SME4SmartCities, International Missions & Matchmaking (CEEIM)
As part of the SME4SmartCities project, co-funded under the ENI CBC Med programme and led locally by CEEIM, Cities Forum organised the international business missions and matchmaking that connected Mediterranean smart-city SMEs with markets, partners and cities abroad.
Year: 2021–2022 | Client: CEEIM — SME4SmartCities (ENI CBC Med programme) | Country: Spain (Murcia) — Mediterranean
As part of the SME4SmartCities project, co-funded under the ENI CBC Med programme and led locally by CEEIM, Cities Forum organised the international business missions and matchmaking that connected Mediterranean smart-city SMEs with markets, partners and cities abroad. Selected as external consultant through a public procurement process, the firm focused on the outward-facing dimension of the initiative: helping innovative smaller companies find real business opportunities beyond their home region.
Our approach
Where the wider SME4SmartCities effort built the capacity of smart-city SMEs, this strand put that capacity to work internationally. Cities Forum designed and ran a series of business and matchmaking missions to strategic locations, including Genoa, Israel and Málaga, pairing carefully profiled SMEs with counterparts, cities and potential clients, and supporting them before, during and after each mission. The work was underpinned by a structured training programme, workshops and webinars, and a dedicated b2match matchmaking platform, with Cities Forum also acting in a "Product Development Coach" capacity to help companies sharpen their value propositions ahead of international exposure.
What we delivered
The missions targeted the practical barriers SMEs face when internationalising: identifying the right markets, reaching credible counterparts, understanding local procurement and partnership dynamics, and converting introductions into follow-through. By curating the meetings, preparing the companies and framing the encounters around concrete smart-city demand, Cities Forum helped translate mobility, energy-efficiency and digital-services offerings into cross-border opportunities across the Mediterranean.
Impact
The programme strengthened the international positioning of Mediterranean smart-city SMEs, generated new business leads and cooperation, and advanced the European objective of harnessing SMEs as engines of urban innovation. Delivered alongside Cities Forum's related SME4SmartCities capacity-building work, it demonstrates the firm's dual capability, building companies' readiness and then opening doors for them, and its established role, with CEEIM, in strengthening the Murcia and Mediterranean innovation ecosystem.
