AMULET, the EU-funded project supporting European SMEs, presents its final results

AMULET’s Final Event held on 16-17 October 2024, during the 13th International Trade Fair for Composite Materials KOMPOZYT-EXPO in Krakow, Poland, brought together over 100 participants including the AMULET consortium partners, most of the 15 funded collaborative projects, as well as representatives from European Commission, ELCA European Lightweight Cluster Alliance members and Fraunhofer IWU or A2LT - Austrian Advanced Lightweight Technology, to celebrate the results of the project and the three years of cluster collaboration that enabled 34 SMEs from 17 EU countries to obtain direct funding to develop innovative solutions.

AMULET's journey began with micro 42 SME consortia in Stage 1 – Feasibility study, each addressing challenges directly supplied by large industrial companies, ensuring that the needs tackled were both relevant and pressing. From these, 15 of the most promising projects advanced to Stage 2 – Demonstration and Stage 3 – Follow-up support for innovation, showcasing exceptional progress in technology development and validation. The AMULET framework provided not just financial support but also technical training and business-to-business coaching, essential for guiding these projects toward success. 

Pitching Competition & Award Ceremony

During the event, the winners of the 1st and 2nd AMULET open calls participated in  a Pitching Session where they had the opportunity to present their projects and showcase their prototype or demonstrator at AMULET’s booth.

In addition to the budget already distributed through the three stages of the AMULET demonstration programme, the AMULET consortium decided to award an extra €16 800 to the SMEs participating in stages 2 and 3 of the two open calls. 

To celebrate and promote the key role of SMEs, the three best projects from the AMULET challenge competition were selected among the 15 funded projects. The winners of the competition received the AMULET Awards and associated financial prizes.

Background information on the project 

AMULET project, funded under the HORIZON 2020 INNOSUP programme, supported and co-financed projects that aim to exploit the innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises through a cross-sectoral and funded knowledge exchange. The project is a cross-regional partnership across ten EU countries that involves seven clusters, four RTOs and two SMEs.

Overall, the AMULET project was not only about providing European SMEs with financial support to work on the prototyping, and demonstration of cutting-edge technological solutions but also helping them to further develop their solutions contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions and improving resource efficiency in the EU by boosting the role of SMEs, in which their innovations are expected to be facilitated and supported by clusters. 

AMULET provided educational support in technical-related knowledge (e.g. webinars) and business topics (e.g. B2B coaching) as well as an Ambassador Network offering business opportunities. The educational materials are collected in the repository and are available on the ELCA platform here.

Further information is available in the AMULET’s newsletter.