Program

ESA BIC Valencia Region offers a tailored incubation program based on the technology and business model development stage

Funding

All incubated start-ups will receive a €60,000 grant (zero-equity), provided by ESA and the Valencian Regional Government, to be used for product development, intellectual property rights and for other purposes directly linked with achieving objectives of the ESA BIC Incubation Programme as specified in the incubation contract.

Business support

All incubated start-ups will receive business development support and advice (up to 50 consulting hours, free of charge), and access to a wide network of mentors.
The business support activities involve:
  • Analysis of competitive scenario and market.
  • Analysis of reference technologies
  • Analysis of the profile of the founding team and of the skills necessary for the development of the company.
  • Mentoring activities through the network of professionals and entrepreneurs working in different sectors and technologies.
  • Design of the customer discovery and customer validation process and activities.
  • Support for the definition of the characteristics of a minimum viable product.
  • Support for the development and updating of the business plan and related business model.
  • Support for the definition of a multi-year economic and financial plan.
  • Support for the identification of partners for technological and market development.
  • Communication of the project idea and realization of pitch and investor deck.
 
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Technical support

All incubated start-ups will receive up to 80 hours of technical support (free of charge), from experts within the ESA BIC Valencia Region, to address technical challenges.
The technical support will be provided in different ways, such as:
  • consultancy services to the start-ups provided by professors and researchers on specific topics.
  • access to different research infrastructures. A privileged channel for using research infrastructures and labs will be established for the start-ups that might have specific needs for developing and/or testing prototypes in relevant environments.
  • Ad-hoc development projects. Master or Phd theses, joint participation in competitive research and innovation calls.
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IPR support

All incubated start-ups will receive up to 10 hours (free of charge) of IPR and legal support.
IPR consulting will be provided by ESA BIC Valencia Region experts who will provide support in carrying out patent landscape analisis for freedom to operate, the assessment of innovation trends, the identification of critical patents and of potential licensee/licensors. Such activities will improve the start-up IP exploitation strategy. 
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Fundraising support

ESA BIC Valencia Region will support incubated start-ups in fundraising, thanks to a large network of investors specialized in different funding stages.
ESA BIC Valencia Region will provide support for the forecasting of financial needs, assessment of alternative funding channels, preparation of pitch and investors deck, term sheet analysis, due diligence activities and consulting for the negotiation phase.
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National & International reach

Incubated start-ups will benefit from a direct connection to the Spanish Space Agency and its activities in support of entrepreneurship. Start-ups will also join the European network of ESA BIC excellence, a gateway to a wide array of opportunities for the development of space connected ventures.

Business matchmaking

Incubated start-ups will benefit from the support of a large pool of companies committed to providing opportunities for the integration of the innovative products and services in international value chains.
The network includes industrial associations, large corporates and innovative SMEs active in space technologies. Find out more
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Scientific Research Network

Incubated start-ups will have access to a large pool of regional research and innovation centers that have strong technological competencies for space solutions and have joined the ESA BIC Valencia Region program.
The network of ESA BIC Valencia Region associated research and innovation institutions include, among others:
  • Universidad Politecnica de Valencia
  • Hub Tecnologico del Puerto de Alicante
  • Universitat Jaume I, Castellón
  • VAL SPACE (access to the ESA -VSC laboratories)
  • REDIT (technology centres)
  • RUVIT (University Departments)
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Training sessions

Incubated start-ups will be admitted free of charge to training sessions concerning selected themes (e.g. Human resource management, financial management, legal and fiscal issues, IPR management, data protection and GDPR, application to EU calls for research, technology development).

Workspace

We provide incubated start-ups workspace facilities, free of charge or at a discounted rate (for up to 24 months) in the different locations of the ESA BIC Valencia Region.

Application process

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