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Month: July 2019

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The NAPOCTEP project will focus on the cultural heritage of the Napoleonic era and promote sustainable tourism

The project is part of the 2nd Call Interreg POCTEP (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and coinciding with the Objectives of Sustainable Development, its aim is to convert the heritage of the time of the French invasions into a quality and sustainable tourism product that can create wealth and employment in areas of Castilla-León and central Portugal threatened by depopulation and aging.

It is a cross-border project implemented by a consortium of 8 Spanish and Portuguese partners, including the Finnova Foundation.

Brussels, 11.07.2019. On 9 and 10 July, the launch event of the Interreg programme for cross-border cooperation between Spain and Portugal NAPOCTEP, funded by the ERDF, took place. The main objective of the programme is to enhance the cultural heritage of the Napoleonic era through sustainable tourism. The project is situated within the framework of the 2nd Interreg POCTEP Call (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and will follow the extensive legacy of the War of Independence-Peninsular War in Central Portugal and Castile and Leon. The Finnova Foundation, which has been present at the launch through the assistance of its NAPOCTEP directors José Manuel Requena and Iñigo Bilbao, is part of the consortium of eight partners who lead the project. The project was presented this Wednesday in one of the most significant environments of the Peninsular Wars, the Military Museum of Buçaco (Portugal).

Within the framework of the presentation, Bilbao has declared that the priority objective of the project is to turn the legacy of the Napoleonic era into “an opportunity for growth and employment through tourism”. “NAPOCTEP is especially interesting because it acts on inland areas of Castilla y Leon and Central Portugal directly threatened by depopulation and aging that have significant endogenous resources. In his words, the route will not only take into account Napoleonic historical heritage, but will “integrate other elements such as landscape, gastronomy, wines, etc.”. Thus, a tourist product “of quality, sustainable and differentiated” will be created with a brand that “can be marketed in the national and international markets”. In this sense, it is worth noting that decent work and economic growth is one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, along with sustainable tourism.

The consortium of partners is made up of four Portuguese and four Spanish entities: the Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region (Portugal), the Intermunicipal Community of Beiras and Sierra de la Estrella (Portugal), the Regional Tourism Entity of Central Portugal and the Historic Route of Linhas de Torres (Portugal); on the part of the Spanish territory, in addition to Finnova, there are the Junta de Castilla y León, the Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico de Castilla y León, Segittur. The project, which has a global budget of more than 710,000 euros, will be in force for two years, from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021.

During the presentation, different coordination meetings and the implementation of the Interreg programme were held, with the aim of making progress in the inventory, signposting and connection of the material and immaterial heritage elements of the itinerary in the POCTEP space, to be included in the European Cultural Itinerary ‘Napoleon Destination’ of the Council of Europe.

The press conference was attended by a large group of regional and provincial authorities and cultural representatives, such as Rui Marqueiro (President of the Câmara Municipal da Mealhada), Luís Albuquerque (Director of the Bussaco Military Museum, José Carlos Alexandrino (President C.I.M. Região de Coimbra) and Javier Ramírez (Director of Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León).

Thus, the aim is to create a series of Napoleonic routes in an area comprising the central region of Portugal (Beiras and Serra da Estela) and the provinces West Castilian-Leonese (Salamanca, Zamora, Valladolid, León and Ávila). In addition to signage, the new Napoleon Route will be promoted over the next two years at major tourism fairs in Portugal, Spain, Germany or England.

Learn more at: http://napoctep.eu/

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The official launching of the NAPOCTEP cultural tourism project will take place on 10th July in Buçaco (Portugal)

The project is part of the 2nd Call Interreg POCTEP (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and will highlight the extensive legacy of the War of Independence-Peninsular War in Central Portugal and Castilla y León.

The aim is to turn the heritage of the French invasions into a quality and sustainable tourist product that can create wealth and employment in areas of Castile-Leon and central Portugal threatened by depopulation and ageing.

It is a cross-border project implemented by a consortium of 8 Spanish and Portuguese partners and has a total budget of 710,228 euros, with a 2-year duration.

