Companies that have successfully passed the Outline Proposal stage may submit Full Proposals for Round 5 from 20 June to 26 August 2005.
To date, ESA Telecom has launched four rounds of the Start-up Projects Initiative to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) enter the satcom sector. Previous results have encouraged ESA Telecom to expand and refine the scheme to build on the initial successes.
The field of satellite communications can be a tough one for smaller and new businesses to enter. The technical and commercial risks, as well as the perceived complexity of the field, can act as strong deterrents to entrepreneurs and potential financiers alike.
Satcom provides many exciting possibilities for new technology, applications and services in such areas as mobile communications, Internet, multimedia, broadcasting and location based communication applications. And it is not only the large enterprises that can exploit these opportunities successfully.
Over 50 projects
So far, over fifty projects have resulted from the initiative, including the highly successful Wired Ocean (round 2). Victor Barendse, Managing Director for the UK based company says: "As a small company the ESA Telecom contract was extremely important for Wired Ocean. It gave us the confidence to address a market opportunity that required substantial research and development and enabled us to transition from a consulting company to a communications services provider."
Not just the confidence to proceed but financial support is also a key reason to join the Start-up Projects Initiative as Harald Hackenberg from the Austrian company F5 and project leader for EDIBS (round 3) says: "ESA granted support in a very early and risky phase of our project. Without this support it wouldn't have been possible for us to ensure the financial basis for starting the development."
Financial support
The scheme provides for the award of development contracts up to 300,000 Euro for propositions that include the satcom component as an essential element. Two possible funding levels depending on the commercial maturity of the proposition will be applied:
b) Financial support up to 50% (max 150,000 Euro) for integration and demonstration activities based on existing technologies tailored to pre-operational products, systems and applications, with identified market opportunities.
ESA Telecom
Argyrios Pantelis, Commercial Development Director for Innovis the Greek company behind the innovative BizSmartSAT (round 3) project says: "ESA's Start Up Projects initiative gave us the financial and technological opportunity to develop a product that can address a number of new and lucrative vertical markets and our status as a contractor of ESA gave us a substantial marketing advantage that will open commercial doors for a long time to come."
Who can join?
Any small or medium-sized business from a country participating in ESA Telecom's Startup Projects Initiative is eligible to apply. Participating countries are Austria, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Particular attention will be paid to proposals from companies that have never had a contract with ESA Telecom before.
The aim of the Start-up Initiative is to ensure that at the end of the project, companies are in a position to progress the commercial exploitation of their proposal. In addition to the financial support, ESA will also use its expertise and contacts to bring together complementary ideas and ventures in the satcom field.
From 29 March 2005 to 9 May 2005 at 13.00, Outline Proposals for the Fifth Round of the ESA Telecom Start-up Projects Initiative will be accepted.
From 20 June 2005 to 26 August 2005, Full Proposals for the Fifth Round will be accepted from companies that have successfully passed the Outline Proposal stage.
News and updated information on this Start-up Projects Initiative will appear on this website from 29 March onwards.
