PNO INNOVATION UNIPESSOAL LDA

Their core work

PNO Innovation is the Portuguese arm of PNO Group, one of Europe's larger innovation consultancies. They do not run labs or build prototypes themselves — instead they support research consortia with grant writing, project management, dissemination, exploitation strategy, and business case development for results coming out of H2020 projects. Their involvement as a third party across very different scientific domains (cardiac regeneration, advanced membranes, energy-efficient buildings) is the signature of a services-and-exploitation partner rather than a technical contributor. For consortium builders, they bring administrative, communication, and commercialisation capacity rather than scientific depth.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 footprint (projects starting 2020) centred on health regenerative technology (BRAV3) and nano-enabled membrane manufacturing (INNOMEM). The most recent addition (PROBONO, 2022) shifts the portfolio toward the built environment — BIM, building-integrated photovoltaics, and energy performance. Rather than deepening one technical area, the trajectory shows a consultancy broadening its sector coverage, which matches PNO Group's strategy of placing subsidiaries into diverse consortia.

They are expanding from health and materials into the sustainable-construction and energy space, signalling readiness to support Horizon Europe calls on Built4People, BIPV, and climate-neutral neighbourhoods.

How they like to work

They consistently enter as a third party rather than coordinator or full beneficiary, which means another partner contracts them for specific deliverables (typically communication, exploitation, or IP management). Their consortia are large — 106 distinct partners across 17 countries — so they operate inside wide European networks rather than tight bilateral teams. Working with them is straightforward if you need professional grant-delivery support; do not expect lab capacity or core scientific contribution.

Connected to 106 unique consortium partners across 17 countries, sitting inside large pan-European research networks. No single national or regional cluster dominates, consistent with a consultancy operating through the wider PNO Group footprint.

What sets them apart

Unlike most Portuguese PRCs in H2020, PNO Innovation is not a technology developer — it is the local branch of a pan-European innovation consultancy. That makes them useful for consortium coordinators who need a dedicated, professional exploitation and dissemination partner with experience across health, materials, and energy calls. Partner with them if you want grant delivery and commercialisation support, not if you need scientific R&D capacity.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INNOMEM
  An Open Innovation Test Bed is one of the more ambitious H2020 instruments — placing nano-enabled membrane pilot lines into industrial use.
• BRAV3
  Large-scale cardiac regeneration project combining hiPSC, 3D bioprinting, and computational biomechanics — a flagship personalised-medicine topic.
• PROBONO
  Integrator-centric Green Building Neighbourhood project, their most recent addition and a bridge into Horizon Europe built-environment calls.