SecurIT, the EU-funded project supporting European security SMEs, presents its final results in Paris

The SecurIT project, funded under the HORIZON 2020 INNOSUP programme, supported and co-financed the development of collaborative projects working on the prototyping, and demonstration of cutting-edge technological solutions for safer, and more resilient cities and territories.

Overall, the SecurIT project was not only about providing European security SMEs with financial support but also helping them to further develop their solutions. They provided continuous mentoring, access to additional R&D funding (through the Regional Invest Tool) and a network offering business opportunities (eg. European security solutions mapping, Ambassador Clusters Network).

SecurIT, it’s a wrap!

The final event (on 21 May), in Paris brought together over 80 participants, including the SecurIT consortium partners, most of the 42 funded collaborative projects, as well as representatives from the European Commission and several security specialists (such as the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems), to celebrate the results of the project and the three years of cluster collaboration that enabled 95 SMEs to obtain direct funding to develop innovative security solutions.

SecurIT in a few figures:

• 8 European partners : Safe Cluster, LSEC, Pole SCS, L3CE, Systematic, Security Delta (HSD), Center for Defence, Space & Security (CenSec), FundingBox.
• 42 funded projects (28 demonstrations et 14 prototypes)
• 95 beneficiary SMEs from 23 countries
• EUR 3.5 million distributed to SMEs (from EUR 74 000 to 88 000 per project)

The SecurIT partner LSEC - Leaders in Security also presented the European CYSSME project, to illustrate post-SecurIT collaboration between funded companies and members of the SecurIT consortium. The SecurIT project has permitted to build strong synergies between security key players in Europe, with a special emphasis on end-user involvement, and the project has also been a springboard for some SMEs to obtain other European projects and additional funding.

SecurIT Awards Ceremony

The day was concluded with the SecurIT awards ceremony, that rewarded six promising projects for the development of their innovative solutions (financial prizes ranging from EUR 7 500 to EUR 10 000 per project). 

The winning projects were:  
Open Call 1
•      Demonstration: C-SHIELD & FusionSec 
•      Prototype: VASCREEN 

Open Call 2
•      Demonstration: OPTIMIZ NETWORK & EV-SAFE
•      Prototype: ERMINE

The awards ceremony highlighted the relevance of cascade financing schemes (of which SecurIT is a part) for SMEs, as a means of validating and deploying innovative technological PoCs in a collaborative manner.