Copernicus Accelerator by the European Commission fast-tracks business development

Marseille, 5 December 2018 – The Copernicus Accelerator business coaching programme by the European Commission (EC), accelerates the market entry of innovative space applications and products. The Accelerator supports the development of commercial space business cases with the objective to increase user uptake of Copernicus, Europe’s Earth observation (EO) programme. Successful entrants of a dedicated open call, the Copernicus Masters competition 2018, and the Copernicus Hackathons qualified for the Copernicus Accelerator programme 2018/2019.

This year’s Copernicus Accelerator Opening Bootcamp started the 9-month coaching provided to 50 startups and entrepreneurs. Hereby, 50 mentors contribute a tailored business coaching service with expert support. Mentors and mentees will be able to determine the focus of the coaching that will be matched according to their needs and expertise. In September 2019, all mentors and mentees will come together again for a closing bootcamp of this third edition.

Additionally, many teams of the 2017 Copernicus Accelerator programme displayed the progress and achievements they made since they started the Copernicus Accelerator Programme. Next to the corresponding training and coaching sessions, the business cases of the participating startups have for the first time, been presented to a public audience on 4 December via an exhibition as well as elevator pitches. The variety - from a forest alert service over fertiliser and crop yield optimisation solutions to road monitoring - of the presented applications and products demonstrated the business potential of Copernicus for industry and business as well as the importance of the Copernicus Accelerator for the user uptake of Copernicus data among startups and industry in general.

“After two very successful Accelerators in 2016 and 2017, the 2018 programme benefits from two new entry gates which had been opened: proposals through an open call and the 10 finalists of the Copernicus Hackathons. There is thus a broader variety of participants, which makes the programmes even more attractive”, declares Pierre Delsaux, Deputy Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission (EC). “With the Accelerator Programme we very much hope that we support the great ideas and the teams behind them in their further development for their own success, and also to the benefit of all.”

The Copernicus Accelerator Bootcamp was a 1,5-day event for more than 200 participants and took place during the EU Space Week 2018 in Marseille, France from 3-4 December 2018.

European Commission – DG GROWTH
The Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROWTH) is the European Commission service responsible for: Completing the Internal Market for goods and services, helping turn the EU into a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy by implementing the industrial and sectorial policies of the flagship Europe 2020 initiative, fostering entrepreneurship and growth by reducing the administrative burden on small businesses, facilitating access to funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and supporting access to global markets for EU companies. All of these actions are encapsulated in the Small Business Act, generating policy on the protection and enforcement of industrial property rights, coordinating the EU’s position and negotiations in the international intellectual property rights (IPR) system, and assisting innovators on using IP rights effectively, and implementing the EU's space policy via its two large-scale satellite programmes Copernicus (for Earth observation) and Galileo (for global navigation), as well as research actions designed to spur technological innovation and economic growth.