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Building an ecosystem means not only running an event or a startup support program with a narrow focus. The most successful ecosystem builders in the world are consciously or instinctively planning and implementing transformative interventions to:

• Radically impact their wider communities.
• Produce positive external effects on their region, city, and/or industrial sector.
• Unlock additional third-party resources like investments or specialized support measures, and thereby.
• Become change-makers who work to overcome systemic barriers to the breakthrough of innovation.

• DEEPSEA supports you to establish and grow your innovation ecosystem hub. Ideally, your hub will be a physical place where your community meets, co-creates, and transforms innovative ideas into reality (think of an "ecosystem house").
• DEEPSEA accelerates the set-up and scale-up of membership-driven initiatives that undertake large-scale transformations of innovation systems. We will provide you with a tested and ready framework to build a commercially viable business model that will enable you to become a transformative ecosystem leader.
• We challenge you to focus on:
  • Shaping the purpose of your ecosystem, not just managing a project.
  • Bolstering the cutting-edge innovative quality of your ecosystem.
  • Integrating and engaging other local and international ecosystem leaders as supporters and sponsors.
  • Finding and engaging committed long-term partners that will finance your quest for change.
  • Organizing a thriving community with the critical mass to carry the impact forward in the long term.

• System Innovation: You are actively reducing barriers for the creation of new markets and the transformation of your economy.
• Coalition building: You are implementing concrete steps to build a robust coalition of stakeholders that will hold and support you in the long run. Based on the experience of best practices, we recommend that this should be based on a membership model.
• Long-term commitment: To sustain your major impact in the long run (think 5-10 years), you are implementing an ambitious financing and fundraising strategy. Our action platform will enable you to continuously generate commercial revenue, build partnerships, and raise funds (in the dimension of several hundred thousand euro per year).
• Private and Public funding: You will target philanthropy, serial entrepreneurs, and corporates to join your initiatives, but also build consortia to attract public funds.

DEEPSEA alumni submit at least 10 public funding applications per year, which should result in winning at least one. While many calls and tenders are very local or industry specific and require your own ongoing monitoring and contact nurturing, we will present you with practical support to monitor funding opportunities and elaborate winning proposals. You should be ready to win calls from programs and sponsors like:

• European Innovation Ecosystems: Part of Horizon Europe, aims to create more connected, inclusive, and efficient innovation ecosystems with a total budget of 230 million € in 2023 and 2024.
• Regional Innovation Valleys: The European Commission dedicates 122 million € to create connected regional innovation valleys (if eligible, we recommend you to already submit your expression of interest by 18 September 2023).
• Erasmus+ Alliances for Innovation: Supports the buildup of entrepreneurial ecosystems for academic and educational actors (total budget over 60 million € in 2022).
• Interreg Europe: 380 million € for capacity building programs focusing on building a smarter Europe & other objectives, with a strong involvement of policy-making institutions.
• European Social Fund Plus: EU funding scheme for transnational social innovation initiatives with a budget of nearly €200 million.
• Bilateral and multilateral diplomacy and development cooperation grants, such as Visegrad Funds, Nordic Council, or Union for the Mediterranean.
• Development finance institutions, foundations, governments, and international organizations.