as a starting point for the SME to request a meeting agenda for the B2B event.
• During the B2B event, the SME will be able to prioritise up to a maximum of 5 startups to meet with in a first working meeting, either commercial or technical, which will be the starting point for the possible future configuration of projects in the following months.

Selection phase: startup evaluation and SME-startup matching

The startup selection process will be carried out in two phases: the evaluation phase and the matching phase.

The startup evaluation phase is in turn structured in two sub-phases:

• The startup candidate pre-selection phase is led by the Coordination and Evaluation Committee, who will offer a short list of startups to the SMEs for evaluation. For this purpose, once the proposals are received, the Coordination and Evaluation Team will analyse the proposals, evaluating their adaptation to the published challenges, the technical capacity to respond to the challenge posed described by the startup, the innovative component of the proposed solution, as well as the capabilities and experience of the team proposed by the startup. The evaluation will be based on a total of 100 points with the following distribution:

• Startup prioritisation phase: after receiving the shortlist from their committee with the appropriate recommendations, the SMEs will choose the startups they consider most appropriate for addressing their challenges. As a result, these are the ones that will finally be invited to attend the pitching sessions.

Project configuration and development phase.

Through the B2B event, the BIND 4.0 Team will enable contact between the SMEs and the selected startups, without generating any obligation or incurring any liability in terms of business relationships that may be established.

The associated SMEs that have found a technological solution with the capacity to respond to the challenges posed, will sign, where appropriate, a direct contract with the startups and will notify the ODCs of the main general aspects of the agreements reached, projects in whose subsequent development SPRI/ODC will have no role or participation whatsoever.

The scope, objectives, duration, and economic conditions under which the joint project will be developed will be defined and agreed freely by both parties, without the participation of SPRI.

The content of the contract will bind only the signing parties, i.e. The SME and the startup, as it is a private agreement that establishes rights and obligations between them.

Therefore, the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by the parties (SME and startup) will be the sole responsibility of the party responsible for such obligation. Specifically, the payment of the price agreed upon by the parties (SME and startup) will be made by the participating SME, SPRI/ODC being expressly exonerated from any responsibility or obligation, both in relation to the payment of the price, as well as any of the obligations agreed upon by the parties (SME and startup).

A plan and model is deployed to identify shared needs/opportunities among the participating SMEs, which can be transmitted in the form of a challenge to the startups, then materialising them through the joint execution of pilot projects aimed at testing technological solutions that can be scaled up later on.

It facilitates their access to the market as well as to funding. This is mainly done by connecting them with SMEs linked to the specialisation sectors and areas of opportunity of the Basque Country Specialisation Strategy, through collaboration with the Cluster Development Organisations (ODC [Organizaciones Dinamizadoras de Clúster]) that represent these sectors, such as: Hegan, Basque Food Cluster, ACICAE, Basque Health Cluster, ERAIKUNE, ACE, MAFEX, AFV, Habic, FMV, Aclima, Clúster del Papel de EuskadiI, SIDEREX, Uptek (AFM), GAIA, and MLC Uniport.

The programme aims to provide a fast track for SMEs to incorporate new technologies and innovative solutions, improve their competitive position and bring them closer to entrepreneurship while fostering the adoption of a collaborative work philosophy, especially through working together with other SME peers within each of the Cluster Development Organisations (ODCs).

Invitation phase: Startup scouting

The Coordination and Evaluation Team will analyse the challenges posed by the SMEs and perform an initial identification of startups among the pool of startups described in point 4 of this document “4. Characteristics of the startup candidates”.

Once the startups likely to fit the challenges posed by each ODC have been identified, the Coordination and Evaluation Committee will invite them to participate in the initiative.

To this end, the challenges identified by the SMEs will be published on the BIND 4.0 initiative website and a form will be available for startup applications.