SME Instrument helps European photonics firms
More than 70 small and medium sized businesses specialising in photonics are benefitting from funding from Horizon 2020 thanks to the EU research and innovation framework programme’s SME Instrument.
The latest results from the European Commission show that an increasing number of SMEs using the technology benefitted from phase two of the scheme, which focuses on ‘Demonstration, market replication, R&D’. According to optics.org, 74 photonics projects are receiving financing from phase two, thus receiving total funding worth €117.6m. The highest number of projects from a single country was the UK, where 15 ventures are receiving money.
Outside the UK, other projects to benefit include the development of the world’s fastest low-noise infrared camera as part of the C-Red ONE project by company First Light Imaging in France, and free-space optical communications as part of the Streethopper project at the Norwegian company Polewall.
Also receiving financing is the PhotoniX project of VIS GmbH, Germany, which centres on creating optical transmitter components that can be used in supercomputers, data centres and homes.
Phase two projects take place over 12-24 months and can receive between €0.5m and €2.5m in funding from the European Commission, in addition to business coaching; health projects can receive up to €5m. The money is used to assist with the further development of the business proposal through innovation activities following phase one, in addition to writing a more advanced plan.
