WP5 ‘CrossEcoNet: Strengthening European Ecosystems for Innovation and Collaboration’ implements a strategic initiative to reinforce regional innovation ecosystems through capacity-building actions and ecosystem twinning. These efforts aim to foster partnerships and alliances across the quadruple helix in participating regions, promoting knowledge exchange, joint initiatives, and stronger interregional ties.

The next step, led by Work Package 7 (WP7), focuses on supporting the development of interregional investment projects. The goal is to enhance the innovation capacity of ecosystem actors, particularly in less developed regions (LDRs), and generate a positive impact on the economic and social well-being of the involved territories.

To achieve this, a set of tools has been designed, including:

• A tailored investment capacity-building programme for business developers and innovation managers with specific training to foster interregional investment skills among the consortium members
• A comprehensive analysis and improvement of legal and funding frameworks to boost investment attraction for developing interregional projects.
• The launch of a pilot project to assess the effectiveness of these actions.

The main expected outcome of WP7 is the successful implementation of a pilot funding initiative and the establishment of public-private collaboration processes to support innovative, high-growth potential projects in EIIs value chains.

This WP is led by Nanoprogress, the Czech nanotechnology cluster, which is also leading GreenStep. Besides, Archipielago Next, a Venture Capital Fund based in the Canary Islands (Spain), is supporting Nanoprogress in this action. The main role of Archipielago Next in the project is to leverage interregional cooperation and the Q-helix methodology—uniting government, industry, academia, and society—to empower innovative startups and SMEs