Amphinicy Technologies is proud to announce – we have received funds from Horizon 2020! Our product, Blink, an ultra-fast satellite data processing system, 20 times faster than the NASA library, will be financed from the Horizon 2020 programme SME Instrument Phase 2. The grant agreement with the European Commission will officially be signed in April for the period of 2 years.
Background
The SME Instrument is a part of the European Innovation Council pilot (EIC pilot) which was set up to support top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies and scientists with bright ideas and the ambition to scale up internationally. The EIC pilot was launched in 2017 with the aim to provide funding, advice and networking opportunities for those with cutting-edge innovation. The SME Instrument offers Europe's best entrepreneurs the chance to request funding for breakthrough ideas with the potential to create entirely new markets or revolutionize existing ones.
This is a great honour as Amphinicy Technologies has been selected among 1200 companies which applied from all around Europe. Only 120 got the chance to pitch their projects before a jury of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, experts from large corporations, innovation hubs and accelerators in the final stage of the contest. Finally, 57 SME have been selected for funding. Our proposal title was „Satellite Data Acquisition in the Blink of an Eye“ in the category Information and communication technology. This makes Amphinicy the second Croatian company to receive Phase 2 funding, serving as an example for other Croatian companies to follow.
About Blink
Our innovation Blink is an ultra-fast processor of data received from Earth observation satellites, which is a skyrocketing market. Thanks to exceptionally efficient processing algorithms, Blink is already 20 times faster than the existing reference NASA software. Blink will make it possible to process satellite data in near real time and allow a more appropriate reaction to global events. Blink will help previously impossible space missions come to life and will make other missions easier to manage, more productive and significantly cheaper to set up. Ultimately, it will enable faster humanitarian reaction in emergency situations (earthquakes, floods, migration crisis…), extend security and defense (border controls), and heavily improve agriculture, ecology, logistics, and many more fields where Earth observation data provide valuable support. More information about Blink is available on its product page.
Based on both technological superiority and global impact, Blink was recognized as an innovative project by HAMAG-BICRO agency in 2013, when it funded the Proof of Concept (PoC) phase of the project. PoC phase results have exceeded our expectations - an exceptional speed of data processing at a significantly lower cost. After such remarkable results in the PoC phase, in 2015 we applied for the SME Instrument in the SPACE topic. After a very positive evaluation from EU evaluators, Blink got funded from the SME Instrument Phase 1. In 2017 we applied for Phase 2 of SME Instrument and after a challenging evaluation process finally got approved!
The next two years will be a critical phase in the product’s development as the additional funding fuels rapid implementation of needed technical advances and helps us grow our network of clients and partners. We will finalize the flagship Blink ULTRA product to TRL 9 (technical readiness level) and secure flight proven stamp together with our trial partners who are leading names in the satellite and space industry.
Horizon 2020 Phase 2 funding is an important European-level recognition, one that affirms Amphinicy Technologies as a global provider of state-of-the-art technology in one of the most challenging industries to work in - the space industry.
Our employees Mirta Medanić (Program Manager), Irena Kos (Senior Software Engineer/Product Manager, Tomislav Nakić-Alfirević (Solutions Manager) and Toni Jelavić (CEO) did a great job during the whole process from the application to the final presentation before the evaluators in Brussels, Belgium.
Many credits also go to our prime consultant, Ms Tajana Barančić, from Astra Consulting and Mr Mihovil Barančić, business investor and co-founder of ZIP Incubator and Accelerator, who steered our submission into the right direction and made strikingly valuable comments and suggestions. Acknowledgements also go to HAMAG-BICRO team and Mr Renato Vrebac, a National Point of Contact for SMEs in Horizon 2020 programme, Mr Boris Golob, CEO of STEP RI and Expert evaluator for Horizon 2020 - SME Instrument as well as to all others who had been involved in this successful adventure.
Interesting links about EIC pilot:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51uohQ0nwXc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xiif1s64_9I&feature=youtu.be
- https://sme.easme-web.eu/
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 812471.
This article reflects only our view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.