HANDWERKSKAMMER FUR MUNCHEN UND OBERBAYERN

Their core work

The Handwerkskammer für München und Oberbayern is the Chamber of Crafts representing skilled trades and craft businesses across Munich and Upper Bavaria — one of Germany's most economically active regions. As an Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) partner, they deliver innovation management support directly to SMEs in the trades sector, using structured assessment tools like IMP³rove and Innovation Health Checks. Their core role is bridging the gap between EU innovation programmes (Horizon 2020, COSME, EIC) and the thousands of small craft enterprises that rarely engage with EU-level research or funding on their own.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their focus has been remarkably consistent across 2015-2021, centered on SME innovation management in Bavaria through the InnoBavaria project series. The main evolution is in sophistication of tools: early work (2015-2016) focused broadly on innovation management and key account management, while later phases (2019-2021) adopted specific diagnostic frameworks like IMP³rove and Innovation Health Check, and expanded advisory scope to include the European Innovation Council (EIC). This reflects a maturation from general SME support toward structured, instrument-specific innovation advisory services.

Moving toward more formalized innovation assessment methodologies and expanding their advisory scope to include newer EU instruments like EIC, suggesting growing capacity to connect craft SMEs with advanced funding opportunities.

How they like to work

Exclusively a participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, always joining as a regional delivery partner within the EEN consortium. With only 9 unique consortium partners all within 1 country, they operate within a tight, stable German network rather than building diverse international partnerships. This is typical for a regional chamber: reliable delivery of local services within a broader network framework, not a consortium-building organization.

A compact, domestically focused network of 9 partners within Germany, reflecting their role as a regional EEN node. Their partnerships are stable and repeat across consecutive InnoBavaria phases rather than diversified across different project types.

What sets them apart

What sets the Handwerkskammer apart is direct access to the skilled trades sector — an enormous but often overlooked segment of the German economy comprising thousands of small craft businesses that typical innovation programmes struggle to reach. They combine the trust and institutional authority of a statutory chamber with hands-on EEN service delivery, making them an effective last-mile channel for getting EU innovation tools into the hands of traditional SMEs. For any consortium needing to demonstrate real impact on craft and trade SMEs in southern Germany, they are a natural partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InnoBavaria_5
  The most mature iteration of their long-running programme, incorporating IMP³rove diagnostics and EIC advisory — represents peak capability.
• InnoBavaria_2
  Their entry point into H2020, establishing the Bavarian SME innovation support model that was sustained and refined across four consecutive phases.