WE ARE HORIZON PARTNERS
We help our clients win European R&D grants, specifically from Horizon Europe, the EIC Accelerator, and Eurostars.
WHAT WE DO
We are a boutique consulting firm with a combined
experience of 50 years in R&D grant proposal writing.
We are focused on building long term relationships with our clients, helping them find and win public European grants. Our services include project assessment to find the right grant opportunity, strategy, proposal writing, and pitch training.
TEAM
Thorunn Jonsdottir - partner
Senior R&D Grant Consultant & Writer.
Project Lead, Strategy , Operations, and Grant Coordination Expert.
B.Sc in Business Administration, Reykjavik University.
10 years as a consultant on funding and grant writing and has been immersed in the world of startups for 15 years as a co-founder, consultant, mentor and business angel.
Has written over 300 grant applications and won over 1.7 billion ISK (€11.7) in grants (excluding tax deductions), mostly for R&D projects. Her success rate in the Icelandic Technology Development fund is 31%.
She is an Angel Ambassador for Nordic Ignite, a former volunteer organizer at Startup Iceland, and has taught entrepreneurship and innovation and been a mentor in entrepreneurship programs at the Technical College, Bifrost University, the Iceland University of the Arts, and Reykjavik University.
Thorunn has worked with some of the most promising startups in Iceland, including: AwareGO, Sling (acquired by Toast Inc), Gangverk, Dineout, Aurbjörg, Yay, Snerpa Pwr, Gagarín, Mobile Health, and eone.
Einar Sigvaldason - partner
Senior R&D Grant Consultant & Writer. Executive coach.
Strategy and Product Innovation Expert.
MBA from UC Berkeley.
Certified Securities Dealer & Fund Manager, University of Iceland.
20 years as co-founder and CEO of three software startups, where he won 5 large R&D grants and acquired hands-on experience in grant proposal and business plan writing as well as investor- and sales pitch creation.
6 years as a professional R&D grant writing expert, executive coach, and teacher on entrepreneurship where he teaches grant writing, business operations, and sales- and communication techniques in various settings and circumstances. Einar runs an entrepreneurship accelerator program under contract with VMST (The Icelandic Directorate of Labour) and has taught courses at VIRK, Endurmenntun, VR, MSS, SSNE, SSNV, SSNE, Iðan and Austurbrú.
Einar’s success rate with grant writing can be summarized as 50% his own companies (5 grants won, out of 10 trials), 66% full service to clients (4 larger grants won, out of 6 trials) and 55% partial service to clients (17 grants won, out of 32 trials).
Einar has worked with prominent startups and public entities, including: LakiPower, Reon, Nanitor, IMS, Solid Clouds, Hefring, Retinarisk, CodeNorth, Alfreð, Martak, and The Engine / Pipar TBWA.
Emiliya Ivanova-Nikolova
- grant writing expert
R&D Grant Writer. Project Manager.
Master of Laws, LLM, International Law & Legal Studies, Sofia University.
MS.c International Business, D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics.
Over 20 years of professional experience working as a Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Labor in Social affairs (Bulgaria), Chief Legal Officer at Sofia Municipality, Independent Law Practice, and an expert in EU and other international funds – both as a grant writer and evaluator of grant applications.
Emiliya is a Board Member of Innovation and New Icelanders Committees of the Association of businesswomen in Iceland - (FKA) and a City Leader for Founders Live in Reykjavik.
She has attended many courses and trainings on starting and growing nonprofit organizations, as well as having finished a specialization in Social Entrepreneurship at Copenhagen Business School.
CRITERIA
We work with R&D companies and startups based in the EU/EEA that fulfill the following criteria.
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The technology is novel, the project has excellence in its approach, technology, or design, and the solution is market-creating.
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The project is high impact, meaning that it has the potential to significantly impact its industry and existing infrastructure in a novel way.
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The company has a proven track record, has operational history, and has secured funding.
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The team is highly capable in its field (founders, employees, development partners) and has a strong network in relevant industries/sectors.
Bonus points if the company has a gender diverse team and gender equality in the C-suite.
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The core purpose of the company or the project is to improve society or the environment in one way or another.
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The project addresses an important challenge set forth by Horizon Europe. These change frequently and can include environmental impact, deep tech development, biotech, health challenges, pharmaceuticals, green technologies, and many more.
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A previous grant application with positive feedback and/or other valuable documentation exists.
HOW IT WORKS
Fee structure
We are result-driven, which is reflected in our fee structure.
We charge a competitive fixed fee for the R&D grant proposal writing and a success fee if the grant proposal is successful.
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Collaboration
Horizon Partners take the lead in writing and submitting the application. Writing takes place in close collaboration with the client and is based on data, documents, and information provided by the client.
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Documentation
Depending on existing documentation, in some cases the client will be asked to provide further documentation, e.g. work packages, technological descriptions, etc.
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Reports
If the grant is won, the client will turn in any periodic reports and documents required by the grant provider. Horizon Partners will assist as needed for no additional charges as this is covered by the success fee.
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Repeat
It is very unusual to win a grant from the first application submitted, so if unsuccessful the first time around, we'll try again. The number of tries depends on the funds rules regarding resubmissions.
