Welcome to the FRANCIS Project!
This Frugal innovation by Citizens for Citizens project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101006220.BSH Challenge has now ended!
On August 17th, 2023, the virtual stage was set for the final event of the 1st Challenge under the Horizon 2020 funded EU project FRANCIS that focused on kitchen and household solutions. From an initial pool of 110 participants from around the globe, the challenge narrowed down to six exceptional teams, each ready to present their groundbreaking ideas. The top three teams were:
– Despunte – Winner 1
– Holle – Winner 2
– Smartness at Kitchen – Winner 3
While these three teams stood out and were recognized for their exceptional ideas, it’s essential to note that this event was not the end of the road for any of the six finalists. Each team will receive continued support in various forms – from business model assistance to intellectual property guidance, and scaling contacts.
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Am 17. August 2023 war die virtuelle Bühne frei für das Finale des ersten Wettbewerbs im Rahmen des von Horizon 2020 finanzierten EU-Projekts FRANCIS, das sich mit Lösungen für Küche und Haushalt befasste. Aus einem anfänglichen Pool von 110 Teilnehmern aus der ganzen Welt wurden sechs außergewöhnliche Teams ausgewählt, die bereit waren, ihre bahnbrechenden Ideen zu präsentieren. Die drei besten Teams waren:
– Despunte – Gewinner 1
– Holle – Gewinner 2
– Smartness at Kitchen – Gewinner 3
Auch wenn diese drei Teams herausragten und für ihre außergewöhnlichen Ideen ausgezeichnet wurden, ist es wichtig zu erwähnen, dass diese Veranstaltung für keinen der sechs Finalisten das Ende des Weges bedeutete. Jedes Team wird weiterhin Unterstützung in verschiedenen Formen erhalten – von der Unterstützung bei Geschäftsmodellen über die Beratung zu geistigem Eigentum bis hin zu Kontakten für die Weiterführung ihrer Idee.
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17 Ağustos 2023’te, Horizon 2020 tarafından finanse edilen ve mutfak ve ev çözümlerine odaklanan AB projesi FRANCIS kapsamında 1. Fikir Yarışması final etkinliği için çevrimiçi etkinlik organize edildi. Dünyanın dört bir yanından gelen 110 katılımcıyla başlayan yarışma, her biri ezber bozan fikirlerini sunmaya hazır olan altı olağanüstü altı takımla sonlandı. İlk üç takım aşağıdaki gibidir:
– Despunte – 1. Kazanan
– Holle – 2. Kazanan
– Smartness at Kitchen – 3. Kazanan
Bu üç takım öne çıkıp olağanüstü fikirleriyle takdir edilse de, bu etkinliğin altı finalistinin hiçbiri için yolun sonu olmadığını unutmamak gerekiyor. Her ekip, iş modeli yardımından fikri mülkiyet rehberliğine ve fikrin ölçeklendirilmesine yönelik bağlantılara kadar çeşitli şekillerde sürekli destek alacaktır.

FRANCIS
FRANCIS’ consortium includes seven partners from six European countries – Fraunhofer from Germany, VTT from Finland, Finnish non-profit organization InnoFrugal, The Behavioural Insights Team from the United Kingdom, the French tech startup Agorize and two industrial enterprises, HELIOZ from Austria and Turkey’s BSH Home Appliances.
The FRANCIS project aims to develop frugal innovations by citizens for citizens within the scope of open innovation challenges.
This includes establishing a scientific foundation with recommendations on how to involve different participant groups in the challenges and how to encourage the shared development of ideas.
This project will run two open innovation challenges, each mentored by an industry partner, who supports the participants in detailing their ideas.
Challenges
Launched in February 2021, the first phase of the project in 2021 will establish a scientific foundation with recommendations on how to involve different participants groups in challenges and how to encourage the shared development of ideas. The second phase, which will take place in 2022 and 2023, will run two open innovation challenges, each mentored by an industry partner, who supports the participants in detailing their ideas.
The scope of the first challenge will be the application area of the culinary world and home care. Focused target groups are troubled families, minimalistic living people and elderly people living alone. During the second challenge round the application area solar disinfection will be focused. Target groups are minimalistic consumers, low-/middle-income households in (semi-)rural areas, people in refugee camps and micro-entrepreneurs. Target countries are Turkey, Germany, India, Bangladesh and Uganda.
Lessons learned from the challenges will be incorporated into the citizen frugal innovation framework at the end of the project, so that they can serve as a guide for future frugal innovation initiatives.

The scope of the first challenge will be the application area of the culinary world and home care. Focused target groups are troubled families, minimalistic living people and elderly people living alone. Target market countries are Turkey, Germany, and India.

News and Blog
Read our latest blog posts, articles, and announcements.
FRANCIS Challenge 1: An Overview into the Final Event and the Top 3 Innovators
On August 17th, 2023, the virtual stage was set for the final event of the 1st Challenge under the Horizon 2020 funded EU project FRANCIS that focused on kitchen and household solutions. From an initial pool of 110 participants from around the globe, the challenge narrowed down to six exceptional teams, each ready to present their groundbreaking ideas.
The Power of Frugal Innovations: Making a Positive Impact on People’s Lives
Frugal innovations are getting noticed for their ability to make a positive impact on communities, particularly those dealing with financial difficulties. But it is not all about the economic aspect. This article delves into why we should also focus on the social aspect of frugal innovations and how the FRANCIS project is making strides in this direction.
FRANCIS Innovation Challenge: Kickstarting Round Three with Selected Teams Ready to Prototype Their Groundbreaking Ideas!
At the end of the second round, FRANCIS received 16 idea proposals. 6 teams were invited to proceed to the third round. In the third round, the remaining teams receive targeted and individual support in developing their prototype based on their concept.
Contact Us
Project Coordinator
Liza Wohlfart
Fraunhofer IAO
Email: liza.wohlfart@iao.fraunhofer.de
Communication and Dissemination Manager
Venkata Gandikota
InnoFrugal
Email: venkata@innofrugal.org