S3 Factory

Selected under Topic 1: EIT-HEI-2025-STEM-CAPACITY-BUILDING, S3 Factory supports Higher Education Institutions in turning STEM research into market-ready solutions, start-ups, spin-offs, and SME-adopted innovations. The project responds to a persistent European challenge: strong STEM research often remains disconnected from students’ entrepreneurial energy, SME validation capacity, and structured institutional support for commercialisation.

At the centre of the project is a Student Driven, SME Accelerated Venture Factory. This model brings together three actors that are often treated separately: students as entrepreneurial integrators, researchers as providers of high-value technologies and applied research outputs, and SMEs as validation and adoption partners. KTOs and TTOs act as institutional orchestrators, helping clarify IP, collaboration routes, and research-to-market pathways.

S3 Factory will operate through a structured three-cycle funnel. Research assets and technologies are first explored across multiple possible application contexts, then developed into Proofs of Concept with SME input, and finally moved toward MVPs, licensing, spin-offs, co-development, or SME adoption pathways. The project will also test the model across different regional innovation contexts, including strong innovation ecosystems and a moderate innovator region, producing a transferable adaptation toolkit for wider use. By aligning with EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, and EIT Manufacturing, S3 Factory connects STEM research valorisation with climate-tech, food systems, sustainable production, advanced manufacturing, and regional Smart Specialisation priorities.