In General

The EU-GIVE and BeShared projects are coming to an end on 30th November 2019 and they are organizing a joint final event on 27th November 2019 in Brussels. This is the occasion to think about the learnings from the projects.

2 pilot projects

In 2017, following an initiative from the European Parliament, the European Commission awarded grants to 5 pilot projects of 2 years to support the sharing economy.

Among these, the EU-GIVE project was aiming at “Generating opportunities from Intangible assets and Value chains in the collaborative Economy in Europe”. It aimed at developing and testing potential new dedicated EEN non-financial support services for entrepreneurs from the collaborative economy (coaching and mentoring). The EU-GIVE Project was coordinated by Consorzio Arca, Palermo, Italy.

Similarly the BeShared identified and selected European SMEs and social enterprises with high growth potential at a cross-border level and with an ability to benefit from the business model offered by the sharing economy. BeShared implied assessment of needs of the targeted European SMEs and social enterprises in order to effectively provide tailor-made trainings and coaching services. The project also connected these SMEs with existing or new initiatives of shared platforms at regional, national or EU level and organized and documented events to discuss the development of the collaborative economy in Europe. The BeShared Project was coordinated by Berlin Partner, Berlin, Germany .

 

In Brussels, Enterprise Europe Brussels c/o hub.brussels (the Brussels Agency for Business Support) was partner of EU-GIVE. 15 platforms, existing or under development, have been accompanied, including 10 from the social economy (Billy Bike, Cobea, Communa, Coop It Easy, Cookwork, FitMyNest, Fruit&Collect, Growfunding, Listminut, Mamé Noka Coffee Roaster, Oh Chef !, Orybany, Pwiic, Usitoo and Wibee). See the serie of videos presenting them.

 

The collaboration between the EU-GIVE and the BeShared project started in the Spring 2019 when a delegation of 5 Brussels “platform coops” (platforms taking the form of cooperative) met with counterparts in Berlin in collaboration with Platform Coop a project funded by the Brussels Capital Region (cf. article and  video).

Learnings from the projects

Learnings from the projects are notably:

  • the diversity of the sector
  • contacts with interested regional stakeholders
  • the difficulties faced by the platforms notably in terms of difficulties to reach a critical mass for profitability, lack of funding, uncertainty with the legal framework…
  • their needs for accompaniment notably in terms of search for funding and improvement of their business models
  • their interest for getting inspired by other European initiatives.

Common learnings from the 5 projects were presented on 22nd October in Helsinki as part of the EEN Annual Conference.

The final event

The final event consists of a public pitching competition in front of a panel of three investors notably social impact investors.

15 platforms or future platforms are invited to pitch among the success stories of the 2 projects:

  • 3 from Estonia
  • 2 from Italy (Sicily)
  • 2 from Portugal (central)
  • 2 from Slovenia
  • 2 from Spain (Aragon)
  • 2 from Greece
  • 2 from Belgium (Brussels Capital)

More information in the annex with short profiles below.

The price will be attributed taking into account the opinion of the investors (80%) and of the public (20%) whether they would like to invest in these platforms. Promotional videos will be offered to the 3 winners and captured right at the event Moreover, the first winner will also benefit from a free of charge coaching session.

60 participants will take part to the event including 20 representatives from the 15 enterprises, 22 advisers from the Enterprise Europe Network, the project officer at the European Commission and 8 stakeholders.

In the morning of the event, 20 participants will visit Be Central the Digital Campus at the Brussels Central Station which hosts among others Listminut one beneficiary of EU-GIVE in Brussels. 20 other participants will visit  CoopCity the Brussels Center for Social Enterpreneurship. The project involving hub.brussels as a partner is funded by the ERDF programme from the Brussels Capital Region with therefore cofounding from the European Union. Smart will present there the Platform Coop  project funded by the Brussels Capital Region with which hub.brussels collaborated as part of the EU-GIVE project. Several initiatives from the social economy accompanied by CoopCity and/or Platform Coop have been accompanied by hub.brussels in the framework of EU-GIVE.

Taking into account the societal impact of the collaborative economy and supporting enterprises from the social economy were indeed among the priorities of the project, with the aim of fostering a collaborating economy generating positive local growth and impact.

 

For more information about how the project was implemented in Brussels, check out our previous articles about

 

Annex: Short profiles of pitchers

Projects accompagnied by EU-GIVE

Estonia

BookSwap

BookSwap is the unique service for everybody to find and easily get any kind of physical books from second hand market.
Through offering books that have been stood for too long on the shelves and seeking the books they desire – people are becoming a part of fascinating social network of sharing the passion for books, reading experiences, book overviews and much more. BookSwap has proven (www.raamatuvahetus.ee) that swapping books in social and playful environment activates the readers in massive and attractive way, even without wider marketing. The BookSwap prototype in Estonia ­ Raamatuvahetus ­ has been tested and improved more than 1,5 years for now and it has shown impressive results (18 000 registered users, 83 000 books exchanged, 60 000 eur sold services) and great growth potential.

