Project information
SFF DEEP CONNECT – Building Europe’s Interconnected Deep Tech Talent & Venture Ecosystem (SFF DEEP CONNECT)

SFF DEEP CONNECT is designed as a Topic 1 response to the EIT Higher Education Initiative Call, directly addressing the urgent European need to strengthen STEM-based innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-to-market capacity within higher education institutions. The project builds on the premise that Europe’s competitiveness in deep tech and strategic technologies depends not only on scientific excellence, but on universities’ ability to systematically translate STEM knowledge into societal and economic impact.
The project capitalises on the experience, assets, and measurable results of the Start for Future (SFF) network, which over the past five years has evolved into a robust, university-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem operating across multiple European regions. Through structured entrepreneurial education programmes, challenge-based learning formats, and cross-border collaboration, SFF has supported more than 5,000 talents in innovation and entrepreneurship education, developed over 200 interdisciplinary startup teams, and contributed to the creation of 50+ startups, many emerging directly from STEM faculties and applied research contexts.
Crucially, SFF has not only delivered programmes but has developed replicable institutional formats for entrepreneurial education, mentoring, internationalisation, and early venture development. These include collective curricula, shared mentor and coach pools, structured startup development pathways, and early forms of network formalisation that enable coordinated action across institutions and regions. SFF DEEP CONNECT builds on these validated mechanisms to scale them deeper into STEM departments, research groups, and Technology Transfer Offices, fully aligned with Topic 1 priorities.
Responding to the shift in European innovation policy towards science-based venture development and deep tech, the project adopts a more holistic approach to STEM capacity building. Rather than treating education, research commercialisation, and startup support as separate silos, SFF DEEP CONNECT links these elements into an integrated European ecosystem model. Innovation, entrepreneurship, and IP management are embedded directly into STEM curricula, doctoral training, and staff development programmes, ensuring that students, researchers, and non-academic staff acquire the competences required to engage in innovation-driven careers.