‘SME Success story’

3rd Pan-European SME EventVision 2020Barcelona, 4th April 2014

How we started

2007

Vision to create an R&D and advanced engineering company to ‘bridge innovation gap’

• Own capital 150 K

• Loan €100K

• 20 m2 office in Barcelona

Process engineering company

Our positioning

Strategically positioned between Universities and Industry: specialising in scaling up technology & processes from lab to production line

How we grew

20073 R4SME

20082 R4SME projects 1 SME-

AG

20093 R4SMEs1 SME-AGs

20103 R4SMEs1 SME-Ags2 private contracts

20114 R4SMEs1 SME-AGs1 MANUNET1 NMP3 private contracts

20125 R4SME1 SME-AG2 DEMO1 MANUNET1 KBBE5 private contracts

20135 SME projects1 SME-AG1 DEMO1 MANUNET1 KBBE7 private contractsNew product development‘To-market orientation’

2 staff20m2

25 staffInvestment in own laboratories & workshops

32 staffCommercial teamInternational-isation (Ireland)

44 staffOperations & procedures

20 staffInvestment electronics labAgreement to access Uni labs

14 staffMove to ‘Mediterranean Technology Park’

48 staffISO & UNE Certification

A successful campaign in FP7

40 projects

2 KBBE1 NMP3 MANUNET31 Research SMEs/Ags3 DEMO Actions

34 led by IRIS

Knowledge

Continuous investment for Growth

• 48 staff• 2 sites (BCN, Dublin) • Engineering workshops• Labs (optics, telecos,

analytical, wet chemistry)

• Pilot facilities (Plasma, PEF, Ultrasound, Bioreactor, Coating line, HIS & NIR integrated into a conveyor line

• Innovation Hub (accelerator environment & sprint room)

Revenue

• > €40 M in total• > €14.5 M for

IRIS• €1.1 M from

projects led by third parties

Talent

25 %- PhD qualified

Engineering team• Optical • Mechatronic• Electronics• Programmers • Modellers• Software• Telecommunications• Mechanical

Scientific team• Chemists• Biologists• Microbiologists• Biochemists• Physicists

NetworksExperience

• Building test rigs • Scaling up prototypes• Integration &

demonstration in industry

• Laboratory validation • Industrialisation• Project Management• Knowledge

Management• Innovation

Management

Examples of scaled up results in FP7

IRIS evolution

1. Hard work2. Continuous

improvement3. Talent4. Invest, invest,

invest5. Long-term vision

Are there any keys to our success?

1. Ideas that make market sense

2. Make our ideas as ‘physical’ as possible

3. Strong and relevant partners (and win-win)

4. Branding5. Impact, impact, impact

What did we do well at proposal level?

1. Good project managers and procedures

2. Operations (from automotive sector)

3. Create a ‘project team’4. Understand who the client

is5. Risk management and

quick action

What did we do well at project level?

1. TRLs (make sure technology is ready to come out of lab)

2. Staff (right person right job)

3. Operational planning (no fire fighting!)

Lessons we learned the hard way?

The future is bright

We see H2020 as a great opportunity

• helping to bridge the gap between research and the market

• helping innovative enterprise to develop their technological breakthroughs into viable products with real commercial potential

• promoting activities where businesses set the agenda• prototypes, pilot implementations, demos, etc.

A strategy for GROWTH and JOBs

Innovation Union

V2020: Building our networks and forming part of a community

A platform for meeting RTO and SME collaborators A community to share ideas, knowledge, advice and

experience A source of partners and quality proposal concepts Visibility

IRIS has recently joined as an SME member

Building opportunities

together

What’s on the Horizon for IRIS thanks to our success in FP7?• Product launch in 2014• Branch facility in Hong Kong• 3 patent applications• 1 joint company (WHEYLAYER Ltd.)• Joint development with global

multinational for biomaterials development

• Exclusive integrator for 2 optical hardware companies

• B2B contracts with leading food & pharmaceutical companies