About this good practice
Innofest not only wants to help entrepreneurs and contribute to a better world. That is why impact start-ups are needed. There are only a limited number of places available every year, start-ups can go there with a call. A prototype must be innovative, testing at a festival should have added value and the innovation is expected to have a business case and contribute to a better world (now or in the near future) . A major bottleneck for innovations is that too much money is invested in testing of prototypes in labs. Goal is to go faster through the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). It is a cost-effectiveness of the start-up support mechanism by helping them with an integral public service that is organized at existing. No loan or funds are given to the start-ups. Only advices of the inhabitant of the temporary village: the final consumers! Innofest specializes in making validation as practical as possible. Every entrepreneur is supported by an innovation scout who helps compile the right conditions to devise an innovation pilot at one our festivals. This also involves the support of the festival producer who ensures a seamless fit between test and festival. In addition, the Innofest team has a gigantic network which we are more than happy to share with our entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who test with Innofest can also count on increased brand awareness thanks to all the media attention it generates. National/regional/trade media cover Innofest and participating innovations.
Expert opinion
Innofest is a program of innovation promotion started in Netherland in 2016 with the aim to help start-ups to get ready for the market through an innovative model for product validation in real world-environment. The idea is to use festivals as living labs where prototypes can be tested by the wider civil society and future customers favouring an innovation testbed where consumers help entrepreneurs to push the product further up on the Technological Readiness Levels (TRL). The Innofest team supports entrepreneurs in the organisation of test-spots within temporary villages, ensuring a seamless fit between test and festival. Before COVID-19, more than 180 entrepreneurs joined the initiative and several products are ready to be commercialised, such as the ‘fully circular toilet unit’, the ‘sustainable hot-shower’ or the ‘megabattery-powered main stage’. Thanks to the media attention attracted by the events, the start-ups joining the initiative can benefit from increased brand awareness.
Potential for policy learning or transfer:
-Innovation festivals offer the opportunity for local start-ups to showcase and test their products and services to participants and thus offer a interactive testbed with potential customers.
-The project can inspire many other initiatives within the Island of Innovation project and other similar projects that have been developed in the North Sea (Interreg NSR), such as the Inno Quarter.
Resources needed
The budget for the period of 2016-2026 is 2,1 million funded by OP EFRO and regional stakeholders.
The crew is described on their website: https://innofest.co/en/about-us/
Innofest is funded by OP EFRO till September 2020. After this own resources are needed.
Evidence of success
* Innofest has helped well over 150 entrepreneurs further develop their innovations.
Some exemples:
* A fully circular toilet unit (it only took one year to get its circular toilet unit ready for market)
* Megabattery-powered main stage (megabattery up to the temp.power grid to test the battery could absorb peak loads)
* Integrating newcomers into organization (festivals make a good place to facilitate the integration of newcomers to society)
https://innofest.co/en/discover-the-cases/
Potential for learning or transfer
Innofest was mentioned by several partners in the Islands of Innovation project in their approved action plans.
Innofest motivated countries around the North Sea (Interreg NSR) to develop a by Innofest Inspired project called Inno-Quarter.
Talking about Innofest it inspired in the Islands of Innovation project a lot of partners.
The Innofest can be transfered in all regions all over the world, because festivals and start-ups are everywhere.
The help with speeding up the innovations through TRL's is easy to apply on several festivals.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
