The innovation ecosystem of the EU is suffering from a strong fragmentation with a big gap between innovation leader regions and emerging innovators. This divide severely limits the potential for innovative Start-ups from emerging and moderate innovator region to access capital and get adequate support for bringing their innovations to market. To tackle these challenges, INNOVATE-EU will strengthen and connect five local innovation ecosystems: the innovation leader region Baden-Württemberg (BW) in Germany, the moderate innovator regions of Lithuania and Aragon in Spain and the emerging innovator regions of Latvia and Northeast Romania. Its goal is to address the innovation gap between these regions, connect them to an EU-wide network of innovation ecosystems, and strengthen their deep tech Start-ups and Scale-ups by building on three (fundamental) pillars: i) a detailed analysis of the target groups and needs of the local innovation ecosystems followed by knowledge exchange and a detailed action plan to address the disparities, ii) the formation of the interconnected and inclusive INNOVATE-EU innovation support community and its connection to European communities, iii) direct support and trainings for promising deep tech Start-ups and Scale-ups providing them with the necessary knowledge, tools, and contacts for successfully upscaling their business models and bringing their products to market. Through this approach INNOVATE-EU will create an interconnected and inclusive innovation ecosystem with access to a wider European innovation support community and concrete pathways for existing and emerging deep tech entrepreneurs to access growth and investment opportunities. This will result in the overcoming of the innovation gap between moderately and highly innovative regions in Europe and the unveiling of disruptive and otherwise hidden Start-ups and Scale-ups in deep tech.

There is a general lack of awareness of the importance of mineral raw materials in today’s society and an (overall) negative view on the concept of mining, strongly related to the use of non-modern, less environmentally-friendly and even outdated methods and technologies. This is particularly relevant for SMEs, which lack the tractor effect of big industries and therefore suffer from innovation deficit, cross-sector fertilisation and disruptive potential. In order to adapt to current trends and technologies, promote industrial modernisation and digitalisation of the sector, and embrace, interact and profit from other emerging industries, the mining & raw materials sectors must undergo a cross-sectoral and cross-fertilisation exercise, with a particular emphasis on SMEs, in order to develop novel industrial value chains that can support the integration of novel materials, techniques and processes. In this respect, industrial clusters and associated entities are therefore the ideal vehicle to promote and accelerate investments in order to develop innovation capacity and product development in SMEs. The overall aim of MINE.THE.GAP is to provide a support platform for the reinforcement of existing value chains and the development of new industrial value chains in the raw materials and mining "target" sectors by means of cross-sectoral and cross-regional innovation and support services in cluster-related SMEs through synergies and interactions with providers and facilitators from the existing and emerging fields of ICT, circular economy, resource efficiency and advanced manufacturing ("provider" sectors"). A well-balanced consortium comprising of 9 Clusters, 1 RTO and 1 Association from 9 regions and 7 European countries representing over 500 SMEs participate in the project to develop a three layered management structure, methodology and strategy including direct financial support to SMEs, additional business support services and access to new investments.