European Startup and Scaleup Hubs pilot (HORIZON-EIE-2026-02-CONNECT-01)

This action builds upon the EU’s strategic vision outlined in the EU Competitiveness Compass, the EIC scaling strategy (the term strategy refers to a set of actions launched under the EIC to support scaleups in particular the EIC STEP Scale Up scheme and the EIC Scaling club), and the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy. It aligns with the objectives of strengthening Europe’s deep tech capabilities, increasing regional innovation cohesion and supporting the growth of globally competitive companies.

The EU must act decisively to close the innovation gap with other world regions by enabling more commercial successes based on its scientific excellence. While Europe generates world-class research, European deep tech startups often struggle to scale into global champions. The European Startup & Scaleup Hubs (ESSH) pilot will address this structural weakness by creating a connected network of Europe’s leading and emerging startup supporting structures, embedded in innovation ecosystems that bring together universities, research and higher education institutions, research and technology organisations, corporates, entrepreneurs and investors, while also encouraging these hubs to expand their activities.

The action aims to pilot a network of around 10-18 ESSHs - highly capable startup and scaleup hubs deeply integrated with leading research, technology and higher education institutions and strong track records in venture building, scaling, and investment attraction as well as providing entrepreneurial education. These hubs shall collaborate across borders to:

• Open their ecosystems to non-local startups, enabling scaling through access to talent, corporates, capital, infrastructure, facilities and mentoring.
• Foster shared infrastructure and expertise, including access to labs, facilities, research departments, and innovation services.
• Support pan-European startup development, for both local and network-partner startups, including EIC-supported ventures, by connecting startups to relevant services of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), EU industry cluster organisations, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH), Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and technology (EIT) and other EU, national, regional or local instruments.
• Bridge regional gaps by integrating less-connected hubs into the network via mentoring, shared services, and capacity building. 

Particular attention should be paid to enable deep tech spinoffs, startups and scaleups accessing resources, services and contacts not directly available in their local innovation hubs to facilitate the expansion of their operations in the single market.

Available budget: €20 million