CAPACITY BUILDING CAP2B

The I3-2026-CAP2B call, part of the Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3), focuses on capacity building in less developed regions and aims to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems and value chains through coordinated investments. The total budget for this initiative is €9.8 million. It targets public authorities, innovation intermediaries, companies, and civil society, with a particular emphasis on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in identifying interregional investment opportunities.

Eligible applicants include public authorities, academia, research institutions, businesses, and civil society organizations. A consortium of 3 to 5 partners from different EU member states is required to promote interregional cooperation. This initiative prioritizes less developed regions, transition regions, and those facing specific challenges such as talent retention.

The thematic focus aligns with EU Smart Specialisation Strategies, targeting sectors like digital transformation, green initiatives, and smart manufacturing. The projects funded under this call aim to prepare participants for future innovation endeavors, laying the groundwork for advanced innovation activities and enhancing institutional capabilities.

The application process is a single-stage submission with a closing date set for March 19, 2026. Applicants will receive both monetary support through grants covering 70% of eligible project costs, with a co-funding requirement of 30%, alongside non-monetary services, including business coaching and technology transfer support.

The expected outputs include improved business cases, updated regional innovation strategies, and established cooperative agreements with industry. Long-term impacts encompass strengthened innovation capacities, enhanced interregional collaboration, and increased readiness among less developed regions to engage with European value chains.

This call aims to foster a sustainable and interconnected regional innovation ecosystem, ultimately contributing to the cohesion and competitiveness of the EU.

The I3-2026-CAP2B call, under the Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3), aims to build capacity in less developed regions to strengthen their regional innovation ecosystems and value chains through coordinated and interlinked investments. This is achieved through I3 Project Grants (I3-PJG). The call specifically targets improving the capacity of public authorities and innovation intermediaries, such as clusters, in identifying investment portfolios at an interregional scale.

The call's overall objective is to enhance interregional cooperation by identifying and sharing good practices, deriving actionable policy recommendations, strengthening institutional capacities, and experimenting with new approaches. This will enable public authorities and agencies to design evidence-based and targeted policy interventions, including updates to regional Smart Specialisation Strategies and related innovation policy frameworks.

Projects that promote the participation of EU outermost regions and address their specific needs, or support regions with specific challenges like talent retention, are particularly encouraged. The I3 Instrument, especially Strand 2b, is a key component of the Talent Booster Mechanism, offering support to cities, regions, and Member States.

Specific objectives of the proposals include:

Creating connected and well-performing regional innovation ecosystems to foster interregional cooperation.
Preparing interregional innovation projects in shared smart specialisation areas, laying the groundwork for future cooperation under Strand 2a.
Facilitating the validation of investment ideas through improved business and investment planning skills, particularly for SMEs in specific value chains.
Identifying and addressing gaps and business opportunities to reinforce existing or create new value chains, linking to smart specialisation priorities.
Experimenting with innovative approaches to increase the capacity of regional actors in interregional innovation processes.
Ensuring the replication, adaptation, and embedding of gained knowledge and capabilities in the regional ecosystem for long-term institutional learning and policy development.
Ensuring active involvement of companies, civil society, public administrations, academia, and other quadruple-helix stakeholders.

The scope of Strand 2b focuses on regions, including Less Developed Regions (LDRs), outermost regions, and those facing specific challenges, that experience obstacles to innovation diffusion and cooperation. These obstacles may include institutional weaknesses, fragmented ecosystems, human capital constraints, and a lack of supportive policy frameworks. The call aims to address these challenges by building operational and technical capacities, reinforcing institutional frameworks, fostering policy learning, and embedding successful practices into regional and national strategies.

The call supports co-creation dynamics among all participating regions, encouraging the active participation of transition and more developed regions to support less developed regions in strengthening their capacity and engaging with European value chains and joint innovation investment projects.

Expected outputs of the projects include:

Tailored policy measures to increase innovation capacity.
Cooperation arrangements with industry associations.
Agreements with partners for cooperation with less developed regions.
Updated S3-based innovation roadmaps.
Membership in relevant networks and innovation thematic platforms.
Tested tools for mapping demand-driven business opportunities.
Identified I3 investment pipelines.
Identified innovative products and services.
Concrete business cases for I3 investment calls.
Increased innovation maturity of business cases.
Dissemination and exploitation plans for project outcomes.

