WTSH WIRTSCHAFTSFORDERUNG UND TECHNOLOGIETRANSFER SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN GMBH

Their core work

WTSH is the official economic development and technology transfer agency for the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Their core work is helping SMEs in the Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein region access innovation support services, particularly through the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). They provide key account management for SMEs seeking EU funding instruments, acting as a bridge between regional businesses and European innovation programmes. In H2020, their entire portfolio focused on building and delivering these innovation management capacity services for local companies.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

WTSH's work has been remarkably consistent across H2020 — all five projects are successive phases of the same INNOKAM initiative, running from 2014 through 2021. The main shift is scale: early projects received EUR 14,000-43,000, while the final phase (2020-21) nearly tripled to EUR 114,375, suggesting expanded scope and responsibilities. From 2017 onward, the Energy sector tag appears consistently, indicating WTSH increasingly channeled its SME support toward energy and climate-related companies in the region.

WTSH is scaling up its regional SME innovation services with growing emphasis on the energy sector, making them a relevant partner for anyone needing access to northern German energy SMEs.

How they like to work

WTSH operates exclusively as a participant, never as a coordinator — consistent with their role as a regional delivery partner within the Enterprise Europe Network structure. They work in a very small, stable network of just 3 partners within Germany, repeating the same consortium across all five INNOKAM phases. This makes them a loyal, predictable partner rather than a wide-reaching networker — ideal for long-term regional collaborations but not a gateway to diverse European consortia.

Extremely focused network: only 3 unique partners, all within Germany. This reflects their role as a regional EEN node working with the same Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein consortium rather than building pan-European connections.

What sets them apart

WTSH is not a research organization or technology developer — they are the official gateway to the SME ecosystem in Schleswig-Holstein, one of Germany's key regions for renewable energy (particularly wind). For anyone needing to reach, assess, or engage with SMEs in northern Germany, WTSH offers institutional access and established relationships that would take years to build independently. Their long-running INNOKAM track record demonstrates reliable, sustained delivery of innovation support services.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INNOKAM 2020-21
  Largest funding phase (EUR 114,375), representing a significant scale-up and the culmination of seven years of continuous SME innovation support delivery.
• INNOKAM
  The original 2014 project that launched the series — notable for establishing the SME innovation management service model that WTSH sustained through five consecutive EU-funded phases.