European Projects
The Sandbox Hub exchanges knowledge on diverse topics such as deep- & learntech, curation, ethics, cybersecurity, radiovans, etc. At the same time, the hub enables its community to collaborate on strategic topics and facilitates European-funded projects to strengthen its ongoing Sandbox Hub activities. Some examples are Seeds and Growth for Media and TEMS.
SEEDS & GROWTH FOR MEDIA
(2023 - 2026)
Medianet Flanders, VRT Sandbox, Thomas More and the international network Future Media Hubs are joining forces for "Seeds and Growth for Media," an accelerator that helps establish new media start-ups. This involves building and testing the technologies of new start-ups on the production floor and supporting them to grow abroad. In addition, Seeds and Growth for Media also aims to inspire young media professionals to innovate together in the media sector.
Over the next three years, Seeds and Growth for Media aims to help establish 18 start-ups annually and bring young talent to the media sector. For this purpose, we work closely with several colleges, universities and other accelerators such as imec.istart, Start it@KBC and the Flanders Game Hub. In addition, the entire Flemish Media Sector is involved: DPG Media, Telenet, Roularta, Mediahuis ... here too, new startups or young production houses will be able to test their new technology or formats. This involvement of all Flemish players, makes it possible for young media professionals to respond directly to the needs of the sector.
On the other hand, technologies from other sectors, such as those of marketing and games, can be used even faster in media creation. Seeds & Growth For Media, the new acceleration operation for media, thus promises to become an incubator for creativity, entrepreneurship and breakthrough ideas. The project is part of the relaunch plan
Stay informed about all Seeds & Growth activities: https://www.seedsandgrowth.be/
Together with
TEMS
(2023 - 2026)
Trusted European Media data Space (TEMS) is a joint undertaking of 43 organisations representing hundreds of stakeholders from 14 countries in the cultural and creative sectors, which aims to conceive and implement a common media data space across Europe. After more than two years of preparation work, the TEMS consortium officially starts its work in the flagship European initiative to build a resilient data-driven ecosystem in the media sector.
The initiative is supported by the European Commission’s Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) and is a core element in the implementation of the European Data Strategy. With an investment of EUR 16.5 million, the consortium represents a milestone in the way the media sector will be able to share and extract value from data. By doing so, TEMS aims to support the economic development and future growth of local and regional media ecosystems across Europe.
Concretely, TEMS will lead the way for the large-scale deployment of cutting-edge services, infrastructures, and platforms. It will also address fighting misinformation, audience analysis, improving data flows in production chains, and supporting the adoption of AI and Virtual Reality technologies.
TEMS will evolve existing media platforms, embryonic data space infrastructures and provide open access to a common data space for any interested media stakeholder from any media sub-sector. This will help digital transformation and improve the competitiveness of the European media industry.
Stay informed about all TEMS activities: https://tems-dataspace.eu/
Together with
STADIEM
(2020 - 2023)
STADIEM (Startup Driven Innovation in European Media), is a H2020 innovation action, coordinated by VRT with an active involvement of partners EBU, Martel Innovate, F6S, Media City Bergen, NMA.VC and Storytek, and ended it's program in September 2023.
The aspiration of STADIEM was to boost the opportunities and success of media startups by developing and growing their business in close cooperation with corporate and venture partners, securing sustainable growth to success. As such, STADIEM, as a dynamic and impactful incubation and acceleration programme, aimed to develop a strong community of (non-)tech and (non-)media stakeholders to stimulate, shape and foster the application of emerging technologies.
From the 250 startups that applied, 81 were selected, leading to 40 collaborations with 32 media players from 12 European countries that focused on challenges such as disinformation, content creation and AI-driven solutions.
Together with
MediaMotorEurope
(2020 - 2022)
This Horizon 2020 project was framed under the Startup Europe initiative and was a collaboration between VRT, Media City Bergen F6S, FastTrack Growth, Thermi Business Incubator, Sofia Knowledge City Cluster and Athens Technology Center. MediaMotorEurope (MME) brought together 4 innovative hubs in Europe with a purpose of nurturing innovation in deep tech for media and creative industries. Challenges such as misinformation, accessibility, user interfaces and use of data were addressed in this 28-month program.
After 3 open calls, 3 support cycles and 61 selected and supported startups, MME ended in April 2022. Important synergies were established with other initiatives and H2020 projects, namely with STADIEM and the support and coaching provided by the programme was also key to some startups as they were then able to get financing from investors or secure profitable deals with big players in the media industry.
