FINANZIARIA REGIONALE PER LO SVILUPPO DELLA LOMBARDIA (FINLOMBARDA)

Their core work

Finlombarda is the financial development agency of the Lombardy Region in Italy, acting as the regional government's operational arm for innovation support and SME competitiveness. Under H2020, they ran the KAMINLER initiative across five consecutive editions, providing Key Account Management (KAM) and coaching services to help SMEs in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna access EU funding instruments like the SME Instrument, FET-Open, and Fast Track to Innovation. They bridge regional economic policy with EU innovation programs, helping local businesses navigate and benefit from European research funding.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

From 2014 to 2019, Finlombarda focused almost exclusively on SME support services — coaching, KAM, technology transfer, and helping businesses access EU instruments like the SME Instrument. Starting in 2020, they expanded into participatory governance and citizen engagement through the TRANSFORM project, which introduced co-design, citizen science, and social innovation into their portfolio. This signals a broadening from pure business support toward inclusive regional innovation policy — connecting Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) with citizen participation.

Finlombarda is evolving from a pure SME service provider toward a regional innovation orchestrator that integrates citizen engagement and co-creation into territorial development strategies.

How they like to work

Finlombarda overwhelmingly leads its projects — 5 out of 6 H2020 projects as coordinator. The KAMINLER series was run essentially as a recurring regional service contract, suggesting they prefer to own and operate programs rather than join large research consortia. Their one participant role (TRANSFORM, with broader European partners) shows willingness to join collaborative networks when the topic extends beyond their core operational mandate. With 26 partners across 5 countries, their network is moderate but regionally anchored.

Finlombarda has worked with 26 unique partners across 5 countries, but most collaboration is concentrated in their recurring KAMINLER programme with Italian regional partners. The TRANSFORM project brought their first significant pan-European consortium experience.

What sets them apart

Finlombarda occupies a rare niche as a regional financial agency that directly operates EU innovation support programmes rather than just funding them. Their five consecutive KAMINLER editions demonstrate institutional continuity and deep operational knowledge of how SMEs in northern Italy interact with EU instruments. For consortium builders, they offer a direct pipeline to the SME ecosystem of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna — two of Italy's most industrially productive regions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• KAMINLER
  Five consecutive editions (2014-2021) with growing budgets make this one of the longest-running regional SME support initiatives under H2020, demonstrating sustained EU trust in their delivery.
• TRANSFORM
  Their only non-KAMINLER project and only participant role — marks a strategic pivot into citizen engagement, co-creation, and Smart Specialisation Strategy governance.