Brussels, 08.07.2019. On 10 July, the NAPOCTEP project will be launched in the town of Buçaco, near Coimbra, with the mission of converting the heritage of the French invasion era into a quality and sustainable tourist product that can create wealth and employment in Castilian-Leonese and central Portugal areas that are threatened by depopulation and ageing. The project is situated within the framework of the 2nd Interreg POCTEP Call (Spain-Portugal) on cultural tourism, and will follow the extensive legacy of the War of Independence-Peninsular War in Central Portugal and Castile and Leon.

It has a total budget of 710.228 euros to be shared between a consortium of 8 Spanish and Portuguese partners: Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Coimbra (CIM-RC), Comunidade Intermunicipal das Beiras e Serra da Estrela (CIM-BSE), Turismo Centro de Portugal (TCP), Rota Histórica das Linhas de Torres – Associação para o Desenvolvimento Turístico e Patrimonial das (RHLT), Fundación Siglo para el Turismo y las Artes de Castilla y León (FSIGLO), Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico (FSMRPH), Fundación Delegación Fundacion Finnova (FINNOVA) and Sociedad Mercantil Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S. (State Commercial Society for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies).A. (SEGITTUR).

The press conference will be attended by a large group of regional and provincial authorities and cultural representatives. The presentation will be made by the C.I.M. Região de Coimbra in collaboration with the rest of the partnership. Speakers will include Rui Marqueiro (President of the Municipal Chamber of Mealhada), Luís Albuquerque (Director of the Military Museum of Buçaco), José Carlos Alexandrino (President of the C.I.M. Região de Coimbra) and Javier Ramírez (Director of Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León). The NAPOCTEP project aims to create new tourism opportunities by helping to compensate for the flow of visitors and compensate for seasonality and by creating opportunities for economic development in inland areas affected by population and ageing. In addition, the importance of publicizing and preserving this often unknown legacy will be highlighted.

Thus, the aim is to create a series of Napoleonic routes in an area comprising the central region of Portugal (Beiras and Serra da Estela) and the Castilian-Leonese provinces of the west (Salamanca, Zamora, Valladolid, León and Ávila). The day before the press conference, 9 July, the participants will carry out a technical visit and hold working meetings to launch the programme.

It should be noted that in 2015 the Council of Europe approved the designation of Napoleonic routes in Europe as a European Cultural Itinerary (such as the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago or the Carlos V route), which is a great opportunity for the area as it gives it an internationally prestigious brand and connects it with other routes in other parts of Europe. 

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The Slovakian company Sensoneo has won the Proptech StartUp Europe Awards Final 2018, celebrated at MIPIM Europe in Paris on 2nd July

– The waste management startup has claimed first prize in the final of the contest, while Finnish company Mapple and German Sensorberg have made it to the second and third place respectively.

– The final of the Proptech StartUp Europe Awards has taken place within the framework of the MIPIM Proptech EU 2019 in Paris, where the main decision-makers in real estate and technology have met with start-ups and cutting-edge technology companies.

– Proptech StartUp Europe Awards is a new category of the StartUp Europe Awards, promoted by the European Commission and implemented by the Finnova Foundation, the EU PropTech House and Workero

Paris, 03.07.2019. The Proptech StartUp Europe Awards 2018 has finally got its winner. Waste management startup Sensoneo has claimed the first prize in the pitching sessions of the finals of the contest, hosted at MIPIM PropTech EU 2019 in Paris. The Slovakia-based tech company has been one of the ten finalists from a very strong field of innovative companies. The Finnish company Mapple has made it to the second place, using modelling and AI technology to help cities handle rapidly increasing urbanisation by providing analytics. The 3rd place on the podium has been for Sensorberg, a German company who digitalizes buildings using an open and hardware agnostic sensor-based system. Ten finalists have taken part at the live pitching sessions in the Proptech StartUp Europe Awards 2018 finals.

