Earlier this month I was in Luxembourg for EBN Congress 2018, where I moderated the Pitch Event with five participants from our FET2RIN training course. While all five made great pitches, the real impact was demonstrating that researchers can pitch their research to wider audiences, given the training.

FET2RIN helps Future and Emerging Technologies researchers exploit promising research results. Over the past two years, our team of experts have trained scientists in 20 different FET projects on validating research results, connecting with early stage investors and tapping crowdfunding sources, using tools as diverse as exploitation strategy seminars and the lean start up approach.

We’re getting results: as both project coordinator and one of the coaches, I have seen many of the researchers involved in FET2RIN workshops evolve and grow to the point where they can pitch their projects’ results with real energy. The five researchers who came to Luxembourg were good examples:





Julius Georgiou – VISORSURF/AJMEDICAPS – University of Cyprus





Roland Chenu Abente Acosta – White Rabbit – University of Trento (Roland featured in our prizewinning project video)





Each was able to succinctly pitch their ideas within the five minute limit to a high-level jury, including three people (Javier Megias, Ignacio Puente and Eileen Monoley) deeply involved in the Early Stage Investing Launchpad (ESIL), plus Zhigang Qian (Belt Fa, ENRICH China) and Larissa Best (President of Luxembourg Business Angel Network, Equilibre).

Each received, in return, five minutes of feedback from the Jury, who in the end selected Julius Georgiou from Medicaps as the pitch event winner.

I felt genuine pride as I watched these researchers “launch their hearts beyond the obstacle” and pitch their research results. While many people think researchers simply cannot adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, people like Julius and Roland prove them wrong.

Of course, a few days’ training will not magically transform every researcher into an entrepreneur overnight – Europe needs many of its researchers to stay researchers! What many people miss, however, is that this sort of training makes researchers think entrepreneurially. And they’ll carry that ability forward, throughout their career. It will influence the choices they make, the research they carry out, and their openness to see it go out into the world and improve society. Which is exactly what Europe needs.





META combines venture capital fund management, entrepreneurial mentoring and innovation consultancy into an integrated Platform for transforming knowledge into growth. We invest in startups and innovators across Europe, and help governments, Institutions, regions and cities around the world foster more of them.

FET2RIN is one of our 'Research Helicopter' services, which help research/technology organisations, individual scientists and EU research projects become more entrepreneurial and better use their results.