The 35 jury members of the SME instrument program decide about an annual budget of 500 m € which is granted to hightech startups and other SME in their growth phase.

Through the first cut-off, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a radically high-potential idea have new possibilities to be supported by this EU program. Sonja Jost was one of 34 experts internationally selected to judge European SMEs pitches of up to € 2.5 million EU funding.

Her entrepreneurial experience in marketable innovation solutions and upscaling as an engineer, as well as financing of Green Chemistry opportunities was recognized as a clear added value for the SME applicant innovators. Besides Sonja Jost, mainly investors, entrepreneurs, but also experts from larger companies and innovation centers interviewed and evaluated the applicants.

About the SME Instrument:

The EIC SME Instrument supports top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies and scientists with funding opportunities and accompanying services to scale up and accelerate their innovations onto the market.