The project F2F Health Matters has approved to exted the deadline of its second call to support the internationalisation actions of SMEs to Japan to December 14th. It gives the European SMEs in healthy food and bio-based value chains a unique opportunity to expand their business to this Asian market and to start new internationalisation journey. Japan is the second target country selected by the project consortium.

Three types of internationalisation support

SMEs can apply to benefit from three types of internationalisation support. Commercial Lead Support covers the consultancy services of commercial prospection on Japanese market. SMEs can get personalised support from external service providers with excellent market knowledge, which will be financed by the consortium partners.

The second type of support SMEs can apply for includes Travel Aid to support their participation in a collective internationalisation mission to Japan organised within this project. SMEs can reimburse their travel costs up to EUR 2 000 and meet potential business partners, leading to new business agreements and promising collaborations.

Complementary to the financial types of support, SMEs can become part of the Elite Programme, which consists of tailor-made training and coaching on technical, innovation and market-oriented topics and provides access to an online community to skill up on various internationalisation topics.

How to apply

SMEs can apply by submitting the online application form by December 14th, 2022. All applications will be carefully assessed, and the selection will lead to the creation of the SMEs cohort. The whole procedure will be finalised by the beggining of January 2023, followed by specialised training sessions and personalised consultancy services to selected SMEs. The internationalisation mission to Japan is planned for June 2023.

All information about the call and application and selection process can be found on the project website in Get involved session.