Sensoneo is on a mission to help cities and companies manage their waste more effectively and efficiently while improving environments for people. The company has developed a cloud-based platform which allows customers to completely digitize the entire bin infrastructure, and to configure, monitor and manage daily waste operations online. Using their inhouse developed and produced smart sensors that are combined with sophisticated software, the solution provides real-time waste monitoring and suggests optimal collection routes and automated navigation via shortest and safest routes. The solution enables to collect waste on demand while utilizing the resources to maximum. Co-Founder of Sensoneo Andrea Basilova feels really “grateful” to the Proptech House, Finnova Foundation and the European Commission for “making this unique competition happen”. “It is a great opportunity to show up what the innovative companies from the EU have developed, to share experience and support each other”, she claimed.

Basilova also stated that “becoming a winner of Proptech Startup Europe Awards 2018 is another great success of Sensoneo. It clearly proves the potential that data-driven waste management can bring to the field of real-estate, urban planning and facility management”. Sheadded that this award is a “great satisfaction” for them and to the hard work they have done in terms of innovation, technology and also in the field of building partnerships, as this is really their “key” to make this amazing solution succeed worldwide.

The winner will receive an European Acceleration Ticket worth 10.000 euros from StartUp Europe Accelerator in order to scale up its business idea, which can be transformed thanks to European funds and try to make it, for instance, a LIFE Environment project. A LIFE Environment project offers up to 1 million € to carry out a pilot demonstration project. The ticket will also offer training on the legal framework in the EU, as well as information on different training programmes offered by the EU

The PropTech StartUp Europe Awards are a new category framed in the StartUp Europe Awards (22 categories), promoted by the European Commission and implemented by the Finnova Foundation, the EU PropTech House and the Worker. It is an award methodology for startups at European level, which fosters open innovation and collaboration between different actors of European ecosystems, through public-private partnerships to support new entrepreneurs. Stefan Scheuerle, CEO of the third classified Sensorberg, is “very pleased to be part of that competition”. “Not only gives it us visibility within our market, but we also appreciate the overall initiative as it gives start-ups a chance to really create change. In our case, how to create more sustainable and eco-friendly buildings and to implement open platform systems within the real estate industry”.

50 European Proptech companies participated in the semi-finals of the PropTech Startup Europe competition on May 6th in Brussels. They competed in front of the 35 members of a professional European jury. Ten finalists from a very strong field of innovative companies were chosen there: Be Park, Halio Glass (Belgium), Sensorberg, HomeBeat.Live (Germany), Sensoneo (Slovakia), Realiz3d and CAD42 (France), Mapple (Finland), Swedish Build Safe (Sweden) and Access Green (Ireland). The launch of the first PropTech Startup Europe Awards was a sign of recognition by the European Commission of the importance and enormous potential of PropTech’s innovative industry in the refurbishment of traditional real estate.

About MIPIM PropTech Europe 2019

The final pitching competition has taken place during the largest Proptech event in Europe, the MIPIM PropTech Europe in Paris. It is the meeting point where the main decision-makers in real estate and technology met with start-ups and cutting-edge technology companies. Under the slogan Matching User Expectations, the main objective of MIPIM PropTech was to promote the digital transformation of the real estate industry through various events and talks by renowned experts in the sector. It was also sponsored by the Belgian startup Workero, one of the organizers of the Proptech StartUp Europe Awards 2018. With more than 1,500 m2 of exhibition space, the most outstanding and innovative companies and startups of the Proptech ecosystem were present during the two days of MIPIM Proptech EU 2019. There were 2,000 participants and around 1,000 companies from 50 countries around the world, in addition to 50 top-level speakers in the sector.

About PropTech StartUp Europe Awards

The PropTech Startup Europe Awards competition is part of the StartUp Europe Awards, is supported and promoted by the European Commission and implemented by Finnnova, PropTech House and Workero.

Information: www.proptechhouse.eu

About StartUp Europe Awards

StartUp Europe Awards of the European Commission’s Startup Europe initiative and Finnova is an open innovation methodology that encourages collaboration between the public sector and businesses in the promotion of innovative initiatives. Its aim is to help create alliances that allow entities and support programmes for entrepreneurs to be added to local partners and to be a communication tool for society.

