UpSpark is an EU grants consultancy providing a full spectrum of services in applying for EU funding from Horizon Europe and other international funding programmes.
Our mission is to spark up the development of bold, revolutionary ideas and turn them into marketable products with widespread impact on societies and economies around the world.
We know that building a successful company requires vast amounts of time, resources, and funding. Therefore, we strive to ease this process for you by offloading a great amount of the tedious and troublesome tasks related to applying for EU funding onto UpSpark. With us, you can focus on the core of your technology development and business scale-up activities, letting the experts take care of your EU project.
Programs
We are experts in non-dilutive funding from Horizon Europe and other international grant programmes.
We specialize in the most business-oriented and impact-driven funding schemes such as:
EIC Accelerator
Up to €17.5 million of blended funding for bringing game-changing deep-tech innovations to the market, including:
- €2.5 million in grant
- €15.0 million in equity
Eurostars
Diversified grant funding mechanism for SME-led consortia developing market-driven innovations.
EIC Pathfinder
Up to €3-4 million of grant funding for early-stage high-risk breakthrough ideas with the potential to create new markets and address global challenges.
EIC Transition
Up to €2.5 million of grant funding for maturing the revolutionary technological concepts and turning them into business ideas.
Ideal for:
- SMEs and mid-caps
- relatively mature solutions where critical technological risks have already been overcome (TRL 5/6 or higher)
- testing and demonstrating solutions in operational environment
- commercialization and market scaling
Ideal for:
- SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation
Ideal for:
- consortia of at least three independent legal entities (e.g. universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, industrial partners or natural persons)
- early stage development of ambitious visions for radically new technologies of the future (TRL 1-4)
- turning science into technologies
Ideal for:
- SMEs, research performing organisations or small consortia (incl. large companies)
- advancing ideas beyond the laboratory PoP (proof of principle) into demonstration-ready prototypes (TRL 3/4 – TRL 5/6)
- developing a business case and business model towards future commercialisation
1/4
How we work
At UpSpark we do not want to be a one-off service provider, but rather a long-term partner for your business. Therefore, we carefully investigate your problems, needs, and expectations to efficiently build and implement a tailored EU funding strategy. We chose to work on very few cherrypicked projects at a time, working hand-in-hand with your team, and diving deep into every endeavour. Because every project matters.
01 Step Project assessment and due diligence
02 Step Proposal development
03 Step Project management
Our process of selecting potential EU grant winners and matching funding vehicle(s) that suit their needs is the underlying spark for future success. We conduct a thorough due diligence process that includes:
- Soundness of the project concept
- Innovative potential
- Expected future impact
- Market potential and scalability
- Technological and financial feasibility
Developing a grant proposal to the most competitive funding programmes is no easy task and a long-term commitment that requires full engagement of both the applicant company and the consultants. Therefore, we work in a partnership model, where UpSpark is managing the whole process and handling the paperwork, while Partners fuel us with information, domain expertise, and market insights.
What would be the sense of winning the grant, if you could not utilize it the way you intended? We want to make sure this does not happen, so we provide support in:
- Grant Agreement negotiation and signature
- Communication with Project Officers and the EU
- Project accounting and reporting
1/3
For whom
We work with clients across different sectors and industries, utilizing the versatility and flexibility of the UpSpark team. The technology and business areas where we have the deepest expertise to date are:
Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Med-tech
Clean-tech
Agritech
Mobility
Artificial Intelligence
1/6
Why us?
Our business philosophy is centred around the four values:
Transparency
Trust and goodwill are the cornerstones of every collaboration. Therefore, in our relations with clients and partners, we cherish a culture of open communication and free flow of information. Plus we never dodge responsibility.
Effort
We believe in the ideas of our partners and align our objectives with theirs. Therefore, we do not hesitate to go the extra mile when working on a project, always ready to assist.
Quality
Our goal is not only to meet the customer's expectations, but also to exceed them, consistently, whenever possible. Our business model based on the “quality fee” reflects and reinforces this attitude.
Integrity
We are operating in accordance with a strong set of moral values and high ethical standards. This is what lays foundations of trust and loyalty under all our activities and business relations.
1/4
Testimonials/Case studies
We let our successes speak for ourselves. This is what our clients have to say about UpSpark:
"We have learned of UpSpark by word of mouth while searching for assistance in applying to the Delta Tissue (DT) program offered by Wellcome Leap. At Pixelgen we were convinced that our unique technology perfectly fits the ambitious objectives of DT, i.e. creating a ground-breaking platform capable of tackling some of the world's most challenging infectious and non-communicable diseases (cancer, tuberculosis, malaria) through profiling tissue states and predicting transitions between them.
In the course of our collaboration, UpSpark reviewed the application we drafted. Even though we worked under significant time pressure and with vague program guidelines, UpSpark managed to provide valuable feedback and enhance the proposal overall. Eventually, the project was successful, receiving significant non-dilutive funding. We are happy to have used their services and highly recommend UpSpark as a reliable and knowledgeable advisor for research and innovation projects."
Simon Fredriksson, CEO at Pixelgen Technologies & Partner at Colibri Ventures
"I met Jakub in 2016. Since then, I worked with him on several occasions when applying for EU funding from the European Commission. With Jakub’s help, Ilya Pharma secured approx. € 7.0 million in grant funding from the SME Instrument and EIC Accelerator programmes and € 4.0 million in equity investment from the EIC Fund. The thorough processes for project planning and follow-up allowed for these successful outcomes, while the funding we received has played a material part in the scale-up of the company and its ability to secure additional private funding. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the years to come and highly recommend Jakub and UpSpark to any company seeking EU support and professional, honest advice in the process."
Evelina Vågesjö PhD MBA, Cofounder and CEO at Ilya Pharma AB
"Over the 2021-2022 period, QZ Solutions collaborated with UpSpark on a Feasibility Study and an EIC Accelerator project. Even though eventually we were unable to win the prestigious EICA grant, we obtained other EU money along the way and performed a comprehensive technology and business assessment that added depth and new angles to our business strategy.
We can give UpSpark only high praise for the professionalism and dedication they presented throughout the process. The three things that impressed me the most are understanding the nuances of the EICA programme at the highest granularity, work & business ethics, and individual approach.
Unlike other consultancies we worked with before, UpSpark goes all-in when crafting the project and EU application, leaving no stone unturned. As a result, we received comprehensive top-quality content that we are already using in our communication with investors, business partners, and clients, as well as in other EU proposals and documentation.
I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the coming years and highly recommend UpSpark to any company wishing to apply for EU funding or conduct an insightful feasibility analysis of their business and technology."
Zbigniew Kawalec, CEO at QZ Solutions
1/3
Looking for more information? Want to join UpSpark and help us forge research and innovation excellence in Europe? Feel free to contact us at any time.