Rome, July 13th 2007 High-growth innovative SMEs Aleardo FURLANI

2 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th Aleardo Furlani, CEO of INNOVA S.p.A. 2.INNOVA S.p.A., a Technology Valorisation Company: Applied Research, Seed capital and Innovation Consulting, present in 6 Countries (Italy, USA, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, France). 3.The presentation has been realized on the basis of a work carried out in May 2007 within the framework of the INNO- Learning Platform-coordinated by INNOVA Europe Introduction

3 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 The most widely definition used in the literature characterizes “high growth firms” as having a sales growth rate of at least 20% per year for three or more consecutive years, from a base of at least $ in revenues at least doubling in size over that four year period. Gazelles, the concept/1

4 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 Empirical studies confirm the importance of high-growth firms for job creation : United Kingdom: 4% of new start-up survivors in the UK were responsible for 50% of jobs created by all new firms 10 years later. USA.: 3% of the fastest growing firms, generated over 70% of the new jobs created by new firms Recently, the first Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report on “high-expectation entrepreneurship” showed less than 10% of the population of nascent and new entrepreneurs, were responsible for up to 80% of total expected job creation by all entrepreneurs. Gazelles, the concept/2

5 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th New typology of enterprises receiving increasing attention at EU level: high–growth innovative SMEs or “gazelles”. 2.Gazelles provide high returns for investors, promote regional development, generate satisfaction for managers & employees, and play a great contribution to job creation. 3.Overall policy objective two-fold: (i) to raise the number of high-growth innovative SMEs to create jobs and to contribute to economic prosperity throughout Europe and (ii) to create a favorable environment (framework conditions) for existing gazelles to further develop and grow. Conclusions: The main challenges/1

6 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 However, not an easy task for several reasons: 1.There is still no commonly accepted definition of “fast” or “high- growth”. 2.Growth is not a linear process but follows irregular patterns 3.Rapid growth, although desirable, also implies high risk and produces dramatic changes in the scale and scope of a firm’s activities. 4.The rapid pace of growth and change implies that there will always be a temporal gap between the demands of the high- growth venture and the responses given by the structures and systems that are in place to support them. Conclusions: The main challenges/2

7 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 Therefore: 1.The “identification and selection” of the recipients of the support from public intervention. There is also a methodological issue regarding the type of index/variables that should be used to select the population of high-growth innovative firms. 2.How to offer high-growth innovative SMEs an appropriate mix of value added services and the necessary externalities facilitating the development of an advanced/modern business service infrastructure, sophisticated enough to cater to the needs of the enterprises, which have the potential to become gazelles and for those who are already gazelles. Conclusions: The main challenges/3

8 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 Identification and selection of high-growth enterprises Service package tailored to meet the needs of high- growth ventures Qualification/accreditation of professional intermediaries Evaluation process / Fast response Multi-level training (for policy makers, service providers, entrepreneurs and workers) Conclusions: Type of activities to be developed

9 Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer Rome, July 13th 2007 The launch of a trans-national policy cooperation projects in support of gazelles should count on a leveraging effect on the Structural Funds. ERDF and ESF should devote significant financial resources to support innovative actions as stated in the Lisbon Strategy and the action should leverage these funds by generating strong momentum and investment in favour of gazelles. Important role of role of CIP ( Pro-INNO & Europe Innova) and the EU R&D Framework programme Conclusions: The main challenges/1