StartUp Europe Awards is also supported by the President of the European Parliament, the President of the Committee of the Regions, the Vice-President of the Economic and Social Committee and several members from the European Parliament. StartUp Europe Awards is sponsored by StartUp Europe Accelerator.

SEUA serves as a communication tool for society, encouraging collaboration between the public and business sectors and promoting innovative initiatives. Its aim is to promote the creation of alliances enabling in every region concerned to gather entities and the support programmes for entrepreneurs with local and international partners.

For more information:

www.finnova.eu

www.startupeuropeawards.eu

www.startupeuropeclub.eu

INFORMATION ON PROPTECH STARTUP EUROPE AWARDS 2018 WINNERS

1. Sensoneo

Sensoneo is redefining the way waste is managed, by combining ultrasonic fill-level Smart Sensors that monitor waste in real-time with the help of sophisticated software. It also provides both cities and businesses with analytics that can be used for data-driven decision making in the optimization of waste collection routes, pick-up frequencies, and vehicle loads

2. Mapple

Mapple is a spin-off from the Digital Geography Lab at the University of Helsinki. Following a longterm collaboration with Finnish cities and urban planners, the lab developed data driven tools to understand how the city functions. Seeing the need for advanced smart mobility solutions, a group of researchers decided to use their expertise to build easy to use solutions that help cities with their everyday challenges.

3. Sensorberg

Sensorberg digitizes complex buildings and physical processes within the field of Smart Spaces. They fulfill individual and specific needs of their customers and that require its own individual solutions for doors, lockers, sensors and actuators.

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Bunt Planet joins forces with Siemens to distribute its software that detects water leaks

  • The enterprise from the Basque Country is in Phase II of SME Instrument and has just presented a LIFE project with support of the Finnova Foundation
  • Bunt Planet is being supported by startup Europe Accelerator, the Finnova’s business accelerator

In a period marked by environmental awareness, SMEs like Bunt Planet are more necessary than ever. Since 2013 this company has created software capable of reducing water losses in drinking water distribution networks through Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. They have now signed a distribution contract with Siemens, whereby the German multinational will be responsible for marketing this software worldwide, thereby improving the sustainable water supply worldwide. It is essential for countries like Chile, Panama and Mexico.

Bunt Planet thus responds to one of the main objectives of the UN’s European environmental action and sustainable development for the 2018-2028 decade: resource efficiency, in this case, water efficiency. It is done by using the BuntBrain software, which has two modules: WaterMeters, to control water losses consumed but not billed for reading errors, and LeakFinder, that detects water leaks in pipes.

This innovative idea has led Bunt Planet to the 2nd stage of SME Instrument, in which innovation projects for SMEs with high potential are supported and product research, development and demonstration activities are financed. The company already received a Stamp of Excellence from the European Commission in 2015 for Phase I and another Stamp of Excellence in 2016 for Phase II, indicators of quality and the great potential of the project. The founder, Ainhoa Lete, emphasises the importance of European funds as the SME Instrument: “it has been a key aid for us. It has allowed us to demonstrate the advantages of applying artificial intelligence to reduce water losses in different regions of the world,” she said.

In addition, Bunt Planet has recently submitted a LIFE proposal with the support of the Finnova Foundation. The LIFE programme is the only financial instrument in the European Union devoted entirely to the environment. Its overall objective is to fulfil the environmental commitments adopted by the European Union in the Paris Agreement, as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, promoting innovative environmental and climate change policies and technologies. The current budget for 2014-2020 is 3.4 billion euros.

Juan Manuel Revuelta, Director of the Finnova Foundation, considers that the company has many possibilities to be scaled worldwide. “In addition to the SME Instrument and the LIFE Programme, they would be perfectly eligible for Fast Track to Innovation, the European Commission’s new pilot action under EIC Pilot Horizon 2020,” he said. The programme aims to reduce the time taken by an innovative idea to reach the market, stimulating the participation of applicants in EU funding programmes and increasing private sector investment in research and innovation. Non-repayable grants may vary from EUR 1-2 million up to EUR 3 million, if justified.

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