SynHERA

What SynHERA does

SynHERA is a Belgian non-profit association founded in 1998 that operates as an intermediary organization between applied academic research and socio-economic actors in the French-speaking community of Belgium. It connects 19 Hautes Écoles and their 10 associated Research Centers of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles with enterprises seeking research expertise and innovation support. The organization provides free advisory services including diagnostic meetings, project assembly, follow-up support, valorization assistance, legal guidance for IP protection, and European funding advisory through its Cellule Europe. Its customers are researchers and teacher-researchers from the Hautes Écoles network, as well as SMEs and larger enterprises across agronomy, technology, economics, social sciences, pedagogy, paramedical, and applied arts sectors.

The organization's service portfolio includes training programs (PROPULSE, a 6-module research development curriculum; ENGLISH4RESEARCH, a 3-module academic English program; PM2, European project management methodology), the LUCK open-access platform hosting scientific output from member institutions, and event programming such as the annual JdCHE research day featuring 100+ presentations and 300+ participants, and INNOGO thematic conferences. SynHERA also develops and manages own-branded projects including BLIST (Erasmus+-funded student inclusion in research), SCHOOL4STEAM (STEAM education for youth aged 5-18), and SynIMPACT (FEDER-funded research impact initiative). It publishes a monthly newsletter, a curated Appels à projets funding database, video capsules (ZOOM), and researcher portrait content to support outreach.

SynHERA's operations are funded through public sources including the Wallonia Region, Brussels-Capital Region, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, and EU programs. Services are provided free of charge to both researchers and enterprises. The organization employs approximately 12 staff (including 9 scientific advisors, a legal expert, a business developer, and a head of enterprise services) across two offices in Naninne (Wallonia) and Brussels. It holds ISO 9001 quality certification and maintains partnerships with regional competitiveness clusters, government funding bodies, knowledge transfer office networks (LIEU, Research2B), and international research organizations including Canadian counterparts.

Name

SynHERA

Legal name

SynHERA

Website

https://synhera.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SynHERA is a Belgian non-profit that bridges 19 Hautes Écoles' applied research with enterprises and funding bodies, offering free advisory services, training programs, and the LUCK open-access platform across Wallonia and Brussels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Naninne

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Funding / Grant-Based Operations: SynHERA operates as a non-profit association funded by public sources including the Walloon Region, Brussels-Capital Region, and the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Services are offered free of charge to researchers and enterprises.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SynHERA acts as a non-profit bridge between the 19 Hautes Écoles of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (and their 10 Research Centers) and socio-economic actors, providing enterprises and researchers with free end-to-end support for applied research projects — including diagnostic meetings, project assembly, funding identification, follow-up, valorization, and legal/IP assistance. It supplements this with training programs (PROPULSE, ENGLISH4RESEARCH, PM2), a European funding advisory unit (Cellule Europe), the LUCK open-access platform, and events such as the annual JdCHE research day.

Product overview

SynHERA offers a portfolio of services supporting applied research across Wallonia-Brussels Hautes Écoles. The core offering includes project support services (diagnosis, project building, follow-up, valorization, legal support) delivered by scientific advisors and a lawyer team. Training programs include PROPULSE (6-module research development curriculum), ENGLISH4RESEARCH (academic English), and PM2 (European project management methodology). Digital platforms include LUCK (Open Access repository). SynHERA also develops own projects: BLIST (student inclusion in research), SCHOOL4STEAM (STEAM education for youth), and SynIMPACT (FEDER-funded research impact initiative). Advisory services extend through Cellule Europe for EU funding. Events include JDCHE (annual research day) and INNOGO (thematic innovation conferences).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BLIST: Boosting Inclusion of Students In research acTivities - An Erasmus+ supported project to strengthen student participation in applied research projects within Hautes Écoles.
• SCHOOL4STEAM
• SynIMPACT
• Cellule Europe
• PROPULSE
• ENGLISH4RESEARCH
• PM2
• LUCK

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, important and emerging.

