Incentivizing Start-Ups and Start-Up Ecosystems in European Project Funds – the Case of Grant “Performance and Excellence in the Field of Environment and Renewable Energy through Modern Cluster Entities”

Abstract

Capital providers, such as shareholders on capital markets or European funding providers, are interested in the net present value of discounted cash flow and the risks or opportunities that may contribute to financial planning in a negative or positive way. In an uncertain environment however, the lean start-up movement means venture capital is used to finance business models. The lean start-up complements the business plan via discovery driven planning. These are holistic approaches to uncertainty management in all business aspects, with a designated methodology. This methodology will be the scholarly literature review in this article, whose goal is to elaborate the reference lean start-up methodologies and their relevance in empirical data analysis, European project funding calls. European projects demand uncertainty management. The article purposes to make European funds easy to understand as their requirements are explained and the most suitable scientific solution is sought. The methodology is a descriptive case study, with instrumental value. Findings are that funding authorities, be they capital markets or public funds, benefit highly in their decisions by lean start-up techniques. The research concerns the suitability of start-up ecosystems with European funds, and the conclusion is a high interest from the latter to the former.