Startups guide 2017

TCBL HANDBOOKS

TCBL STARTUPS GUIDE – 2017 EDITION

Co-funded by Horizon 2020

TCBL 646133 – ANNEX IV TO D 7.2 31st October 2017

INTRODUCTION The TCBL project delivererd the first Call for startups in early 2017 and is ready to launch the second Call, expected for December 2017 with a decision in Spring 2018.

This guidebook targets those interested in participating in the TCBL Startups program through the second Call, and provides a step-by-step explanation of what to expect and how the process works.

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THE TCBL GUIDE FOR STARTUPS

The TCBL project has carried out its first Call for Startups in early 2017, and the seven winners were announced at the #TCBL conference in Athens, June 20-21. We are now ready to launch the second Call, with the launch date expected for December 2017.

In the Startups programme, TCBL is actively looking for innovators interested in the entrepreneurial discovery of opportunities and markets triggered by the transformation of the T&C sector. TCBL believes that start-ups are an essential part of an innovative ecosystem.

Do you want to get on board?

If yes, follow this five-step guide to apply and get ready for the launch!

STEP ONE: IS IT FOR YOU ?

The Startups Call is open to post-graduate students, PhD students, young researchers, those in a research role in industry, makers, or anyone with an innovative idea in the fields of design, textile production, fashion distribution, clothing production, logistics and any other aspects of textile and clothing industry to be developed though the launch of a startup company.

If you think this call is for you, move on to the next step.

STEP TWO: TEST YOUR IDEAS TCBL continues to identify clear market needs through the activity of its Labs and Business Cases. These needs are published on the Wave platform (http://wave.consorzioarca.it/) which allows candidates to share ideas and develop proposals together with the innovation community.

If you or your team develop a sufficiently attractive business concept based on these or other needs related to design, production, and distribution in the T&C sector you can start to test your ideas through the platform, engaging with other innovators like you.

STEP THREE: CHECK YOUR ALIGNMENT WITH THE TCBL PRINCIPLES TCBL is promoting a common vision within a value-based community made up of researchers, consultants, and T&C businesses. The key values have been set forth as the seven TCBL principles.

TCBL Startups Guide – 2017 Edition TCBL Handbooks Textile & Clothing Business Labs

Startups will become an integral part of this community, and their business ideas and working practice will also need to comply with the TCBL principles, listed below.

CURIOSITY 1.

Ability to identify problems of relevance to the industry.

2.

Interest in engagement with innovation initiatives.

3.

Willingness to learn and experiment.

VIABILITY 4.

Market relevance of issues raised.

5.

Alignment with relevant trends.

6.

Added business value.

DURABILITY 7.

Commitment to the environment.

8.

Commitment to durable design.

9.

Scalability of sustainability approach proposed.

MULTIPLICITY 10.

Disciplinary and cultural richness.

11.

Orientation to customer needs.

12.

Business model innovation potential.

OPENNESS 13.

Contribution to shared resources and services.

14.

Willingness to adopt open innovation.

15.

Commitment to transparency.

RESPECT 16.

Soundness of authorship, IPR and privacy policies.

17.

Respect for supply chain business information.

18.

Social responsibility and fair trade practices.

RESPONSIBILITY 19.

Availability of appropriate resources and facilities.

20.

Capacity to implement business projects.

21.

Quality assurance.

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TCBL Startups Guide – 2017 Edition TCBL Handbooks Textile & Clothing Business Labs

STEP FOUR: SIGN UP Have you signed up to the TCBL community at www.tcbl.eu ? Signing up gives you access to a broad range of services (using the common Login with TCBL facility) and will also keep you up to date with developments in TCBL through our regular newsletter.

STEP FIVE: DEVELOP YOUR BUSINESS IDEA Now it is time to shape your idea into something more professional. There are many tools that can help to do this, but we prefer the Business Model Canvas shown below.

You can get a blank template off the web and adapt it to develop your business proposition. In addition, think about the following questions in relation to your business idea.

Aspect

Questions to Answer

Problems to face

What is the problem? Who perceives this problem? What are the consequences of the problem?

Solution

What are you offering? How does it address the problem? Why is this solution better than others?

Customer

Who are the target customers? What value are you delivering to them?

