AGENCE POUR L'ENTREPRISE ET L'INNOVATION SA

Their core work

A.E.I. is the Walloon regional innovation and enterprise support agency based in Liège, Belgium. It operates as a node of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), helping SMEs in Wallonia access international markets, manage innovation processes, and connect with technology transfer opportunities. Their core work involves bridging the gap between research outputs and SME adoption — coaching companies on innovation management, facilitating cross-border business partnerships, and supporting SME Instrument applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

A.E.I.'s H2020 participation spans only 2015–2019, making evolution analysis limited. In the earlier period (2015–2016), their work was broader — covering peer learning, open innovation, policy mix, and ecosystem-level thinking (TRANSINNOV), alongside direct EEN services (KAMWAL 2.1). By the later period (2017–2019), the focus narrowed to operational SME innovation services and support delivery (KAMWAL 2.2, OaSIS), with less emphasis on policy-level or systemic innovation research.

A.E.I. shifted from studying innovation ecosystems toward delivering hands-on SME support, suggesting they are now focused on execution and service delivery rather than policy research.

How they like to work

A.E.I. split evenly between leading and supporting: they coordinated 2 projects and participated in 2 others (once as a third party). With 26 unique partners across 10 countries from just 4 projects, they operate in broad, multi-country consortia typical of EEN and coordination-support actions. This makes them a well-connected network node rather than a deep technical partner — useful for accessing the Walloon SME ecosystem and regional business networks.

Despite only 4 projects, A.E.I. has worked with 26 unique partners across 10 countries, reflecting the broad reach of Enterprise Europe Network consortia. Their geographic connections span well beyond Belgium into wider European innovation support networks.

What sets them apart

A.E.I. is the official Walloon innovation agency, giving it direct institutional access to the regional SME base and public innovation infrastructure in southern Belgium. For consortium builders, partnering with A.E.I. provides a gateway to Walloon SMEs and regional funding mechanisms. They are particularly valuable as a dissemination and exploitation partner who can channel project results directly to companies through their EEN mandate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TRANSINNOV
  The only funded project (EUR 50,000) where A.E.I. coordinated a multi-country peer learning exercise on improving knowledge and technology transfer to SMEs.
• OaSIS
  Participation as a third party in a project optimizing innovation support for SMEs, suggesting A.E.I. contributed specific regional expertise without being a core consortium member.