INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE LA COMPETITIVIDAD EMPRESARIAL

Their core work

IVACE is the Valencia regional government's agency for business competitiveness, acting as a public intermediary that helps SMEs improve their innovation management capacity. Through H2020, they operated as a Key Account Manager (KAM) under the EU's SME Instrument program, delivering innovation assessments, diagnostic audits, and coaching plans to growth-oriented SMEs. They use the IMP3rove methodology to benchmark and strengthen SME innovation strategies, bridging the gap between EU innovation support programs and the companies that need them most.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014-2016, IVACE established itself as an SME Instrument coach delivering innovation assessments and coaching plans, with a strong emphasis on peer learning and building innovation support service methodologies. From 2017 onward, the focus narrowed and matured into repeatable KAM (Key Account Management) delivery cycles under the INNOVACCION branding, emphasizing structured needs analysis over exploratory peer learning. A brief diversification into social innovation (ESSI, 2017) did not become a sustained direction.

IVACE is consolidating around structured, repeatable SME innovation support delivery rather than expanding into new thematic areas — expect them to continue as a reliable KAM service provider in future programs.

How they like to work

IVACE overwhelmingly leads its own projects (6 of 8 as coordinator), typically running small Coordination and Support Actions rather than joining large research consortia. With 20 unique partners across 9 countries, they maintain a moderately broad European network but rotate partners rather than building deep repeated alliances. This profile suggests a self-directed agency that designs and runs its own support programs, bringing in partners as needed rather than embedding into others' research agendas.

IVACE has collaborated with 20 distinct partners across 9 European countries, reflecting a broad but not deep network typical of a regional agency running successive rounds of EU-supported SME services rather than building long-term research partnerships.

What sets them apart

IVACE brings something rare to a consortium: direct, operational access to the SME ecosystem of Spain's Valencia region combined with years of hands-on experience delivering EU innovation support programs. Unlike research institutes or consultancies, they are a public body with institutional continuity and a mandate to serve regional businesses, making them a credible and low-risk partner for any project requiring SME engagement, dissemination to industry, or innovation capacity building on the ground.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SEIMED INNOSUP (2017-2018)
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 159,250) and the most mature iteration of their flagship SME innovation management service line.
• EFFECTIVE
  Their only manufacturing/Factory of the Future project — shows capacity to engage with industrial technology transfer beyond pure innovation management.
• ESSI
  Sole social innovation project addressing public-private co-design and social enterprise finance, demonstrating thematic flexibility beyond their core SME coaching mandate.