Imagine you run a mentoring program for small businesses across several countries, but every coach does things differently and you have no way to tell what's working. CoachCom2020 built a shared playbook and an online platform so coaches can learn from each other, track each company's progress, and benchmark results — like giving every branch office the same quality standards and a dashboard to prove it. The whole system was designed as open-source so anyone can reuse it after the project ends.
Organizations running SME coaching programs across multiple countries face a consistency problem: every coach follows their own methods, there is no shared way to track progress, and nobody can benchmark what actually works. Without a common platform and quality standards, coaching quality varies wildly and program managers fly blind on impact.
A coaching community platform (basic release) with user management, authentication, case tracking, and FAQ system. Beyond the software, the project delivered a full coaching methodology, peer-learning mechanisms (online and offline), an impact benchmarking system, and a virtual learning platform with knowledge repository — 9 deliverables in total.
If you are an innovation agency struggling with inconsistent coaching quality across regions — this project developed a coaching community methodology with embedded quality assurance and structured peer-learning, tested across 7 countries with 10 partners. The open-source platform includes case tracking and monitoring so you can standardize how coaches work with SMEs.
If you are an EEN node helping SMEs turn funded research into products and you need better tools to monitor progress — this project built 3 classes of management systems: case tracking, impact benchmarking, and a virtual learning platform. These were specifically designed for the H2020 SME Instrument coaching workflow across 7 countries.
If you operate an accelerator and need to standardize mentoring across multiple cohorts — this project created an open-source platform with user management, case tracking, and a knowledge repository. The peer-learning methodology lets your mentors share what works instead of each reinventing the wheel, with 5 SME partners validating the approach.
The platform was built on open-source software, which means the code itself is free to use and modify. Your costs would be hosting, customization, and training your coaching staff on the methodology. Based on available project data, no specific licensing fees are indicated.
The system was designed and operated across 7 countries with 10 partners, so it has built-in multi-country, multi-language considerations. The methodology includes structured knowledge sharing and virtual learning that work both online and offline, making it suitable for scaling beyond a single region.
The project explicitly adopted an open-knowledge policy and open-source software approach. Based on the project objectives, this was intentional to enable long-term use after the project ended. You should verify current licensing terms on the project website.
The project closed in November 2016. The demo deliverable shows a basic platform release with user management, case tracking, and FAQ. Based on available project data, there is no information on whether the platform is actively maintained post-project. The open-source nature means the code may still be available for self-hosting.
The platform includes case tracking and monitoring functionality, but based on available project data there are no details about API integrations with third-party CRM systems. As open-source software, it could potentially be extended to connect with your existing tools.
The project included an impacts evaluation and benchmarking system as one of its 3 classes of management tools. This was designed specifically to measure coaching effectiveness for SMEs in the H2020 SME Instrument. However, based on available data, specific outcome metrics are not provided.
The consortium of 10 partners across 7 countries (CH, DK, FR, LT, LU, PT, UK) is well-balanced for a coaching infrastructure project, with 4 industry partners and 5 SMEs making up 40% industry participation. The coordinator, INNOVAYT A/S from Denmark, is itself an SME coaching organization — meaning an actual end-user led the design, which increases practical relevance. The mix of 2 universities and 1 research organization provides the scientific supervision mentioned in the objectives, while the geographic spread across Western and Northern Europe mirrors the EEN network's reach.
INNOVAYT A/S (Denmark) — a Danish SME coaching organization that coordinated the project. SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction.
Want to adopt or adapt this coaching methodology for your SME support program? SciTransfer can connect you with the team that built it and help you evaluate fit.
