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Innovation management integrates R&D, market analysis, regulatory compliance, and financial planning to turn ideas into market-ready solutions. A critical enabler of this process is the acquisition of funding, which dictates the feasibility, scale, and speed of development. Without a well-defined funding strategy, even the most promising innovations face the risk of being delayed, underfunded, or unable to reach commercialization.
An Investment Need Assessment provides a structured approach to help organisations, ranging from startups to large enterprises and research institutions, identify, secure, and optimise funding sources. As part of its broader business planning and innovation management service portfolio, EXELISIS has designed this methodology, with the aim of supporting financial sustainability and long-term growth, while providing a realistic roadmap on how to get there.
The funding landscape is diverse, offering options such as grants, venture capital, equity financing, and national or regional subsidies. As a result, navigating these opportunities presents several challenges.
Many organizations struggle to determine which type of funding best suits their needs. Early-stage innovations may require non-dilutive grants, whereas market-ready solutions often rely on equity financing or industry partnerships. Without a clear roadmap, businesses risk securing insufficient funding or choosing incompatible financial instruments, leading to inefficiencies and financial strain.
A lack of awareness of funding opportunities further complicates the process. While well-known programs like Horizon Europe and Innovate UK exist, many organizations overlook specialised grants, regional subsidies, or blended finance instruments that could better align with their goals. This gap often results in missed opportunities or reliance on less suitable and more expensive financing options.
Even when funding sources are identified, the complexity of applications can discourage organizations from applying. Many mechanisms require detailed proposals, strict compliance reporting, and long evaluation timelines, which can be overwhelming, particularly for SMEs and startups with limited administrative capacity. The fear of dedicating significant resources to applications—only to face rejection—often deters engagement with funding opportunities altogether.
Additionally, organizations often may struggle to assess risks associated with funding choices. Grants may require co-funding, equity financing introduces ownership dilution, and debt financing can impose financial pressure if revenue streams are unstable. Without a data-driven, strategic approach, businesses risk choosing funding that misaligns with their financial health and long-term strategy.
Investment Need Assessment provides a systematic methodology to evaluate an organisation’s technology readiness level (TRL), market positioning, financial capacity, and strategic goals, ensuring funding decisions are made proactively rather than reactively.
Key considerations include:
Essentially, this type of assessment integrates such factors aiming to transform funding selection into a strategic, data-driven decision-making framework that aligns financial planning with business growth, innovation management, and commercialisation objectives.
Effective funding strategy development requires more than identifying financial instruments. A structured roadmap is required, aligning with an organisation’s development timeline, innovation goals, and market strategy.
Funding mechanisms vary in scope, eligibility, and function. Some support early-stage research, others prioritise scaling and commercialisation, while many require co-funding, industry partnerships, or sustainability commitments.
Time considerations play a critical role in this methodology. Whether funding is needed for short-term prototype validation or long-term scale-up, the roadmap needs to be designed to accommodate varying levels of certainty. In cases where clear investment milestones exist, structured plans outline specific (and quantified) funding targets and timelines. Where uncertainty is greater, a flexible framework allows companies to adapt as their commercialisation plan evolves.
Beyond funding selection, Investment Need Assessment can serve as a valuable complement to key consulting services, including:
This methodology enables organisations to secure the right funding, scale with confidence, and make the difference between an idea that remains on paper and one that reaches the market, bringing financial decision-making into the broader context of innovation management.
In the context of Open Innovation and Open Innovation Test Beds (OITBs), the Investment Need Assessment can play a crucial role in helping companies, research institutions, and startups maximise the impact of such collaborative projects. OITBs, such as those established under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, provide access to pilot lines, testing facilities, and scale-up infrastructure for innovative materials, manufacturing processes, and sustainable technologies. However, to fully benefit from such ecosystems, organisations must secure appropriate funding to cover the technology testing, validation and prototyping costs, as well as post-project commercialisation and scale-up investments in the planning. As part of EXELISIS’ service offering in BIOMAC project, this methodology has been implemented to assess the investment needs of 7 of the BIOMAC end-users, as part of the post-project exploitation planning for the respective test cases, accompanying dedicated business plans that were compiled within the project. This type of assessment will be one of the key innovation management services for BIOMAC OITB’s future clients.