The long-term impact includes:

Committed innovation intermediaries supporting companies in innovation and interregional value chains.
Increased innovation capacity of ecosystems.
Improved support measures for innovation diffusion.
Improved cooperation with interregional ecosystems.
Improved business climate for competitive ecosystems.
Reinforced cooperation capacity of quadruple-helix ecosystems in less developed regions.
Increased readiness of I3 consortia to cooperate in EU value chains.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, award criteria, scoring and thresholds, indicative timeline, and legal and financial setup. These are detailed in the call document and related annexes.

The call document and annexes include:

Call document
Application form templates (Standard application form, detailed budget table, letter of support)
Model Grant Agreements (I3 MGA)
Additional documents (I3 Instrument Work Programme, ERDF Regulation, EU Financial Regulation, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement)

The budget for the I3-2026-CAP2B call is EUR 9,800,000. The call follows a single-stage submission process. The planned opening date is 23 October 2025, and the deadline for submission is 19 March 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The call encourages partner searches, allowing LEARs, Account Administrators, and users with active public profiles to publish partner requests.

Applicants are advised to carefully read all provisions and contact the provided email or URL for help. Additional resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, IT Helpdesk, and Online Manual.

In summary, this call is about empowering less developed regions by enhancing their innovation ecosystems and value chains. It aims to foster interregional collaboration, improve policy frameworks, and increase the capacity of SMEs and public authorities to participate in EU innovation initiatives. The call seeks to create sustainable, connected, and well-performing regional innovation ecosystems that can contribute to the long-term economic growth and competitiveness of the EU.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call aims to improve the capacity of public authorities and innovation intermediaries (e.g. clusters). The call also mentions the active involvement of companies and civil society, alongside public administrations, academia, and other quadruple-helix stakeholders. The involvement of SMEs is specifically mentioned.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an I3 Project Grant (I3-PJG) under the Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3). The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is an I3 Action Grant Budget-Based [I3-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The call requires a consortium, as it promotes interregional cooperation and mentions the active participation of transition and more developed regions in supporting less developed regions. The call also mentions the increased readiness of I3 consortia to cooperate in globally competitive EU value chains.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The call targets less developed regions (LDRs), EU outermost regions, and regions facing specific challenges. The active participation of transition and more developed regions is also encouraged. The geographic eligibility appears to be focused on EU regions, including outermost regions.

Target Sector: The program targets regional innovation ecosystems and value chains, with a focus on smart specialisation areas. It aims to improve innovation capacity, support innovation diffusion, and promote interregional collaboration. The call is relevant to sectors involved in innovation, regional development, and smart specialisation strategies.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on EU regions, including less developed regions and outermost regions.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on capacity building and preparation for future innovation projects. It aims to facilitate the validation process of investment ideas and build concrete capacities for SMEs in specific value chains. The expected project stage is development and validation, preparing for future commercialization or scale-up projects.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic I3-2026-CAP2B - I3-PJG I3 Project Grants is 9,800,000 EUR.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage call for proposals.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The document does not provide information on success rates.

Co-funding Requirement: The document does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This is a call for proposals under the Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3) Strand 2b, specifically targeting capacity building in less developed EU regions. The call, I3-2026-CAP2B, aims to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems and value chains through coordinated and interlinked investments. It seeks to improve the capacity of public authorities and innovation intermediaries to support companies, particularly SMEs, in identifying investment portfolios at an interregional scale. The call encourages the active involvement of companies, civil society, public administrations, academia, and other quadruple-helix stakeholders.

The specific objectives include creating connected regional innovation ecosystems, preparing interregional innovation projects in shared smart specialisation areas, facilitating the validation of investment ideas, identifying and addressing gaps in value chains, experimenting with innovative approaches, and ensuring the long-term embedding of knowledge and capabilities in the regional ecosystem.

The expected outcomes include increased innovation capacities of less developed regions, strengthened regional innovation ecosystems, and enhanced cooperation among SMEs in interregional value chains. The long-term impact includes committed innovation intermediaries, improved support measures for innovation diffusion, and a reinforced cooperation capacity of quadruple-helix ecosystems.

The call is open to public authorities, innovation intermediaries, SMEs, and other stakeholders involved in regional innovation and development. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of March 19, 2026. The total budget for the call is 9,800,000 EUR. This initiative is part of the European Commission's Talent Booster Mechanism, aiming to support regions with specific challenges, such as difficulties in retaining and attracting talents.