As part of Horizon Europe, the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme aims to create more connected, inclusive, and efficient innovation ecosystems and support the scaling of companies, as laid out in the New European Innovation Agenda.

Innovation ecosystems 

• bring together people or organisations whose goal is innovation, and
• include the links between 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 European Innovation Ecosystems complement the actions carried out by the EIC and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), activities across Horizon Europe, initiatives at national, regional and local level as well as private and third sector initiatives.

The New European Innovation Agenda (NEIA) will help Europe to develop new technologies, to address the most pressing societal challenges and bring them on the market. Europe wants to be the place where the best talent work hand in hand with the best companies and where deep tech innovation thrives and creates breakthrough inspiring solutions across the continent.

The European Innovation Ecosystems projects contribute to the Agenda by:

General publications26 January 2023

Scaling up of deep tech innovations - Factsheet 1

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General publications26 January 2023

Boosting innovation procurement - Factsheet 2

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(755.42 KB - PDF)

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General publications26 January 2023

Connecting the European Innovation Ecosystems - Factsheet 3

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(955.45 KB - PDF)

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In the context of the New European Innovation Agenda, the Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) aim to create connected regional innovation valleys across the European Union (EU), involving regions with lower innovation performances, by building on strategic areas of regional strength and specialisation (defined in their smart specialisation strategies), in support of key EU priorities.  

The European Commission dedicated EUR 122 million under Horizon Europe (European Innovation Ecosystems) and under the European Regional Development Fund (Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument).

The Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems call is now closed. The deadline for submission was 17 October 2023, 17:00 CET. 

For further information about the Regional Innovation Valley I3 Instrument calls, please visit this page and for further information on the similarities and differences between the EIE and I3 calls, please consult these guidelines.

The are currently no open calls. Check this page regularly for updates.

The 2023-2024 European Innovation Ecosystems actions are grouped under two destinations: CONNECT and INNOVSMES complemented by the 2021-2022 SCALEUP destination.

CONNECT

The actions in CONNECT focus on building interconnected, inclusive innovation ecosystems across Europe by drawing on the existing strengths of national, regional and local ecosystems and pulling in new, less well-represented actors and territories to set, undertake, and achieve collective ambitions towards challenges for the benefit of society, including the green, digital, and social transitions.

European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/EUROSTARS 

The INNOVSMES destination supports the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Eurostars.

This Partnership helps innovative SMEs and project partners (such us large companies, universities and research organisations) by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organisations can increase their research and innovation (R&I) capacity, their productivity and successfully embed in global value chains and new markets.

This action is led by the Eureka Secretariat with the co-fund provided by the Member States. More information here.

SCALEUP

The actions in SCALEUP focus on reinforcing network connectivity within and between innovation ecosystems to accelerate sustainable business growth with high societal value. By actively engaging in local, national and European networks, companies can better capture and create ecosystem opportunities and gain new competitive advantage.

One of the actions funded under the SCALEUP destination is the Women TechEU.

The INNOSUP programme was part of Horizon 2020 and its legacy continues until 2024. The ultimate goal was to enhance innovation in SMEs in Europe essentially via cascade funding schemes. Currently it is part of the European Innovation Ecosystems actions.

The programme focused on developing the ecosystem of innovation support to SMEs in Europe. The INNOSUP actions aimed to test new approaches for better innovation support through funding opportunities for innovation actors across Europe. 

They were designed to provide opportunities to Member States and regions to enhance their services through collaboration, and peer-learning, with an emphasis on testing new approaches that facilitate SMEs’ access to customers, capital and competencies; the latter especially in the domains of business, innovation and intellectual asset management.

More can be found on the EASME legacy website.

The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) organised info sessions for ongoing EIE calls. You can find some useful documents, recordings below:

On 25 May 2023, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) organised an informative webinar about the Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) calls for proposals.

The Power Point Presentation of the event is available below along with the recording.

On 16 February 2023 the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) organised an informative webinar about the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) Work Programme 2023-2024. 

Presentations and recording of the webinar are available below.