Reach incubator offers opportunities for startups and SMEs working with Big Data

The Reach Incubator is looking for 30 big data startups and SMEs to participate in its third incubation round. The European project, in which Zabala Innovation is a partner, has a €3.5 Million fund to foster the creation of data value chains across Europe and is looking for 30 promising big data startups and SMEs to take part in its third round of incubation. This latest call offers up to 120,000 euros in funding and the opportunity to work with leading companies and their private data.

Reach is a four-phase incubation programme: Explore, Experiment, Evolve, and Expose. It involves 10 core partners, 8 Data Digital Innovation Hubs (Data DIHs), and 15 data providers. The incubator enables a fertile ground for startups and SMEs to solve real-world, data-driven challenges of other companies and conduct experimentation of secure and reliable data-driven, often multi-stakeholder solutions.

Last call of the Reach Incubator

The Reach Incubator provides the following benefits:

• Up to €120,000 in Equity Free Funding.
• Access to Large Corporations, DIHs and their Industrial data sets.
• Access to Data Digital and Business Skills.
• REACH toolbox for secure and trusted data value chains.
• Access to Big Data Computing and storage Infrastructure.
• Access to Private Investment Networks interested in data-driven solutions.
• Visibility at European Level.

The 11-month programme takes startups through 4 intense stages of technical and business growth (EXPLORE, EXPERIMENT, EVOLVE and EXPOSE) over eleven months, and will go through 3 incubation rounds, with this being the last call.

How does it work?

Interested start-ups and SMEs have three ways of applying and participating in REACH Incubator:

• THEME-DRIVEN (Track 1): REACH consortium has in collaboration with the 8 leading European Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) defined the cross-sectorial Data Value Chain (DVC) themes to be tackled by participants. The participating DIHs are ITI Data Cycle Hub, DEUSTO, DIGIHALL, CERTH/ITI Smart Home, CERR, 4PDIH, CONNECT5 and TERA. DVC themes available in the third open call are Engineering, Retail, Agriculture, Digital Marketing, Circular Economy, Manufacturing/Industry, Health, Energy, Tourism, Entertainment, Transport, Cybersecurity and Emergency Management.
• READY-MADE (Track 2): Applications can propose solutions to challenges defined by the REACH Data Providers according to the needs detected in their market. Data providers sharing their challenges are JOT, Migros Ticaret A.Ş., Sonae, VRT, Play&go experience, Idea75, Almerys, YKT, Bizkaia, EDP, COFARES, AN GROUP and SMART. The sectors they are covering are Digital Marketing, Retail, Media, Finance, Tourism, Manufacturing/Industry, Healthcare & Insurance, Energy, Pharmaceutical Services, Transport and Entertainment.
• FREE CHOICE (Track 3): Applicants will devise novel DVCs by bringing their own data provider/s and/or their own datasets with those already facilitated within the REACH Data Catalogue. The applicant, a single SME, will apply together with their own Data Provider/s (at least one) proposing a joint challenge to be solved.

If you have any questions, the Reach incubator will hold two informative webinars on 16 December 2022 and 20 January 2023.

Are you ready for this data-driven open innovation opportunity? Apply here before 21 February 2023.