Changemakers
Changemakers’ mission is to help youth reach their full potential through reflective activities. Thus enabling them to fulfil their own goals and aspirations in the future. Our vision is to enable every young person to be(come) entrepreneurial. To solve this problem, we will carry out Changemakers Center which resembles a hobby school, but instead of handicrafts or football games we will focus on personal development. Once a week youth will have a 1.5 hour session with non-formal education methods. In between trainings they will complete some home assignments to use their gained knowledge and skills. This enables them to quickly learn and advance themselves. One month includes 50 euros participation cost.

Pala

To reduce the amount of food waste and raise awareness about the problem, we are going to create a mobile application called PALA. PALA is a mobile application that fights food waste by connecting food serving establishments with consumers and helps to sell excess food for a cheaper price.

Italy

Co-Rent

Co-Rent is the first platform supporting a video/cinema production where users can rent out their resources (such as equipments, props, locations, music equipments) to a film maker (freelance or video production companies) in an easy and safe way.

Talent-players

TalentPLAYERS is an innovative Italian startup that operates in the field of sports data tracking analysis since 2017. Our system, easily integrated into the shin guards, allows players to monitor performance in a new, effective and analytical way. TalentPLAYERS allows you to analyze the stress the players’ legs are subjected to. The wearable device is complemented by an advanced web-based platform that allows professionals (athletic trainers, technicians, scouts) to read the collected data easily and immediately to better evaluate the performance of their players, and prepare them for the races in the best of ways.

Portugal

BasePoint:

We provide support services to our business partners from certifications, new products, safety assessments and notifications. We support the cosmetic, food supplements, medical device and biocide industries with their activities.

Our project (BootYourProduct) is a collaborative platform for importers/exporters and distributors for importers/exporters and distributors where new products can be bought collaborative to achieve lower prices and distribute burden of regulatory obligations and all their associated costs. We aim to achieve lower prices for our partners and less regulatory expenses, diminishing the rate of companies placing products without a conformity assessment. This way, even the final costumer wins as he has more choice of products and the safety of his everyday cosmetics is guaranteed.

Editorial Divergência : is a publisher focused on contemporary fiction that bets preferentially on Portuguese-language writers, promoting them both in Portugal and beyond. Its values are:

  • Caring for the planet: environmentally friendly editions;
  • Take care of authors and readers: Authors are supported in disclosure and fair payment for their work without having to invest a single cent; readers will have access to quality editions at an affordable price;
  • Profit Sharing: Part of the profits are distributed to employees and invested in new authors.

Slovenia

Iurall d.o.o.

A digital platform for connecting users with lawyers. Users provide information about their legal issue(s) on a platform (confidential) and afterwards they receive feedback about the most suitable lawyer for their case. Platform and its services are available to both citizens and companies, while compensation is monetary. The final services is provided by selected user (lawyer).

Solido

A digital platform for exchange of goods/services for another goods/services (barter). It provides information about available supply, while every transaction is valued with a virtual currency, that is acceptable only on this platform. Additionally, all information about the transactions and balance is kept on the platform. It can be used by companies and citizens, while compensation is in a form of a yearly subscription and provision.

Spain

LA COLABORADORA

La Colaboradora is a co-working space with a difference: this community of some 200 entrepreneurs, freelancers and creative professionals each dedicate four hours of their time every month in return for support with launching their projects. The principle is an exchange of services, ideas and knowledge through a ‘bank time’ approach. Since its launch in 2013, the community has shared over 8,000 hours of their time, and has had a significant social and economic impact: around 75% of projects have launched or consolidated, creating new local jobs.

PENSUMO

Pensumo reward through technology (APP) the daily actions, consumption actions and its consequences (recycle, do sport, use transport…).  All using the circular economy.

Belgium (Brussels)

Cookwork
Cookwork is an online platform which helps local food professional and entrepreneurs to find professional commercial kitchen infrastructure (respecting sanitary norms) with a low investment

Usitoo

Online platform which is a library of objects of a new kind that allow individuals to find simple, economical, durable and non-bonded object borrowing solution, instead of buying objects that they use once or twice a year and which clutter your garages, cellars and attics

Projects accompagnied by BeShared

Greece

Sustainable Food Movement/Foodity  

Foodity, a food waste app for high end hotels and restaurants

Kleesto

kleesto is the tour booking engine changing the way activity providers operate the business. It is an Intelligent Booking Software for Independent Tour Operators. A B2B travel tech SaaS product that grants business intelligence and management solutions for SMB providers of tours, outdoor activities, and travel experiences.

 

The EU-GIVE and BeShared projects are co-financed by the European Union.
The sole responsibility of this content lies with the author. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein

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