• SPW-EER (Service Public de Wallonie - Économie, Emploi et Recherche)coreOthersWalloon regional government body providing research and innovation funding. Key partner for accessing regional development programs and financing mechanisms for enterprises.
• InnoviriscoreOthersBrussels Institute for Research and Innovation. Supports research and innovation projects in the Brussels-Capital Region.
• ARES (Académie de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur)coreOthersCoordinates higher education and research in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Key partner for institutional collaboration.
• Fédération Wallonie-BruxellescoreOthersRegional government entity for education and research funding in the French-speaking community of Belgium.
• SOLWAFINcoreOthersSOWALFIN group - Walloon support network for SMEs, providing financing and business development services.
• GreenWin (Pôle de Compétitivité)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompetitiveness cluster for sustainable construction, green chemistry and environment. Collaborates on R&D projects in these sectors.
• Wagralim (Pôle de Compétitivité)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompetitiveness cluster for agri-food sector. Supports innovation in agriculture, agronomy, and food production.
• Mecatech (Pôle de Compétitivité)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompetitiveness cluster for medtech, defense, security, and industry 5.0. Supports collaborative R&D projects.
• LIEU NetworkimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of Knowledge Transfer Offices from Walloon-Brussels universities. Facilitates technology transfer and research collaboration.
• Research2BimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Transfer Offices network from Brussels-based higher education institutions.
• Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI)importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational relations agency for Wallonia-Brussels. Supports international research partnerships and mobility.
• NCP (National Contact Point)importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Contact Point for European research programs. Helps researchers access Horizon Europe and other EU funding.
• EurasheimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean association of universities of applied sciences. Participates in international research policy discussions.
• Axelys (Canada)emergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuebec-based research and innovation organization. Part of international partnerships for applied research collaboration.
• Synchronex (Canada)emergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuebec network for industrial research. Facilitates cross-border research partnerships.
• CRIBIQ (Canada)emergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuebec business innovation organization. Supports SME innovation through research partnerships.
• Academic Poles (Bruxelles, Hainaut, Louvain, Namur, Liège-Luxembourg)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFive geographic academic poles grouping higher education institutions. Facilitate coordination and collaboration within each region.
• ESA Saint-Luc (Bruxelles)importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerArts and design school with its own Research and Innovation center. Collaborates on creative and design research projects.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Interface (Flemish knowledge transfer network): Interface is the Flemish Belgium counterpart that connects companies with expertise from universities and hogescholen. It mirrors SynHERA's intermediary mission on the Flemish side of Belgium, operating under a different regional government but with an identical service portfolio (diagnosis, project assembly, valorization).
• Innoviris: Innoviris is the Brussels Institute for Research and Innovation that funds and supports R&D projects in the Brussels-Capital Region. It is both a SynHERA partner and a comparator, as it directly funds enterprise-academia collaborations that SynHERA helps assemble.
• SPW-EER (Service Public de Wallonie - Économie, Emploi et Recherche): SPW-EER is the Walloon public service responsible for economy, employment, and research policy. It co-funds SynHERA and the regional research ecosystem, making it both a partner and the upstream policy/funder whose priorities shape SynHERA's mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Fraunhofer Society: Fraunhofer is Germany's largest applied research organization, running 76 institutes that bridge academic research and industry. While vastly larger, Fraunhofer shares SynHERA's applied-research-to-enterprise intermediation logic and competes for the same EU applied-research funding pool.

Direct peers

• Eurashe: Eurashe is the European association of universities of applied sciences, representing the same category of institutions SynHERA serves. Both organizations advocate for applied research at the European policy level and collaborate on EU framework-program positioning.
• Carnot Institutes Network (France): The Carnot network is a French federation of 39 public research laboratories committed to partnership-based research with companies. It mirrors SynHERA's mission of channeling public research into socio-economic outcomes and competes for similar Horizon Europe and regional applied-research funding.
• SATT (Sociétés d'Accélération du Transfert de Technologies): SATT is a French network of 13 technology transfer accelerators created to valorize public research and connect labs with companies. It is the closest French analog to SynHERA, sharing the public-funded intermediary model targeting applied and socially useful research.
• Research2B: Research2B is the Brussels-based network of Knowledge Transfer Offices from higher education institutions. It complements SynHERA's Hautes Écoles focus with broader university TTO coordination in the same Brussels-Capital Region.
• LIEU Network: LIEU is a network of Knowledge Transfer Offices from Walloon-Brussels universities. While SynHERA serves Hautes Écoles, LIEU serves the same region's university KTOs, with overlapping enterprise-academia intermediation services and overlapping regional policy partners.
• Steinbeis Foundation: Steinbeis is a German non-profit that operates as a knowledge and technology transfer organization linking universities of applied sciences (Hochschulen) with enterprises. It is the closest continental European analog to SynHERA in serving applied-research institutions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/synhera

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about SynHERA