Brussels, October 10th, 2017 at 9 pm, from left to right: Corina Crețu (EU Commissioner), Lieve Hoflack (Project Manager), Wim Soetaert (CEO Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant), Anne Wetzel (Director of the EU department of the Hauts-de-France Region), Lambert van Nistelrooij (MEP)
The Bio Base NWE project, predecessor of BioBase4SME and coordinated by Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant from 2013 to 2015, won the RegioStars Award 2017 in the category ‘Smart Specialisation for SME Innovation‘. The winners of the RegioStars Awards 2017 were announced during a ceremony on October 10th, in the frame of the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels.
Bio Base NWE, co-financed by the INTERREG IVB programme of the European Union, brought together bio-based economy experts from eight organisations in five different countries. Through this network, it provided technological solutions and networking opportunities to more than 755 SMEs, identified hurdles SMEs encounter during their innovation track and translated these into policy recommendations. 27 SMEs received financial support through the project to conduct feasibility studies and scale-up trials at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Ghent, Belgium). This support created a substantial leverage effect: up to €71million of investments and the creation of 320 new jobs in the biobased economy in North-West Europe.
Good news for SMEs active in the biobased economy that missed out on Bio Base NWE: check out its successor BioBase4SME!