A European Commission Business and Innovation Center (an EC-BIC, or simply a BIC), is an ... The data, collected and val
European Business and Innovation
Centre Network [EBN] EC-BIC Observatory 2013© and the Last 3-Year Trends
Copyright EBN – June 2013
An overview of the key facts and figures of the innovation-based incubation industry in Europe 2010 – 2012
Contents Introduction..................................................................................................3 BICs’ Key Performance Indicators....................................................7 The deal-flow..................................................................................... 7 Job creation.......................................................................................9 Intellectual Property.................................................................... 10 Access to finance.............................................................................11 Survival Rates.................................................................................. 12 BICs’ Value for Money...........................................................................14 Investment per job created...................................................... 14 Performance per € 100K expenditure and per FTE member of staff..................................................14 Profiling a BIC............................................................................................16 BICs’ Business Model................................................................... 16 Income........................................................................................... 16 Expenditures.............................................................................. 18 Human resources........................................................................... 19 The core BICs’ services............................................................... 21 Creation Services..................................................................... 21 Training......................................................................................... 22 Development Services.......................................................... 23 Financial services.................................................................... 24 BICs’ ownership............................................................................. 24 Conclusions................................................................................................ 26 Figures and Tables................................................................................. 28 Credits........................................................................................................... 29
Introduction This report covers the three year period spanning from 2010 to 2012, and examines the key figures, in terms of performance and value for money of the EC-BIC community. But before immerging ourselves in the analysis, a few introductory paragraphs are needed to refresh our memories about the BIC concept and to see what has happened in the community at large in these past years. A European Commission Business and Innovation Center (an EC-BIC, or simply a BIC), is an organization that supports the creation of innovative companies, supports the development of innovation in the existing SMEs and strives to create an environment where innovation can be better bred and fed. Of course it is not an easy task, as it implies technical knowledge of the highest quality, a sound understanding of the economic, social and political dynamics within the catchment areas, and a great degree of sensitivity while contributing to shaping the entrepreneurial trajectory of people. Innovation in EBN is defined as “a change that creates and/or adds value, and provides a competitive advantage HERE and NOW”1. A very wide definition that leaves, in the end, to the BICs the capability and the flexibility to assess what is actually innovative in the catchment area they serve. As can be seen in figure 1, in the EBN community, innovation is not a merely technological instance. Non-tech innovation is occupying one third of the EC-BICs expertise, and this proportion has been growing over the years.
1 E uropean Commission, DG Regional Policy and DG Enterprise and Industry, The Smart Guide to Innovation-Based Incubators”, February 2010
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Figure 1: typology of innovation in the EBN network
There are many innovation-based incubators in the EU, but only some of them are EC-BIC accredited. What makes the BICs so special? What differentiates the EC-BICs from the rest of the incubators is that they have chosen to undergo a quality screening of their internal organization and of their performance. They have chosen to comply with the BIC Quality Mark Criteria and they have chosen to use the EBN quality system to focus on continuous improvement through a rigorous benchmarking approach. This is what it means to be part of the EBN community of EC-BICs, where you can access a sophisticated and unique quality assessment service which works through the comparison of many indicators specific to the incubation industry and through the search and transfer of good practices within the network. Each year, every BIC proceeds to fill in the online self-assessment questionnaire, with over 160 questions spanning from its profiling to its organization, from the services delivered to the key performance indicators. The :;!:" E0$04'2"not 099(%R)E0,'H/" L^?E?"of %+"the )$1570,%(" )$1570,)$4" 1%E90$)'2" An average BIC in 2012 manages approximately 4,600 Sq.m. of incubator space incubating *),-"0$"0&'(04'"%11590$1/"(0,'"%+"IFi?"" companies with an average occupancy rate of 76%. B2C9D./E?2$;17FEC1;$ GF17.A1$E2C9D./E?2$/EH1$IJ1.7;K$ Incubation services GF17.A1$?CC9:.2CL$7./1$I#K$ Average incubation time (Years) E2F.&'I)',3+;":2.'"0:$F2*"-0'
