Amazing – you have just received an e-mail with invitation to Brussels to present in person your innovation project. If you will do it professionally then all the hard work during project development will be rewarded. You will get up to 2.5 million euro funding for technology development.  If you fail to convince…well, then you need to go after other private investors, business angels and industry partners interested in your brilliant idea. Watch the video to learn how to pitch SME Instrument jury, which parts of your presentation require extra attention and how you can deliver like a professional.

Naturally you will start by preparing your pitch deck template. This document is a backbone of your story. It also serves you as a guideline as it frames information you want to include.

Click HERE to get the outline from EASME website. Explore it, to better understand what you will need to present. You will learn that following 8 key ingredients will construct your overall presentation:

• Company purpose
• Problem & solution
• Value proposition
• Market opportunity & Risks
• Competition
• Business model
• Commercialisation & Marketing Strategy
• Financial projections
• Team

Each of the chapters includes specific sub-questions and you will need to make sure you will include all of them. Missing one piece of the content out might result in fragmented story and you should avoid it at all costs. Since all listed aspects are important, we will further elaborate each to help you craft an impressive presentation. Also, guidance provided in the article “How to perfect your pitch – tips for SME Instrument Innovators” represents a good starting point of your research.

How much time will you have for a pitch? 

The whole interview will take 30 minutes. First 10 minutes are reserved for your presentation. Next 20 minutes are being devoted for questions that jury will have for you. Hence you need to think strategically how you will use allocated time at most convenient way.

Probably you will want to know that members of the jury will study your project in advance. Therefore you need to keep your presentation concise and include only most powerful messages.

Furthermore, you might want to reconsider using a video within your presentation. An image is worth 1000 words! Still, keep in mind that you have only 10 minutes available. If you will decide to use video (for example to demonstrate how your innovation works), then it needs to complement your message. In this Forbes article “Your pitch needs video” you learn how to merge media into your “live show”.

To win the jury you will need to convince in 3 main areas

Earlier we briefly listed the topics which will form your pitch. Still, main question – how to pitch SME Instrument jury – isn’t fully answered yet. As explained in the video above, you will need to organise cornerstones of your content to cover following aspects:

1. The team

You will need to explain the competences and the motivation of your team. In addition, you will need to demonstrate that you have enough capacities to actually deliver what you are promising. Hint: All of your team members need to get voice during presentation. They are not there to just stand still and quietly support you.

2. Commercialisation

You will need to explain your business model and how you create and deliver value to your customer. “Where will the money come from?” That is the question you will answer by presenting your revenue model. In addition, SME Instrument jury will be much interested on envisaged go to market strategy and related financials. Hint: During the interview session the jury might ask you all kind of questions related to financials. Be prepared.

3. Feasibility of your innovation

You want to convince that your innovation can create new market or at minimum significantly change the existing one. To make your case even stronger, present results that you have achieved in pilot studies or in cooperation with your potential or existing clients. To get the grant you must demonstrate that you are fully ready for this challenge and the only good time to enter the market is now.

Your action plan to craft your pitch

Try to build on experiences from others who already went through the process. Watch the video of already successful SME Instrument innovators to get a feeling on what is waiting for you. Then visit a website of EASME and download the template of pitch presentation. Afterwards, you will know how to pitch SME Instrument jury.

Are you also preparing a proposal for Horizon 2020 SME Instrument call? We have helped several innovative companies win millions of euros to hit and dominate global market. See some of our success stories recorder on video and and click on the link bellow to schedule a talk with us.