Ongoing European Innovation Ecosystems calls worth €33.5 million

Enabling European innovation ecosystems that encourage innovation and stimulate cooperation among national, regional and local innovation actors is key to helping European innovators and European enterprises to achieve their full potential.

Five calls are currently open for various types of innovation ecosystem stakeholders:

• HORIZON-EIE-2022-CONNECT-02-01 (Implementing co-funded action plans for interconnection of innovation ecosystems)
  Opening date: 14 June 2022; Deadline: 27 September 2022; Budget: €8 million
  This call will support strategic-oriented, long-term action plans to enable authorities in charge of public innovation policies and programmes, together with the private sector and research&innovation actors, to implement joint activities toward innovation deployment, while tackling challenges at EU, national, regional and local level. 
   
• HORIZON-EIE-2022-CONNECT-02-02 (Stimulating innovation procurement)
  Opening date: 14 June 2022; Deadline: 27 September 2022; Budget: €4.5 million Actions under this call will boost innovation procurement in Europe by engaging public and private buyers in the purchase of innovative solutions.
   
• HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02-01 (Expanding Investments Ecosystems)
  Opening date: 21 June 2022; Deadline: 4 October 2022; Budget: €5 million 
  This call will target co-designed activities, of at least two years, proposed by business acceleration service providers and/or investor networks and clubs, located in less connected innovation ecosystems (‘modest’ and ‘moderate’) and innovation hubs (‘strong innovators’ and innovation leaders’), to facilitate the entry of funders in less connected innovation ecosystems.
   
• HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02-02 (Women TechEU)
  Opening date: 21 June 2022; Deadline: 4 October 2022; Budget: €10 million 
  Following the very encouraging response to the first pilot in 2021, the European Commission is more than doubling the budget to €10 million this year, which is expected to fund up to 130 deep-tech start-ups led by women. Learn more.
  ​​​​​​​
• HORIZON-EIC-2022-STARTUPEU-01-01 (Enhancing synergies between the EIC and Startup Europe)
  Opening date: 01 June 2022; Deadline: 17 November 2022; Budget: €6 million 
  The European Innovation Council (EIC) is seeking to build synergies with the wider European startup ecosystem via the second wave of actions under the Commission’s Startup Europe initiative. These actions will connect local digital and deep tech startup ecosystems and support cross-border acceleration activities for the scaling up of European digital and deep tech startups.

Background 

Innovation ecosystems bring together people or organisations who innovate, linking resources (such as funds, equipment, and facilities), organisations (such as higher education institutions, research and technology organisations, companies, venture capitalists and financial intermediaries), investors and policymakers. 

The actions supported by the first-ever European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) Work Programme complement the actions carried out by the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), activities across Horizon Europe, initiatives at national, regional and local levels as well as private and third sector initiatives. 

Resources

Commission boosts Horizon Europe budget (press release)

A robust innovation ecosystem for the future of Europe 

​​​​​​​New calls open to boost the European Innovation Ecosystem – EUR 12 million available (europa.eu)

More than €90 million available under the first calls of the European Innovation Ecosystems Work Programme (europa.eu)