BIA helps boosting entrepreneurship and innovation in 5 Nordic-Baltic universities

The NOBALIS project launched in the summer of 2022 to develop, share, and expand innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) support capabilities in the areas of sustainable food production, circular economy, and new green value chains. The new EIT-funded programme is powered by a Nordic−Baltic consortium consisting of five agricultural and technical universities and two organizations with expertise in tech transfer, start-up support, and acceleration programmes.

Baltic Innovation Agency has a leading role in carrying out the NOBALIS Entrepreneurial and Innovation Capacity Development (EICD) programme. NOBALIS offers students as well as academic and non-academic staff members of the participating higher education institutions (HEIs) an opportunity to immerse into the world of entrepreneurship and tap into:

Extensive hands-on support for developing business ideas in food, biotech, and bioresources.
Focused 1-on-1 mentoring from international experts on business modeling, sustainable product development, marketing and sales, fundraising, and pitching.
Help with IP management, prototyping facilities & tools as well as introductions to investors.
Combined competence of 5 universities from Nordics & Baltics and 2 startup support organisations.
Practical collaboration opportunities for the best teams, including cooperation with SLU Future Food Platform and fast-track entry to the full-scale green acceleration programme by Buildit.
Special prizes by NOBALIS partners.

NOBALIS EICD programme is a 3-month fully online programme, divided into three parts:

1. HACKATHON.

The programme starts with an Idea Hackathon & Matchmaking event focused on inspirational stories, development of the initial ideas, and team formation. Participants receive help generating and shaping ideas, finding like-minded teammates, and refining their pitches.

2. MENTORING PROGRAMME.

The best teams from the hackathon are invited to continue in the mentoring programme that includes 3 intense development days dedicated to tailor-made workshops on business model development and financing, sustainable product development and MVP, marketing and sales, fundraising (public and private), and pitching skills. This is complemented by focused 1-on-1 mentoring.

3. INTERNATIONAL DEMO DAY

The programme culminates with a presentation of the teams’ solutions to a panel of esteemed judges . The jury, consisting of investors, key mentors, and R&D ecosystem experts, will give feedback and announce the top 3 winning teams who will receive awards from NOBALIS partners and other stakeholders.