CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE ET D INDUSTRIEDE REGION HAUTS-DE-FRANCE

Their core work

CCI Hauts-de-France is the regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry serving northern France's business community from Lille. Under H2020, they operated the EURACTE INNOV program — a long-running initiative to help SMEs in the region access EU innovation funding, particularly the SME Instrument and later the EIC Pilot. Their core work involves coaching companies through innovation management, building funding applications, and connecting local businesses to European competitiveness and market access opportunities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014-2016, CCI Hauts-de-France focused on establishing basic innovation management support services and helping SMEs navigate the SME Instrument application process. From 2017 onward, the program matured significantly — adding competitiveness coaching, market access support, and adapting to the transition from SME Instrument to the EIC Pilot. The shift from internal innovation capacity building toward external market orientation signals a move from "help SMEs get funded" to "help SMEs grow commercially."

Moving from pure funding support toward broader commercialization and market access advisory, aligned with the EU's shift from SME Instrument to EIC Accelerator.

How they like to work

CCI Hauts-de-France operates almost exclusively as a solo coordinator — all five projects were led by them with only one unique consortium partner across the entire portfolio. This is typical of Coordination and Support Action grants where a regional body delivers services locally. Working with them means engaging a self-sufficient operator rather than a consortium-style collaborator; they are best suited as a regional delivery partner in larger networks rather than a co-development ally.

Extremely narrow network: only 1 unique partner from 1 country across all five projects. Their strength is regional reach within Hauts-de-France rather than European consortium building.

What sets them apart

CCI Hauts-de-France brings something most research organizations cannot: direct, daily contact with thousands of SMEs in one of France's most industrialized regions. Their six-year track record running the same EURACTE INNOV program through multiple iterations demonstrates institutional commitment and accumulated know-how in SME innovation coaching. For consortium builders, they are a credible regional multiplier who can deliver innovation support services to SMEs at scale in northern France.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EURACTE-INNOV III
  Largest single grant (EUR 105,714) and the mature phase of the program, covering full innovation management capacity enhancement with Key Account Manager model.
• EURACTE-INNOV III (2020-21)
  Final iteration that adapted to the EIC Pilot transition, showing the organization's ability to evolve with EU funding instrument changes.