The MINE.THE.GAP project offered business services to the projects funded through the voucher scheme in order to support SMEs in their business development. These services are called Business Hub Services.

Between September 2021 and January 2023, more than 60 SMEs benefited from actions organized around three major “Business Hubs”:

• Business Hub 1 (BH1) dedicated to innovation support services.
• Business Hub 2 (BH2) dedicated to technology transfer and commercialization services.
• Business Hub 3 (BH3) dedicated to internationalization support services.

Activities and services offered within BH1:

1. An individual meeting with the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) that gave SMEs the opportunity to benefit from the EEN know-how in innovation and networking.
2. A watch on international scientific events on the raw materials and the mining sector.
3. A watch on regional, national, and European calls for proposals.
4. A webinar on European projects organized in collaboration with ABSISKEY and I&S Partners in order to provide practical information to be considered before submitting a proposal, with a focus on three European funding programs.

The possibility to benefit from our large network of European clusters to request connections with other SMEs to meet potential partners.

Activities and services offered within BH2:

1. A watch on international exhibitions related to raw materials and mining sector.
2. A prospection toolbox presented by AXELERA that provides practical advice and synthetic documents to help SMEs conduct an effective prospection.
3. A webinar held in collaboration with Altios Group to provide SMEs with relevant key information important to consider for selecting the countries with the most business potential for them.
4. Templates for legal documents and legal contacts to support the development and conclusion of new business collaborations.
5. A webinar held in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network Auvergne Rhône-Alpes bureau to introduce the Access2Market platform which provides a lot of information for companies conducting export/import operations.

An EU webinar organized in collaboration with the European IPR Helpdesk on how to protect a technology.

Activities and services offered within BH3:

1. A workshop was organized with an expert to help SMEs learn how to pitch their project and the company in English.
2. A webinar pitching session of all SMEs involved in the MINE.THE.GAP project in order to help them meet other companies that could be interesting for them for future collaborations.
3. A webinar to give SMEs the opportunity to practice their pitch in front the MINE.THE.GAP partners.
4. A last webinar organized in collaboration with Rézoway to present business practices in Canada as this country is a world leader in mining and offers great business opportunities for companies wanting to develop their activity in this market.

Throughout the BHs, a training program based on e-learning resources (MOOCs) has been prepared by the MINE.THE.GAP consortium in order to offer SMEs training on the following disciplines:

MINE-DIGITAL: Application of ICT by SMEs and the concept of Industry 4.0 (go to the training here)

MINE-CIRCULAR: Circular and green economy (go to the training here)

MINE-TRANSFER: Knowledge transfer and IPR issues for SMEs (part of BH2) (go to the training here)

MINE-FUNDME: EU and international funding for SMEs (part of BH3)

 

For more information on Business Hub Services, please contact us.