Based on a detailed analysis of the situation of UA Innovation Ecosystem after Russian invasion, partners (6 Ukrainian partners and 11 partners from 11 other EU member States with an extensive outreach capacity spanning across key EU and global markets) have put together a proposal aimed at providing support to counteract the harm done to Ukrainian startups and deep tech SMEs in the short term, building a framework that supports the Ukrainian Government’s goal of becoming a ‘start-up nation’, and increasing the role of innovators and the deep tech industry in driving growth. This will be achieved through a comprehensive portfolio of support services that combine cascade funding (10k-25k-50k grants), access to finance actions (connecting to public funds and private investors, training on EIC, EIT and other cascading opportunities etc.), deep-tech-focused incubation and acceleration programmes, and market access initiatives (targeting 10+ countries, soft landing in 10 key sectors/verticals, and working spaces in 50+ locations across Europe). Pan-European integration – which brings UA innovation closer to investors, accelerators, potential buyers, innovation agencies and peers - will also be a key component of this project. The Consortium is led by FBA (PL-based and leader of FSTP management) with key support from USF, Ukraine’s public agency to support SMEs, which will invest its own resources and guarantee synergies with UA. Other partners key to guarantee services delivery and wide impact are: EITH (KICs), PNP (investors), LXI (EU innovation stakeholders), CORKBIC (BIC network), IHS (Impact Hub Network), IOP (EEN in UA). Circa 1,000 innovators, start-ups and deep tech SMEs located in UA or created by Ukrainian citizens in other EU countries after 24.02.2022 will benefit from said support, with at least 400 expected to gain a mix of financial and non-financial support, and many others expected to access non-financial support while seeking other sources of funding.

The main objective of the project Gaming Clusters Across Multiple European Regions (GAME-ER) is to research how video games clusters emerge, develop and sustain themselves, with particular focus on local and regional clusters. Based on this research, GAME-ER will formulate a series of policy and practical recommendations which will compose an Interactive Methodological Toolkit. These recommendations are aimed especially at local and national policy and decision-makers, with the intent to help them bootstrap Cultural and Creative Industries clusters, or strengthen existing clusters in their regions or cities. Much of existing research on video game clusters concentrate on clusters outside Europe, or on European clusters in capital or large metropolitan cities (such as Helsinki or Hamburg). However local and regional clusters also are key drivers of innovation, growth and cohesion and GAME-ER will fill the gap around the limited knowledge we have about them. To achieve its ambitious objective GAME-ER a core component will be a comparative analysis of six local and regional clusters in five European countries, which include France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Scotland and Portugal. These clusters have been selected because of their different levels of maturity, and their specificities such as the concentration of human creativity or companies. Moreover GAME-ER will conduct a Europe wide analysis of the spatial organization of the European video games industry/ecosystem, with focus on local and regional clusters. Through this research the project will formulate policy and practical recommendations using a participatory approach and working with policy makers and the industry. The project is organised in six Work Packages, with 3 dedicated to research clusters and one focusing on building the project Toolkit. The project includes 16 partners from 9 countries, with expertise in social sciences and humanities, policy making, the third-sector, business and innovation.