José-María Súnico, MScE
Technology & Strategy Advisor
Specialised in business coaching for tech-intensive start-ups / SMEs that need guidance to refine their strategy, business plan, financial model & fundraising strategy
Extensive experience coaching start-ups, spin-offs & beneficiaries of European Projects (e.g. Horizon Europe, Eureka, EIC, Cleansky, EMFF, BlueInvest, TETRA, EUDIS, Cassini)
Services I provide, and instances I collaborate with
European Projects Proposals Writing Workshops
-Public funding such as European Projects can be difficult to understand and it is easy to apply to programmes that are not a right fit or raise 'red-flags'.
-I share my honest opinion as EC evaluator, coach & mentor to help participants becoming aware of the robustness of their proposals and their chances to succeed.
I have trained dozens of SMEs at prestigious RDI hubs e.g. Techhub at Google Campus, Enel Innovation Hub (Spain); Venturelab - EPFL (Switzerland); A2Be, HiCenter (Israel).
Company / Project / Proposal Diagnosis
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Some times, you need an external expert to challenge your business plan, your company or technology.
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There are times, when you need an independent view to analyse aspects of business not working as supposed.
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There are other times, when you need a honest feedback on a proposal you sent to a VC or to a public funding programme to find how to improve it.
I have extensive experience helping SMEs analyse their company, business ideas, and investment proposals sent to public & private instances (over 300 business ideas & proposals analysed to-date!).
Business Innovation Coaching
-SMEs often need external expert support to acquire new techniques that help them face their next challenges:
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We start with strategy, setting key goals & methods to ensure alignment.
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Then, we introduce techniques to ensure product-market fit and produce a portfolio roadmap strategy.
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Next, we learn techniques to analyse business models and use them to find potential improvements.
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Then, we produce a feasibility study and, if positive, a solid business plan.
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Finally, we build a financial model synced with the devised strategy and business model and evaluate different fundraising scenarios.
EC Expert, Coach, Mentor
I collaborate with different public and private instances as an external expert:
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Business coach at EIC (Accelerator, Transition, and Pathfinder)
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Business coach at EUDIS (EU Defence Innovation Scheme).
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Business mentor at CSIC (e.g., via TRL Boost, InnovaMad programmes).
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Pro-bono mentoring collaborations:
Testimonials
"I had the pleasure of working with J.M. Súnico in a mentoring process that proved decisive for shaping and organising INNOVAGLASS during a particularly demanding phase. From the very beginning, J.M. stood out for his outstanding professionalism, the clarity of his frameworks, and his ability to grasp my professional context and our project’s challenges. Every session was impeccably prepared, highly structured, and practical, with direct feedback consistently aligned with my programme's objectives.
I especially valued his talent for simplifying complexity and translating it into concrete decisions across key areas that were new for me, as business model validation, positioning and value proposition, project communication and pitching, and scaling and funding strategy. He also brought fresh, professional, well-grounded ideas every time, often more than I expected, opening new possibilities I had not considered.
Thanks to his guidance, I approached a Demo Day with a much stronger and more compelling presentation, with well-articulated results and a narrative ready to be delivered to investors and other innovation or entrepreneurship stakeholders.
I recommend José-María without reservation to any entrepreneur, in any field, who has an idea and needs to turn it into clear objectives, a coherent strategy, and a well-structured venture project ready to communicate and execute."
Mr David Levy, Prof.
Researcher Professor, Sol-Gel Group, ICMM, CSIC.
