For smaller businesses, high-tech R&D is a risky proposition. The financial investment is often substantial, and there are no guarantees it will pay off. The CEA, with the support of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional government, recently introduced the EasyPOC program to help small to medium-sized companies (with fewer than 2,000 employees) innovate. The idea is to remove the financial risk from the early stages of the high-tech innovation process, and the program aligns with the regional government's commitment to helping the region's small and medium-sized businesses access high-tech innovation.

The program will pay for a technological feasibility study and proof of concept (POC) leveraging the CEA's know-how in digital technology, medical technology, and energy. Participating companies come away with a POC that they can then test with employees or customers, for example, to determine the most appropriate next steps in their project. If a company does decide to pursue the project, other support programs—like the region's Easytech program administered by Minalogic—can pick up where EasyPOC left off. The region's economic development agency AURA Entreprise will draw on its knowledge of the region's small and medium-sized businesses to direct potential beneficiaries to the CEA.

This new program fills a gap in the existing innovation support programs. Whether or not the program continues and in what form will depend on how well it fares (the number of projects that apply, the local communities involved, and challenges encountered) during the initial eighteen-month test rollout.

EasyPOC is launching in 2020 with an informational meeting for interested companies on January 28 at 5 p.m. in Grenoble. 

Sign up for the meeting at: https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-afterwork-dispositifs-de-financement-pour-les-pme-87629856259

Contact EasyPOC by email at: celine.soubeyrat@cea.fr

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