Call – LIVING INNOVATION LAB
Join us in the digital revolution!

Background & addressed challenge

The LIVING INNOVATION LAB aims to bring innovative technologies to use and improve the capabilities of European SMEs. As a non-profit organisation, VIRTUAL VEHICLE attracts motivated SMEs to jointly develop new products, services, tools and business models with strong market potential in the digital technologies. It offers know-how, infrastructure, and network as well as financial support for selected long-term partners to experiment in the highly innovative domains of Automotive, Rail, Energy, Logistics and Robotics. Together with academic and industrial partners, VIRTUAL VEHICLE is bridging the gap between science and early technology adopters.

Offered technology

European SMEs are invited to become part of the VIRTUAL VEHICLE’s Innovation Ecosystem for potential participation within upcoming and funded R&D projects on national and European levels for innovating their products or services.

Interested SMEs benefit from:

• initiation and development of collaborative research projects
• access to VIRTUAL VEHICLEs network of 150+ Industrial and 40+ Scientific Partners
• customized technical support
• sophisticated test beds & Demonstrators
• and years of experience and expertise from 300 in-house experts working in over 40 ongoing EU projects to expand and strengthen SMEs technical skills.

The Research & Development focuses on Automated Driving, Safety & Security, Efficiency & Comfort, Virtual Product Development, Rail Systems and Predictive Operations.

Experiment scope

Successful demonstrations of new technologies maximize the benefit in exploitation as well as the realistic chances for a market uptake. The aim is to make it easier for SMEs and start-ups to join the digital revolution via embedment in different projects.

Both, SMEs from different domains who want to work together with new digital technologies are addressed, as well as those who have ideas for the joint further development of existing platforms, test beds and high-tech environments.

With a membership of 500 € / p.a., members will be considered for participation and embedment into upcoming research projects, where related project proposals are coordinated at the VIRTUAL VEHICLE, based on a success fee bilaterally agreed (in case projects are accepted). Intellectual property rights are kept as defined within the related research project cooperation agreements.

Funding Opportunities

Start-ups and SMEs benefit from various opportunities of support from the VIRTUAL VEHICLE:

Membership

Financial support for project initiation

In case your application is selected, there is little effort and no risk for you. We help to initiate collaborations and research projects and embed you into VIRTUAL VEHICLE’ s existing Partner-Network.

Conditions: Membership: 500 €/p.a.; In the event of project-proposal acceptance, we claim a success fee based on a bilateral agreement. This represents a low-risk activity for SMEs concerning proposal preparation efforts.

Accelerator Support

Financial support for accelerating product development to help SMEs to get to the market.

Depending on a successful project partnership and in case your innovative company is selected, your solution development could be accelerated. You will get access to international networks, know-how and infrastructure, as well as improved market access. VIRTUAL VEHICLE would embed your product / service into follow-up research activities and disseminate your solution via the VIRTUAL VEHICLE network. Finally, we offer proportional funding to accelerate your product development.

Conditions: After successful completion of the product development and market exploitation, we claim a later repayment based on a bilateral agreement. Generated intellectual property rights remain with you.

K2-Research Project

Aligned with the defined long-term Austrian COMET K2 research program fast-track experiments (up to 6 months), executed at VIRTUAL VEHICLE, can also be public (co-)funded within the K2 funding scheme.

Your application will be reviewed by our Scientific Assessment Board. The board will evaluate the applicant’s proposals and select proper candidates. The final number of applications being selected might be different for each call.

Only selected applications will get our support.

Call Information Revolution

If you want to join the digital revolution, we are happy to receive your application!

Please use our online application form to send us your proposal and describe:

• In which technology field or discipline are you active
• Your planned application concept and its expected use
• The preliminary benefit
• The industrial relevance and potential impact of your experiment, as well as your plans for exploitation of the results and the future business outlook

Proposals are very welcome from organisations located in any EU member state and must be written in English or German. Submissions done in any other language will not be evaluated.

Contact: lil@v2c2.at

By transmitting your proposal for the “Open Calls – Living Innovation Lab”, you agree to our Data Protection Notice and that your submitted application will be evaluated by an expert jury of VIRTUAL VEHICLE representatives. Virtual Vehicle reserves the right to reject any application at any time without giving reasons. The decision is binding and final. The right to appeal at court is excluded. Further details will be agreed in a separate agreement between accepted applicants and Virtual Vehicle. Any liability of Virtual Vehicle is excluded, except as stipulated by applicable mandatory law. Furthermore, you confirm that the contents of the submitted proposal are independently developed by you without the use of confidential information from third parties and are free of third-party rights to the best of your knowledge.