[Press Release] Helping SMEs turn drone innovation into business opportunities

PRESS RELEASE, July 2026

From agriculture and infrastructure inspections to logistics and environmental monitoring, drone technologies are opening new business opportunities across Europe. Yet for many SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and aspiring entrepreneurs, the biggest challenge is no longer the technology itself - it's understanding how to turn it into sustainable products, services and successful business models.

This is the ambition behind SME-RISE (Business Modelling Skills for Drone Entrepreneurs), a two-year Erasmus+ project running from December 2025 until November 2027. Bringing together organisations from Portugal, Cyprus, and Greece, the project aims to strengthen SME competitiveness, support youth entrepreneurship, and equip vocational education programmes with practical business knowledge for the rapidly evolving drone sector.

What will SMEs and entrepreneurs gain?

The project will help SMEs answer practical questions such as:

• Which drone services have the strongest market potential?

• How can I develop a viable business model around drone technologies?

• What skills do I need to grow my business beyond technical operations?

• How can I identify new customers and market opportunities?

To support this, the SME-RISE project is delivering a business-focused curriculum, a practical guidebook for developing innovative drone services, VR-based learning experiences, and an online learning platform that brings together training materials and business resources in one place.

These resources will be piloted with SMEs and other stakeholders to ensure they respond to real business needs before being made widely available.

"We are excited to help translate research and innovation into practical support for SMEs, aspiring entrepreneurs and adult learners looking to seize new opportunities in the evolving drone market." - Sofia Samoili, Project Coordinator, CVTT-ISCTE

Vocational education providers will also benefit from ready-to-use learning materials that help prepare the next generation of drone professionals not only with technical knowledge but also with entrepreneurial and business skills.

The project is coordinated by CVTT-ISCTE (Portugal), which is also leading the development of the project's VR learning experiences. Instituto Pedro Nunes (Portugal) contributes research and user insights to ensure the training reflects the real needs of SMEs, European Progress (Greece) brings expertise in vocational education and SME support, Spotin (Greece) supports the development of learning content and training activities, while Future Needs (Cyprus) is leading the development of the project's online learning platform.

"A great learning platform doesn't just deliver content - it keeps people learning. That's why we're combining accessibility, gamification and digital certification into one seamless learning experience." - Christopher Aguilar, Lead for the SME-RISE Learning Platform, Future Needs

As the project progresses, SMEs, entrepreneurs, educators and other stakeholders will have opportunities to explore the new training resources, participate in pilot activities and share feedback to help shape tools that meet the real needs of Europe's growing drone ecosystem.

To learn more about SME-RISE, explore upcoming opportunities and follow the project's progress, visit www.sme-rise.eu.

For further information, interview requests, or media enquiries, please contact Eglė Joneliūnaitė, Communication and Dissemination Leader of the SME-RISE project, at egle@futureneeds.eu