Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL ADVISORS PC

Their core work

Q-PLAN International is a Greek innovation consultancy that specializes in bridging the gap between research outputs and market adoption, particularly in agri-food, bio-economy, and energy sectors. They design and run business support services, capacity-building programmes, and dissemination campaigns that help SMEs, farmers, and regional actors access and exploit EU research results. Their core competence is orchestrating multi-country coordination and support actions (CSAs) — 16 of their 26 H2020 projects are CSAs — meaning they excel at organizing workshops, training, awareness campaigns, and innovation intermediary networks rather than performing lab research. They are the kind of partner you bring in when your consortium needs professional outreach, market uptake strategy, or SME engagement across multiple European regions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), Q-PLAN focused on building digital tools for SME innovation support (smart ICT tools, e-training, online collaboration) and launching bio-economy awareness campaigns. From 2019 onward, their work shifted decisively toward hands-on business support and capacity building for specific communities — renewable energy cooperatives, short food supply chains, maker spaces, and space innovation hubs. The recent portfolio shows a more mature organization that moved from "build awareness tools" to "run the support programmes themselves," with growing involvement in circular economy and Africa-oriented development projects.

Q-PLAN is evolving from a dissemination-focused consultancy into a full-service innovation intermediary that runs business support programmes, increasingly in renewable energy and circular bio-economy sectors.

How they like to work

Q-PLAN coordinates 38% of their projects (10 out of 26), which is exceptionally high for an SME — they are comfortable leading multi-partner consortia, not just contributing. With 203 unique partners across 34 countries, they operate as a network hub rather than a loyal-partner organization, assembling different coalitions for each thematic focus. This makes them a practical choice as a coordinator or WP leader when you need someone experienced at managing distributed European partnerships and delivering support actions on time.

An extensive pan-European network of 203 unique partners spanning 34 countries, with no narrow geographic cluster — their partnerships stretch across Southern, Western, and Eastern Europe, with growing connections into Africa through BIO4AFRICA.

What sets them apart

Q-PLAN's distinctive strength is combining deep thematic knowledge in agri-food and energy with professional-grade project coordination and dissemination management — a rare combination in a Greek SME. While many consultancies offer generic "project management," Q-PLAN brings sector-specific expertise: they understand bio-based value chains, renewable energy communities, and food supply chain dynamics well enough to design targeted support programmes, not just administer them. Their 10 coordinator roles across 26 projects demonstrate a track record that de-risks them as a consortium lead for CSA and IA calls.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ARtwin
  Their highest-funded coordinated project (EUR 608,500) and a departure into AR/digital twins for construction and industry — showing ambition beyond their traditional advisory role.
• agroBRIDGES
  Coordinated a focused effort on short food supply chains connecting farmers directly with consumers — represents the mature version of their agri-food expertise.
• W4RES
  Coordinated a gender-focused renewable energy market uptake project (EUR 449,844), combining their energy and capacity-building strengths with a distinctive social dimension.