[...] * Provide value added services on top of funding. Funding, from both public and private funders, should be perceived as an intelligence tool to establish a profitable relationship with innovators. Funding should be perceived as the first step to greater collaboration. Government agencies should “by default” provide value added services on top of the funding, based on the huge amount of knowledge accumulated by managing funds. At EU level, it would be useful to have guidelines and cases of knowledge-intensive funding organizations, as well as the adoption of a similar approach in the context of Horizon 2020. Evidence should be made available about value added and hands-on management of funding schemes.