Multimillion-euro scheme launched to help innovative firms

The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, has today launched a new support initiative for innovative companies in the EU.

The new €200m Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) initiative will help to reduce the time it takes to bring new innovative ideas to market. At a conference in Brussels, Moedas stated: “In the sprint to launch innovative ideas, the winners are those who seize market opportunities first. The new FTI pilot will help highly innovative businesses in Europe reach the finish line faster, attracting more private investors to European research and innovation and fast-tracking our global competitiveness.”

The FTI initiative is funded by Horizon 2020 and is designed to better and faster exploit excellent ideas and help generate jobs and growth for Europe. The first call under the FTI scheme, worth €100m, was launched earlier this week. After the closure of the call in December, an evaluation of the scheme will take place to assess whether it will continue after 2016.