SMEs: Commission and the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency support SMEs in the space sector

The Commission and the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) will present the winners of the MyGalileoSolution and MyGalileoDrone competitions in the first Entrepreneurship Day 2021 virtual press conference on 3 March. The competitions showcase how the agency fosters innovation for SMEs and start-ups based on the EU Space Programme. They will feature the top 80 contestants of both MyGalileoDrone and MyGalileoSolution in three thematic areas, showcasing applications relating to drones, internet of things and mobile applications, all leveraging on Galileo satellite technology. The winning teams were selected based on their innovative use of Galileo, their market-oriented approach and commercial potential. The total prize pool of the competitions was €1.7 million, including the grand prizes for the top teams and smaller awards for qualifying solutions. Contestants were evaluated by a team of experts composed by the GSA and European Commission and the main award criteria involved innovation, Galileo relevance, market potential and feasibility in realizing the ideas. Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said: “The future of the European space industry is a combination of strong institutional leadership and European approach to New Space. The new Space entrepreneurship initiative: CASSINI launched earlier this year is made to boost start-ups and space innovation. The dynamism of European entrepreneurs using EU space technology is once more confirmed by the very positive reactions to the MyGalileo competitions.” Rodrigo da Costa, GSA Executive Director, said: “The MyGalileoSolution and MyGalileoDrone competitions play an important role in fostering the uptake of Galileo across a wide range of market segments. A key role of the GSA, and of EUSPA in the future, is to increase the competitiveness of the EU downstream industry by supporting innovators, SMEs and start-ups. These two competitions help us to do exactly that.” Both competitions are in line with the Commission’s CASSINI space entrepreneurship initiative for the period 2021-2027. First announced in the EU SME Strategy, the initiative aims to increase the number and the chances of succeeding of space-based start-ups as well as facilitate access to public and private capital for both them and SMEs. Registration to follow the press conference are open until 2 March here. For more information on the winners of the competition here.