Funding of up to 30,000 EUR for 25 blockchain or DLT startups by the European Union
Are you a start-up or SME with innovative blockchain or DLT solutions based in the EU? The best 25 startups will be awarded with financial support (up to 30,000 EUR), mentoring and further education by the EU-funded project Blockpool. Requirements: e.g., applicants must reside in the EU and must have <250 employees. — Authors: Robert Richter, Philipp Sandner
The Blockpool project
Blockpool.eu is a project co-funded by the European Commission aiming to accelerate the uptake of blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) across Europe. The best 25 innovation ideas will be selected and supported on their journey to market. Are you looking for financial support, mentoring or further education? Or maybe you are in desperate need of developers to implement your ideas? While funded by the EU, the Blockpool project is jointly run by a consortium of organizations from Europe. The consortium is led by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center.
Startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the following industries are invited to submit their applications by February 26, 2020:
- Financial services and insurance services
- Industrial products, agriculture, manufacturing
- Energy, utilities, raw materials
- Healthcare
- Transport, logistics
- Government, smart cities
- Retail, consumer, media
- Social good
Benefits for applicants
Successful applicants will not only receive financial support but will be provided with mentoring support, educational training and be supported by existing DLT networks. Selected projects will receive funding of up to 30.000 EUR. Additionally, participants get to attend boot camps in Valencia, Frankfurt and Limassol. Mentors are allocated to each project to support them on their journey from proof of concept to ready to market.
Additionally, companies looking for developers are given a unique opportunity to be matched with developers from our existing network.
Who can apply?
If you are a European SME or startup active in or have customers in one of the sectors mentioned and are working on a DLT-based solution or application you want to bring to the market, you should apply to our open call! Your company must be registered in a member state of the European Union or in an associated country of the H2020 program.
Furthermore, the EU definition of an SME must be met, which is outlined in Figure 1. For applicants, they need to be in the micro, small or medium-sized category.
This indicates that you should <250 employees and revenues should not exceed 50 million EUR. The comprehensive definition of a European SME can be accessed here and here.
Application process
All applications must be submitted via the Blockpool website. In order to apply each company must provide:
- Basic company information
- Business case
- Project description
- CVs of team members
It is possible to apply jointly with another company. Especially cross-border projects are encouraged! If you are interested, read our guide for applicants carefully and submit your application by February 26, 2020.
Timeline
Applications need to be submitted by February 26, 2020. Applicants will receive an official response to their submission by the end of March. In case the application is successful, the applicant will be required to enter a subgrant agreement, in order to receive the funding.
The selected 25 SMEs will be supported over a 11 months horizon. Projects will be supported by mentors and educational training from the very beginning through until the end. The three boot camps are taking place between May and November 2020.
Associated countries of the H2020 program
Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, and Armenia.
Alternative funding opportunities
The European Commission funds several Blockchain and DLT initiatives. If you are looking to increase your chances of EU funding, you should also have a look at the Blockchers project. Similar to Blockpool, the Blockchers project is looking for blockchain and DLT initiatives from SMEs and provides funding for successful applicants. All the details can be found on their website. Blockchers also supports startups with financial support and also other benefits.
Remarks
More information about the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center on the Internet, on Twitter or on Facebook.
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About the Authors
Robert Richter is a research fellow at the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (FSBC). His fields of interests are crypto economics and decision making on DLT. You can contact him via mail (Robert.Richter@fs-blockchain.de) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-richter-cfa-6b36945a/).
Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner has founded the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (FSBC). From 2018 to 2021, he was ranked among the “top 30” economists by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), a major newspaper in Germany. He has been a member of the FinTech Council and the Digital Finance Forum of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany. He is also on the Board of Directors of FiveT Fintech Fund, 21e6 Capital and Blockchain Founders Group — companies active in venture capital financing for blockchain startups and crypto asset investment management. The expertise of Prof. Sandner includes crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, decentralized finance (DeFi), the digital euro, tokenization of assets, and digital identity. You can contact him via mail (m@philippsandner.de) via LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter (@philippsandner).
