Venture Capital Engagement in Pre-Commercial Procurement: Boosting Innovation (PREVENT PCP project)

Pre-commercial procurement is an important demand side policy measure to stimulate innovation in the economy. This article is written within the context of the PREVENT PCP project (GA 101020374). PREVENT PCP is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 research project aimed at developing through pre-commercial procurement new innovative technologies for early detection and tracking of unattended items in public spaces thus safeguarding public safety. Within the PREVENT PCP project it is explored how venture capital investment can support the innovative activities of technology vendors that participate in pre-commercial procurement, and possibly to enhance the outcomes of pre-commercial procurement. Our white paper describes the PREVENT PCP project, outlines the rationales for the bringing venture capital investment to Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) and reports on how Venture Capital (VC) involvement in pre-commercial procurement has operated in the US (which has a long-standing experience of Venture Capital involvement in pre-commercial procurement) and how Poland is currently operating its own scheme which links Venture Capital investors with the country’s pre-commercial procurement activities.