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2010 and that BIC practitioners fear possible interference in the incubatee/incubator relation. 9%22)7H'")$,'(+'('$1'")$",-'")$1570,''h)$1570,%("('H0,)%$?" :;!;"W0,0" :;!!"W0,0" D0(n1)90n%$",%"D57H)1" S)$0$1)$4"D(%4(0EE'2"h" D(%P'1,2" !;;i"
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!"#$%&'IR)',&%:&0*2#&'-/'5GH;',%-1"=2B"4%&'($)$4"7%3)'2?">$3''3",-'" S(%E" :;!;" ,%" :;!:" ,-'" 957H)1" 2'1,%(" -02" )$1('02)$4H/" 40)$'3" E%('" %*$'(2-)9" %+" ,-'" A>=2Y" 0$3"
9'(1'$,04'" %+" 957H)1" %*$'(2-)9" -02" 9022'3" +(%E" I!i" ,%" IFiY" *),-" 0$" '^5)&0H'$," ('351,)%$" %+" From 9()&0,'"2'1,%("%*$'(2-)9"0$3"('9('2'$,0,)%$?"G-'"('351,)%$"%+",-'"9()&0,'"2'1,%(")2"E%2,H/"1052'3"7/" 2010 to 2012 the public sector has increasingly gained more ownership of the BICs, and 0"('351,)%$")$",-'"$5E7'("%+"'$,'(9()2'2")$&%H&'3")$",-'"A>=2?" consequently increased their voting rights percentage within the BICs’ governing bodies. Indeed the percentage of public ownership has passed from 71% to 76%, with an equivalent #2" 2,0,'3" 7'+%('" ,-'" )$&'2,E'$," %+" ,-'" 957H)1" 2'1,%(" -02" 3'1('02'3" ^5),'" 2'$2)7H/?" G-'" 752)$'22" reduction of private sector ownership and representation. The reduction of the private sector E%3'H"-02"2H)4-,H/"E%&'3"+0&%5()$4"E%('"9()&0,'"+5$3)$4?"G-)2")2"$%,"('+H'1,'3")$"0"1-0$4'",%*0(32"0" is mostly caused by a reduction in the number of enterprises involved in the BICs. E%('" 9()&0,'6%()'$,'3" %*$'(2-)9" E%3'HY" 0H,-%54-Y" )," E0/" 7'" ,-'" ,)E'" ,%" ,-)$." 3)++'('$,H/Y" 02" ,-'" 957H)1" before 2'1,%(" )2"the 2-%*)$4" 2%E'" 3'4(''" %+" &)21%2),/" )$" 95(25)$4" 2,(0,'4)'2" +%(" A>=2B" The As stated investment of the public sector has252,0)$07H'" decreased quite sensibly.
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business model has slightly moved favouring more private funding. This is not reflected in a change towards a more private-oriented ownership model, although, it may be the time to think differently, as the public sector is showing some degree of viscosity in pursuing sustainable strategies for BICs’ scalability, a strategy which may have more chances of success if the private sector would be more involved.
Figure 27: public sector ownership structure
Figure 28: private sector ownership structure
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Conclusions By Philippe Vanrie Things are changing. The BICs are changing. The BICs are innovating, adjusting to the mutating environment, where public resources are decreasing and new sources of income need to be found, together with new and more efficient ways to support new venture creators, as well as those entrepreneurs who are ready for a quick acceleration. New methodologies, new processes and new tools. If the mission is not changing, the way the mission is pursued is changing drastically. End-users testing is upfront with the growth of Living Labs, professional interaction is booming through the establishment of coworking spaces, new risk-assessment tools, business model generation apps, benchmarking services, are there to increase the volume and the quality of services delivered by a BIC. For a BIC these represent opportunities, some more interesting than others, to stay ahead of times, and to not miss out on whatever will be the next big thing. The data presented in this report shows that 2012 has been a solid year in terms of results, but also a difficult year in terms of resources, and it highlights that the response of the BICs when facing difficult times is to increase their own efficiency. The BICs have demonstrated a capability to adapt themselves and to be flexible and smart enough to efficiently play their role under changing circumstances, while retaining specific elements which will make sure they will still fulfil their mission. The framework is provided by the BIC quality mark criteria which have been established maximising the experience gained by the BICs over 28 years. The EC-BIC trademark is no joke. It provides the security that BICs are innovation-based incubators that work in a wellorganized, serious way with an approach which looks at continuous improvement, with an eye towards the outside world, seeking what is relevant and efficient and what can be transferred as a useful practice. This is about trust-building, as reputation goes a long way, but it does need to be earned and retained over time. The EC-BIC label is just a starting point.
