INNOVHUB - STAZIONI SPERIMENTALI PER L'INDUSTRIA SRL

Their core work

INNOVHUB is a Milan-based industrial research centre that bridges the gap between EU-funded research and business adoption, particularly for SMEs in northern Italy (Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna). Their core work involves innovation coaching, technology transfer, and Key Account Management (KAM) services that help small companies access and benefit from EU innovation instruments. They also contribute applied research expertise in areas like bioeconomy valorisation, manufacturing resource exchange, and vehicle emissions monitoring.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

From 2015 to 2018, INNOVHUB was firmly rooted in innovation support services — coaching SMEs, technology transfer, bioeconomy commercialisation, and helping businesses navigate EU funding instruments. From 2019 onward, while maintaining their KAM coaching backbone, they branched into applied technical domains: vehicle emissions monitoring (CARES) and manufacturing platform ecosystems (MANU-SQUARE). This signals a shift from pure advisory services toward contributing domain-specific research expertise alongside their innovation management capabilities.

INNOVHUB is evolving from a pure innovation intermediary toward an organisation that combines business support services with hands-on technical research participation, making them increasingly useful as partners who understand both the science and the market.

How they like to work

INNOVHUB overwhelmingly operates as a consortium partner (6 of 7 projects), with only one coordinator role (ProBIO). Their 51 unique partners across 20 countries indicate a wide, non-repetitive network — they join diverse consortia rather than relying on a fixed circle. This makes them an accessible, low-friction partner: experienced in EU project work, comfortable in supporting roles, and well-connected across European innovation ecosystems.

With 51 unique consortium partners spanning 20 countries, INNOVHUB has built a broad European network despite modest project volume. Their connections are geographically diverse rather than concentrated in any single region, reflecting their role as an innovation intermediary linking different ecosystems.

What sets them apart

INNOVHUB sits at an unusual intersection: they are an industrial research centre that specialises in helping SMEs commercialise research rather than just producing it. Their sustained KAMINLER involvement (four rounds) shows deep expertise in the EU's SME support instruments — few organisations have this kind of continuity in coaching programmes. For consortium builders, they offer a rare combination: credible research credentials plus practical experience in getting results to market.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ProBIO
  Their only coordinator role — a bioeconomy commercialisation project that demonstrates their ability to lead multi-partner efforts in technology transfer.
• MANU-SQUARE
  Their largest single grant (EUR 212,500), a manufacturing ecosystem platform project representing their move into more technically ambitious work.
• CARES
  A significant departure from their advisory roots — applied research on city-scale vehicle emissions remote sensing, running until 2023 and signalling their technical diversification.