Business Model

What business model is the project based on? How is the value generated, captured, and monetized? How is revenue generated?

The Team

Who is in your core team? What expert support can you count on? What additional figures will be needed?

The Market

Who are the clients? Who are the users? How big is the market? What’s your go-to-market strategy? Who are the main competitors?

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3. NEXT STEPS If you follow the steps suggested in this guidebook, you’ll be ready for the Call when it is announced. The procedure will likely be similar to that of the 2016 Call, where a concept paper was first requested through a dedicated form with the following questions: • • • • • • • • • •

Objectives of the proposal Description of product and services Technical, scientific and manufactoring process state of the art Characteristics and size of your target market Economic, financial market goals Planning and rough Cost Evaluation Human resources Describe skills you needed How the proposed solution meets with TCBL principles Innovations identified (social and technology based)

Those interested were supported in completing the form, and a TCBL Selection Team then proceeded to evaluate which entries best met the evaluation criteria of: innovativeness, potential impact, market and technological readiness (TRL) of the proposed idea. Maturity of the technology to be used, market traction, and lack of barriers were assessed, but also the coherence of the business strategy with TCBL set of principles. All evaluation procedures are managed under the responsibility of the TCBL project consortium, in compliance with principles of openness, fairness, and transparency.

Following the selection of the winning proposals, each is paired to one of the TCBL Business Labs with greater experience in business incubation. This allows to directly support the development of the Startup businesses together with the TCBL network of Labs and Enterprises who can help complete and test the market concepts and value chains.

At the same time, training, mentorship and coaching activities – delivered to startups via webinars or at Lab premises – are being co-designed involving partners, advisors and business services. When necessary, the right innovation and internationalization services are proposed.

The coaching plan deals with three main areas: • • •

cross-border growth; access to finance; access to markets.

The TCBL Startup program offers concrete services to develop new business concepts in the context of a growing innovation ecosystem. Stay tuned for the second Call for TCBL Startups and take advantage of this unique opportunity.

TCBL Startups Guide – 2017 Edition TCBL Handbooks Textile & Clothing Business Labs

DOCUMENT INFORMATION REVISION HISTORY This guidebook is issued as Annex IV to TCBL Deliverable 7.2, “Exploitation and Impact Plan: Release 2 after Internal Pilot Phase”. Authors: Simon Delaere (imec), Paolo Guarnieri (Prato), Michele Osella (ISMB), Luca Leonardi (ARCA), Jesse Marsh (Prato) and Fabrizio Cardinali (Skillaware) This guidebood specifically is authored by Luca Leonardi of ARCA.

REVISION Version 1 Version 2

DATE 25.10.2017 31.10.2017

AUTHOR Luca Leonardi Jesse Marsh

ORGANISATION

DESCRIPTION

ARCA Prato

First draft for layout and review Layout as TCBL Guidebook

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This deliverable contains original unpublished work except where clearly indicated otherwise.

Acknowledgement of previously published material and of the work of others has been made through appropriate citation, quotation or both.

COPYRIGHT This work is licensed by the TCBL Consortium under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, 2015-2016. For details, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ The TCBL Consortium, consisting of: Municipality of Prato (PRATO) Italy; German Institutes for Textile and Fiber Research - Center for Management Research (DITF) Germany; Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (ISMB) Italy; Skillaware (SKILL) Italy; The Oxford Brookes University (OBU) UK; imec (IMEC) Belgium; Tavistock Institute (TAVI) UK; Materials Industrial Research & Technology Center S.A. (MIRTEC) Greece; Waag Society (WAAG) Netherlands; Huddersfield & District Textile Training Company Ltd (TCOE) UK; eZavod (eZAVOD) Slovenia; Consorzio Arca (ARCA) Italy; Unioncamere del Veneto (UCV) Italy; Hellenic Clothing Industry Association (HCIA) Greece; Sanjotec - Centro Empresarial e Tecnológico (SANJO) Portugal; Clear Communication Associates Ltd (CCA) UK.

DISCLAIMER All information included in this document is subject to change without notice. The Members of the TCBL Consortium make no warranty of any kind with regard to this document, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Members of the TCBL Consortium shall not be held liable for errors contained herein or direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The TCBL project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme for research, technology development, and innovation under Grant Agreement n.646133.

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