Business call to participate in the first european 3D printing incubator

• 4 Pere Navarro, Special State Delegate in the Consorci de la Zona Franca, has visited today the technological center Leitat and has met with the President of the IAM3D HUB, Ramon Pastor, to prepare the next kick-off of the European 3D technology incubator in the Zona Franca of Barcelona

Barcelona, July 13th 2018.- The Consorci de la Zona Franca of Barcelona (CZFB) and Fundación Leitat have opened the call for companies and start-ups interested in participating in the first European Incubator of High Technology in 3D Printing to be installed in the Zona Franca of Barcelona. The initiative is co-financed by ERDF from the European Union through the Fundación INCYDE.

Mr. Pere Navarro, Special State Delegate in the Consorci de la Zona Franca of Barcelona, has visited the headquarters of Fundación Leitat (which receives the facilities of the International Advanced Manufacturing 3D Hub – IAM 3D HUB), where he has been able to share with the scientific-technological team of the Hub the challenges that this new technology will suppose for the 4.0 Economy.

The D-Factory Incubator, with the capacity to provide simultaneously services to between 25 to 30 initiatives related to 3D printing, will incubate additive manufacturing projects for those companies selected from the present call for proposals.

Business projects interested in having access to 3D printing laboratories, qualified personnel, training, innovation and marketing support services, and incubation spaces can submit their proposals from 20 July to 31 October by consulting the Call for Proposals available on the website www.dfactorybcn.org

The D-Factory Incubator, led by the Consorci de la Zona Franca of Barcelona, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the IAM 3D HUB, represented by Mr. Ramon Pastor, President of IAM 3D HUB and Vice President and General Director of HP, for the dynamization and promotion of this incubator.

A unique bet in Europe

The D-Factory Incubator will occupy 600 m² of office space, co-working, training area and laboratories equipped with the latest technology in 3D printing and will be located at the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona headquarters building (Avda. Parc Logístic 2-10. Parc Logístic stop on line 9 South of the Metro). The investment required for the adaptation of the facilities, the

purchase of equipment and the provision of the services described above amounts to 2.9 million euros, with 50% European funds from ERDF.

The incubator aims to contribute to foster the productive transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises towards the 4.0 industrial environment in such a way that, in line with the objectives of the EU2020 Strategy and Horizon 2020, it will make it possible to promote interregional cooperation, as well as collaboration between public sector agents and companies, both at national and international level.

More specifically, the services that the incubator will provide are related to the development of business initiatives, 3D printing production, the provision of technology and innovation services, support for the commercialization and internationalization of the projects, and certification, validation and testing, among others.

Call from 20 July to 31 October The call for proposals can be downloaded at www.dfactorybcn.org along with the application form, the participation requirements, the evaluation criteria and the documentation required of applicants. Proposals must be send to proposals@dfactorybcn.org before October 31st. Any question about the process can be answered in the contact email info@dfactory.org.

Those proposals that meet the evaluation criteria will be reviewed by a technical/business team that will evaluate the aspects reflected in the call. The results will be communicated from 19 November and the incubation contract will then be signed. The selected companies will be able to establish their R&D units in the incubator and use the services offered by D-Factory.

Key facts

Purpose: opening of the call for applications for access to the incubation services of the D-Factory Incubator

When: the call for proposals will be open from 20th July to 31st October

Results: the evaluation and acceptance of the applications will be communicated on 19th November 2018. Where: the required bases and documentation can be found on the website www.dfactorybcn.org

How: applications must include the requested documentation in the e-mail address proposals@dfactorybcn.org

For more information:

D-Factory headquarters: Info@dfactorybcn.org

The High-Tech Business incubator is a project led by “El Consorcio de Zona Franca de Barcelona” and “Fundación LEITAT”. Its goal is to promote the adoption of 3D Printing technologies through the creation of a space for the incubation of SMEs and micro-SMEs related to these technologies. The High-Tech D-Factory Incubator is co-financed at a 50% by ERDF, through the Spanish Pluri-regional Operational Program 2014-2020, and operates under Axis 3: Improving the competitiveness of SME’s.

“Una manera de hacer Europa”