Partner Profile

Octopux Consulting BVBA

Areas of Expertise

Headquartered in Brussels, Octopux Consulting is a leading consultancy firm specialised in European R&D and innovation funding programmes (FP7, CIP, Horizon 2020, Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the SME Instrument, Eurostars, EUREKA, EU Procurement, etc.) offering the following expertise:

1. Bid writing, proposal development from scratch (or partially);
2. Project management support:
   • Initial training, i.e. how the project manager can keep the European Commission happy throughout the project;
   • Project management techniques specific to the funding programme: provide guidance on project management plan, risk registers and IPR arrangements; monitor and control key performance indicators (KPIs), project deliverables and milestones; and continually assess project benefits and viability;
   • Organisation: provide guidance on the organising of meetings and communications both with partners and European Commission; and
   • Ad hoc support and general help-desking facility throughout the project duration;
3. Administration support during project reporting:
   • Utilising tools and expertise to simplify the administration burden;
   • Managing financial reporting: ensure financial and admin reporting is timely and compliant with the European Commission’s funding rules. This is vital to ensure the project funds are paid out on time and correctly, and to avoid unnecessary grant payment issues;
   • Project portal: manage the project portal relating to financial issues, including uploading financial reporting and deliverable reports; and
   • Communication with the project officer: review any correspondence from the project officer and provide guidance on an appropriate response as and when required; and
4. Professional training courses (on-site in Brussels or on an in-house basis) on proposal writing and project management (administrative and financial reporting) under Horizon 2020, SME Instrument, FP7, Eurostars and EU Procurement.
5. Critical pre-evaluation of grant proposals prior to submission to the European Commission, based on our experience as expert evaluators

Since 2013, Octopux Consulting has helped more than 200 clients (SMEs, universities, large industries, R&D centres, etc.) from the EU and non-EU countries to prepare their grant proposals.

Since Horizon 2020 came into force, Octopux Consulting has obtained a success rate of 60% in approved projects (within the years 2014-2016), in particular in the ultra-competitive SME Instrument – where the global success rate stands at 5%.

Recent Publications

Profile in Horizon2020 Projects Portal – issue 13