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NETWORK / 9 / JULY/AUGUST 2019 In association with: C OMMENT Paul Jordan, Innovator Support Platform business lead, Energy Systems Catapult. A major part of the Energy Systems Catapult's mission is to support innovators and ensure the UK benefi ts from these opportunities. A 2017 report by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy showed that the UK already had 205 incubators and 163 accelerators, so when the Catapult was investigating how best to set-up our Innovator Support Platform (ISP), we wanted to ensure we would have impact and build on, rather than replicate, support already out there. It was important that the ISP provided an offering that fi lled a need for the SMEs. From our research we noticed that, at a basic level, we could group SME innovators into three camps. In one camp, innovators are looking to provide new products or services within the current status quo of the energy system. Successful solutions may easily fi nd a market, but they will have a challenge to be viable through the changing energy transition. The fl ip side to this are the SME innovators in the second camp, who are already developing solutions for tomorrow's energy system - but with the challenge of viability in today's market. Then there's the third camp, consisting of those SMEs who can adapt their business model. They have a sustainable business today and can evolve as the energy system transitions - thereby having an eye on the bigger prize in the future market. So, the ISP has developed an approach that differentiates it from other incubators/ accelerators - to principally focus on the third camp. That's not to say we can't also try and help the other two, either by identifying future opportunities or fi nding ways to help tomorrow's solutions adapt to today's energy market. For this transition group of innovators, we recognised the need to provide them with dual intervention. Their primary need as an SME is to have a sustainable business, with the right team, to bring in funding and ideally revenue, in order to establish themselves. But in a changing energy system, the creation of a stable foundation in which to innovate, often isn't enough to ensure growth and scale. The secondary need or gap in support, becomes an ability to navigate the changing system; to create routes to market with the right business models and ultimately accelerate commercialisation by overcoming system barriers. The ISP has been set-up with these two needs in mind. Bringing together a network of existing incubators, accelerators and external experts, alongside the Catapult's unique capabilities, to help SMEs navigate the changing energy system. From consumer insights, business modelling and system integration expertise, to whole system modelling and our Living Lab of 100 smart consumer homes. At the same time, we can ensure innovators get the help they need from a more conventional business establishment perspective via our external support network. We are already seeing results too, with the six SMEs in the pilot phase moving forward well and the next cohort of SMEs in the 'Smart Heating & Cooling' space about to follow a similar journey. For further information on the Innovator Sup- port Platform, including details of sponsor- ship opportunities, please contact innovator- support@es.catapult.org.uk ham discussed what could be done to help SMEs get to the right person. During the conversation it was noted that there's a need for a deeper understanding of how networks make decisions. One delegate commented: "When small businesses are trying to work with big businesses, a big business doesn't have one person who makes the decision, there's a whole network of people that make the decision." Improving the line of communication between SMEs and the networks is clearly a challenge but help is available through the ESC's Innovator Support Platform (ISP) which is designed to provide support and information to SMEs. The ISP has access to a broad network of existing incubators, accelerators and exter- nal support initiatives that are all designed to make things easier. The audience debated the pros and cons of the incubator and accelerators in general and discussed how to make them more e… ective. One member remarked: "There have been many studies that show them to be bene† cial for the economic prosperity of any region. I think the ESC has found a key area in the market that was missing. It gives access to information, technology and systems thinking. From an SME perspective when you come into the energy landscape it's quite di‰ cult to know who's who. A dummies guide that's kept up to date on a website that brings all information together would be useful." There are also barriers to international expansion facing SMEs, with delegates not- ing that it is o‹ en di‰ cult to † nd a partner who they can trust abroad. One remarked: "The single biggest chal- lenge we have when we get a sale overseas is that we don't have a base or sta… there. What we rely on is an in-country partner. You need someone on the ground locally. Finding that partner is di‰ cult. Where the UK government has people overseas – what we've struggled to do is to engage them to help us † nd a local partner. We can do the export bit, but we need help † nding someone who is trustworthy, can speak the language and who we can operate through. Finding a local partner is very di‰ cult when you are half-way round the world." However, it was noted that UK SMEs do well where the overseas market has followed the UK model – for example in Australia and New Zealand. The area of regulation was also covered and attendees heard that the challenge for innovators is the need to create a more open marketplace as networks are not fully incen- tivised to reduce operational cost but rather maximise asset base. "In the energy world if you get it right and the product works, you're then o‹ en facing the problem of regulation. It could be years before any value accumulates, if at all," said one delegate. With SMEs facing a myriad of challenges it's clear that seeking out opportunities to help them will be vital in helping to deliver a once in a generation transformation of the energy system. The Energy Systems Catapult will continue to play an important role in enabling this.