Technology voucher program in collaboration with Biogipuzkoa HRI (R&D Unit of Hospital Donostia)
About this good practice
Fomento San Sebastian (FSS) created the Technology Vouchers as an economic supporting tool to materialise technology transfer and transfer of advanced knowledge, from R&D centres to companies in San Sebastian. The objective of the action is to have an immediate impact on the transformation of companies in the city and generate new business opportunities, increasing their competitive capacity.
IIS Biogipuzkoa is the Health Research Institute and carries out its activity with the aim of promoting biomedical, epidemiological, public health and public health services research.
These vouchers launched by FSS in collaboration with Biogipuzkoa are aimed at small companies and entrepreneurs of the city in health sector, which in all cases, they must present innovative projects.
IIS Biogipuzkoa offers a catalog with advanced services that companies can select from, as well as some examples of how these advanced services and technologies can be applied to their products and services to make them more competitive or to raise new innovations in the market:
-Laboratory in the field of health biotechnology
-Innovation support services
-Biohealth research focused on the patient
The economic value of vouchers and co-financing rates are:
-Voucher of 8,000€. The contribution is Fomento San Sebastian 70% and Biogipuzkoa 30%.
- Voucher of 12,500€. The contribution is Fomento San Sebastian 55% and Biogipuzkoa 35% and beneficiary 10%.
Resources needed
This program of Technological Vouchures in collaboration with IIS Biogipuzkoa started in 2016. Since then, it has served 32 projects with a total voucher economic value of 353.500€.
Evidence of success
Since its launch in 2016, 32 projects in the health / hospital field have been supported. The projects that have participated have evolved and moved to the next level, either through laboratory testing, prototyping, clinical analysis and contrast with patients, etc.
In addition, the technology vouchers allow to connect IIS Biogipuzkoa with the business ecosystem, and thus bring together health, aging and hospital needs with market innovations.
Potential for learning or transfer
The connection between research and technology centres and business ecosystem can be distant in some cities. On the one hand, small companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs feel that technology developed in advanced centres is not accessible to them and sometimes they are unaware of the potential and impact of these technologies and knowledge for the competitive improvement of their products and services.
On the other hand, research centres generating these technologies, although they must transfer their technology to their own spin-offs or to other companies and start-ups, often lack the contacts, proximity and ways of working of the companies.
Fomento San Sebastian, as promoter of the connection between both worlds, has developed a tool of interest to both parties, thus achieving this connection, which results in centres transferring their technology, companies and start-ups having more and better innovations, and FSS improving the business and R&D&I ecosystem of our city.