South3E colleagues from HiSeedTech, AUSTRALO and International Development Ireland (IDI) recently gathered in Turkey for what could potentially be the project’s most successful roadshow to date. The consortium travelled to Ankara and Istanbul with one goal in mind: to make new connections while promoting our mission and the second Open Call for the S3E Program – which will be closing very soon!
The roadshow started off in Ankara on 20th November, where Pedro Vilarinho and Odysseas Spyroglou met with ODTÜ Teknoloji Transfer Ofisi and TOBB ETÜ Teknoloji Transfer Ofisi to introduce S3E’s support for TTOs and promote the Open Call #2 opportunities. The rest of the South3E representatives arrived the following day, on the 21st, to attend the Consortium Meeting at the Limak Ambassadore Hotel; the EPLO team, led by Christina Deligianni, joined virtually.
The highlight of the trip was, undoubtedly, having the opportunity to formally introduce the S3E Program in Istanbul in front of a lively community of Turkish researchers, startups and TTOs, and promote the opportunities entailed by the Open Call #2. Elifnaz Unay, International Projects Specialist at YTÜ Yıldız Teknopark, played a pivotal role in helping the South3E consortium organising a successful event at Yildiz Technical University on 22nd November, with more than 60 in person participants.
“It was a privilege to facilitate an environment where ground-breaking initiatives like the S3E Program could be introduced to our vibrant Innovation Ecosystem. I’d like to express a heartfelt thank you to the S3E team for sharing your mission with us. Witnessing the dedication of everyone involved was truly inspiring,” said Elifnaz.
Pedro Vilarinho opened the session with an inspiring speech, highlighting the key role that researchers and entrepreneurs play towards advancing Deep Tech innovation in Southern Europe and neighbour countries. Our Project Coordinator, Claudia Barbosa, took the stage to introduce South3E as the EU-funded initiative helping to reduce the market risk for Deep Tech in Southern European countries, while fostering sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship.
Cristina Simoes, from HiSeedTech, introduced the S3E Start Program, highlighting how it’s been designed to help researchers and technology transfer offices explore the commercial viability of their deep tech projects. She was followed by Claudia, who presented the S3E Charge Accelerator, the mentoring and networking program for growth startups looking to access funding opportunities and to expand their business operations into new markets. Odysseas closed the session with S3E Reverse, our brokerage program for large corporations and scaleups to tackle Deep Tech challenges together through disruptive innovation.
The event concluded with a vivid Q&A and networking session where we met and connected with the participants and discussed about their potential involvement in the S3E Program opportunities. We received many interest and we look forward to welcoming many Turkish researchers, TTOs, and startups into the S3E Open Call #2!
The Roadshow continued the following day, 23rd November with a meeting with İTÜ ARI Teknokent. Our colleagues Pedro, Cristina, and Claudia found so many synergies with the role that İTÜ ARI is developing providing the proper environment and opportunities to enable technology companies and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize technologies, contributing to technological development in Turkey and the success of generating entrepreneurial ideas, and using ITU’s academic power to accomplish innovations rather than follow.
Let’s continue fostering a culture of collaboration and growth, and keep fuelling innovation together 🚀✨