CBSR - Connect Baltic Sea Region

The gap between an entrepreneur's idea and a potential investor's money is very often the result of underdeveloped business plans. Connect Baltic Sea Region (CBSR) reduced this distance and helped the entrepreneurs to develop business plans that attract venture capital.

The project stimulated the creation of new firms and jobs in knowledge intensive sectors by linking entrepreneurs and innovators with research & development (R&D), service providers and venture capitalists. In addition "Connect" organisations and networks in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany were established.

To support entrepreneurs CBSR created an arena for evaluating business plans, known as springboards, for more than 850 participating companies. This tool gave the entrepreneurs the chance to validate their business plans in panel debates using the voluntarily help of experts working in various business sectors, such as, R&D institutions and service sector companies. In total, 1227 springboards and pre-springboards were organised focusing on 1227 business plans.

To strengthen the Baltic Sea area as a macro region CBSR established regional Connect organisations to support and administer networks between entrepreneurs, service providers and experts. For example, the network "Connect Nordic" was established and will continue to work beyond the project as an umbrella organisation securing transregional/transnational cooperation for business development and release of R&D potential. A considerable number of member companies, sponsors and organisations as well as networks of 4300 experts in the various regional "Connect" organisations were involved. A vision for Connect in 2010 was developed.

The project also proved that a well organised project is able to raise money to support its activities in the long-run.

CBSR is followed by CBSR+ which focuses on developing Connect in new Member States and countries bordering the Baltic Sea area. National public funds have realised the importance of the "Connect" networks and therefore have supported their further development.