The innovation scoreboard, published today, charts a decline in the performance of 17 out of 28 member states. The EU continues to be outshone by its global competitors. Non-EU member Switzerland gets top marks for innovation in Europe

Bank teams up with UK online lender in show of support for alternative finance model

EU financing programmes for SMEs are growing fast – but will they fix what really ails the European system of raising money for small companies? A Science|Business Network roundtable debates

Clever intellectual property (IP) management and carefully designed government policies can help SMEs raise more finance, reducing the risk for banks and venture capital investors, according to new Science|Business reports

It is easier to win an award from the €1.2B Eurostars programme than Horizon 2020 SME Instrument grants, but you need to find international partners before applying

Following its launch in 2014, the instrument quickly became very popular among European SMEs, and the Commission has been flooded with applications. Sadly, success rates are low, ranging from 6 to 10 per cent

Mounds of paperwork and regulation are blocking the route to capital markets for small companies. It’s time for reforms to change this, says Rainer Riess, head of the Federation for European Securities

European Commission makes a fresh attempt to increase the flow of investment for innovative SMEs, by tapping sources outside banks. The ultimate aim is to make public markets the main source of corporate funding

A total of 277 SMEs will get funding to help get promising commercial ideas up and running. Companies from Spain, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and France did well, but the success rate is low overall

Europe’s SMEs are starved of cash. Crowdfunding represents a potential way to overcome some of the fragmentation of Europe’s capital markets and improve access to financing for start-ups, says Karen Wilson of the policy thinktank Bruegel