The benchmarking approach we have developed recently, is composed of two parts, one dedicated to networking, culminates with the transfer of the best practices in the network and the other is the benchmarking service developed through the EC-BIC data. The first component is one of the core businesses of EBN, and is the main reason why we have been in the last three years testing and organizing our technical event, our fall/winter event. Indeed the first two Tools Exchange Forums were held in Berlin and London with the aim of transferring to our network the most recent innovations in the start-up creation and SME development support service chains and have become an annual appointment, fixed in our yearly agendas. I am convinced that the two sides of the benchmarking approach developed in EBN may help, in the near future, to push things forward, looking after better results with improved efficiency. Even in difficult times, the BIC concept is a robust and efficient (re)generator of local economies, especially when the BICs benefit from the pan-European networking effect, and particularly when the arguments for efficiency are evidence-based!
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Figures and Tables Figure 1: typology of innovation in the EBN network............................................................................ 4 Figure 2: the 2012 deal-flow............................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 3: 2010, 2011 and 2012 deal-flows compared.............................................................................. 8 Figure 4: average number of awareness-raising events organized by the BICs.......................... 8 Figure 5: average number of SMEs supported by BICs........................................................................ 9 Figure 6: average number of jobs created in start-ups and SMEs.................................................. 10 Figure 7: IP issues support indicators........................................................................................................ 10 Figure 8: number of Start-ups and SMEs made ready for investment............................................11 Figure 9: funding raised for client companies.........................................................................................12 Figure 10: enterprise survival rates..............................................................................................................13 Figure 11: investment per job created..........................................................................................................14 Figure 12: KPIs per 100K Euros of BIC expenditure...............................................................................15 Figure 13: KPIs per FTE member of staff...................................................................................................15 Figure 14: average total income of BICs.....................................................................................................16 Figure 15: private sector income...................................................................................................................17 Figure 16: public sector income.....................................................................................................................17 Figure 17: average BIC expenditures...........................................................................................................18 Figure 18: breakdown of staff by roles........................................................................................................19 Figure 19: linear trend-line start-ups created-staff supporting start-ups................................... 20 Figure 20: number of man/days of external consultancies.............................................................. 20 Figure 21: services for start-up creation.....................................................................................................21 Figure 22: number of training sessions and number od attendees................................................22 Figure 23: percentage of BICs delivering trainings per topic...........................................................22 Figure 24: services to existing SMEs..........................................................................................................23 Figure 25: average number of development services deployed.....................................................23 Figure 26: percentage of BICs providing financial services per type............................................24 Figure 27: public sector ownership structure.........................................................................................25 Figure 28: private sector ownership structure.......................................................................................25 Table 1: number of surveyed BICs per year................................................................................................ 5 Table 2: physical incubation............................................................................................................................21
CREDITS Authors Giordano Dichter, European BIC Network (
[email protected]) Head of Quality and Technical Assistance at the European BIC Network. He is passionate about incubation and innovation and always seeks ways to introduce the latter in the former.
David Tee, Incubation Worldwide (
[email protected]) Senior Consultant for Quality and Technical Assistance at EBN and publisher of “The Business Incubator Magazine”. He believes that supporting entrepreneurs is the best way to create wealth for an economy and jobs for its citizens.
Philippe Vanrie, European BIC Network (
[email protected]) CEO of the European BIC Network. A working life spent to vouch for the BICs and innovation-based incubation all across Europe and beyond.
Special thanks to Valerio Leonardi, Quality Assistant, the young talent behind data collection. All the BICs who participated in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 surveys for their long-time commitment to the quality process!
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THE EBN ORGANISATION: A PLATFORM FOR INSPIRATION, SERVICES AND OPPORTUNITIES! EBN is a Brussels-based team delivering a full range of services, which includes a comprehensive set of accreditation & networking services to the BICs, as well as the deployment and coordination of EC-projects in relevant areas. EBN membership services are available upon the payment of an annual membership fee, and are classified in 5 categories:
Policy support & EU representation: policy watch, tender watch, position papers, public sector visibility, participation to consultations & working groups Quality & technical assistance services: accreditation, benchmarking & statistics, case-studies, feasibility studies & on-site consultancy, study tours Networking activities & events: annual congress, conferences, workshops, thematic working groups/sub-networks, strategic partnerships Projects & thematic networking development: partner search, bid writing, contract/project coordination, EC-projects dissemination, guidance, training Promotion activities: websites, newsletters, publications, public relations, media support EBN’s professional and integrated platform of services contributes to the rapid growth of the BICs’ industry, in quality and in quantity, across Europe, and beyond. This expertise is recognized as unique by both public and private sectors, at international national, regional and local levels.
NOTEPAD
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European BIC Network Avenue de Tervueren 168 – bte 25 B-1150 Brussels Phone: +32 2 772 89 00 Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail:
[email protected] 