Cost-effective and robust continuous biotech bio-based processes

The HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-04 grant opportunity aims to promote the advancement of cost-effective and robust continuous biotech bio-based processes within the framework of Horizon Europe, particularly through the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). This funding initiative encourages innovation actions targeting scalable biotechnology, particularly in the production of bio-based chemicals, materials, and ingredients.

Eligible applicants include startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large corporations, universities, research institutes, public-private partnerships, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The participation of diverse stakeholders, such as farmers and brand owners, is explicitly encouraged. The funding mechanism for this grant is a type of budget-based grant under Horizon Europe.

Typically, the call seeks multi-stakeholder collaborations, implying a consortium requirement, although it is not explicitly mandated in the description. Geographic eligibility extends to entities based in EU member states and associated countries, with the potential for inclusion of participants from non-EU countries under specific conditions.

The targeted sectors for this grant are primarily industrial biotechnology, bioprocessing technologies, and bio-based manufacturing. The projects must focus on successfully transitioning from traditional batch processes to continuous operation models, promoting sustainability and efficiency.

The allocated budget for this specific topic is €14 million, with individual projects expected to receive between €1 million and €5 million depending on their scope. The submission process is single-stage, with electronic proposals due by September 18, 2025, reflecting a single-stage submission format.

Nature of support is purely monetary, provided through grants to facilitate research, prototyping, and eventual commercialization of innovative solutions. The grant emphasizes the importance of projects that can demonstrate market relevance and contributions towards sustainability, bio-economy strategies, and the EU's broader environmental goals. Projects should exhibit high productivity, selectivity, and purity, aligning with application requirements.

Although explicit success rates are not provided, Horizon Europe typically has a competitive success rate ranging from 10% to 39%. It is likely that co-funding from private sources will be a requirement as the CBE JU often encourages leveraging public-private investments.

In summary, this grant is designed to foster innovative continuous biotech processes while addressing key industry challenges, integrating state-of-the-art monitoring systems, promoting resource efficiency, and ensuring sustainability. Collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders is encouraged to propel the EU’s green goals and enhance the viability of industrial biotechnology.

This is a comprehensive description of the HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-04 funding opportunity, focusing on cost-effective and robust continuous biotech bio-based processes, within the Horizon Europe program, specifically the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU).

The call for proposals is for HORIZON JU Innovation Actions (HORIZON-JU-IA) and uses the HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] model grant agreement. The submission process is single-stage, with the opening date on April 3, 2025, and a deadline of September 18, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of successful proposals are contributions to the EU Initiative on Biotech and Biomanufacturing, the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and its action plan, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the EU Zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero Pollution Action Plan, as well as the EU Industrial strategy. Projects should lead to increased scale-up potential and sustainability of biotech processes for bio-based chemicals, materials, and ingredients, enhancing the competitiveness of industrial biotech in the EU. Furthermore, projects should achieve increased and stable productivity and selectivity compared to benchmark batch/fed-batch processes, if available at industrial scale, and ensure the purity of end-products aligns with application requirements.

The scope of the call addresses the challenges in scaling up continuous biotech processes, which offer promising alternatives to batch or fed-batch processes in biorefineries but face hurdles such as contamination risks, genetic instability of cells, maintaining high production titer, productivity, and yield, and limitations in downstream processing (DSP) to handle flow and concentration variations.

Proposals should identify bottlenecks in switching to continuous processes, demonstrate continuous biotech processes (microbial, cell factories, and/or enzymatic) for sustainable production of bio-based chemicals, materials, and/or ingredients, and integrate efficient DSP systems. The focus should be on bio-based products with high market potential, resource/energy efficiency, and circularity through process intensification and valorization of side-streams.

Specific requirements include implementing on-line monitoring and control systems with AI/digital tools, applying the safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) framework, contributing recommendations to advance the SSbD framework, and ensuring complementarities with past and ongoing R&I projects. Food/feed ingredients other than proteins are in scope.

Updates to the call include a new version of the Application Form (Part B) template available in the Submission System as of April 4, 2025, and the availability of the submission session as of April 3, 2025, for various HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025 topics.

General conditions for admissibility, eligibility, financial and operational capacity, evaluation, award, and legal and financial setup are detailed with references to the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. Specific conditions are outlined in section 2.2.3 of the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2025.

Application and evaluation forms, the model grant agreement, and additional documents are available in the Submission System and through links to various Horizon Europe program documents, EU regulations, and guidance materials.

The budget overview lists various HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025 topics with their respective budgets in EUR, action types, and indicative numbers of grants. For HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-04, the budget is around 7,000,000 EUR, and the indicative number of grants is 2.

Partner search announcements are available, and the portal facilitates partner requests. Support resources include the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points, Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk, ETSI Research Helpdesk, the European Charter for Researchers, and Partner Search.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to foster innovation in continuous biotech processes for producing bio-based products, aligning with EU's bioeconomy and sustainability goals. It encourages projects that address bottlenecks in current processes, integrate advanced monitoring and control systems, and contribute to the development of safe and sustainable design methodologies. The call is open to a wide range of participants, including researchers, industry stakeholders, and SMEs, with a focus on collaborative projects that can demonstrate significant impact and contribute to the EU's broader environmental and industrial strategies.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, given the nature of Horizon Europe and the CBE JU, eligible applicants are likely to include a mix of entities such as: SMEs, large enterprises, universities, research institutes, and other relevant organizations involved in the bio-based sector. The call is open to entities established in EU member states and associated countries, and potentially to entities from non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions as outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. This is indicated under the "Type of MGA" (Model Grant Agreement) in the call information.

Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the call encourages collaboration and specifies partner search announcements, suggesting that a consortium is preferred or even required. Innovation Actions typically benefit from a consortium approach to bring together diverse expertise and resources.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states and associated countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. The text also mentions that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The target sector is the bio-based industry, specifically focusing on biotech and biomanufacturing. This includes bio-based chemicals, materials, and ingredients, with an emphasis on circular economy principles, resource efficiency, and sustainable production. The call targets the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the EU Zero pollution ambition, and the EU Industrial strategy.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are explicitly mentioned. However, the call is open to EU member states and associated countries. It also alludes to the possibility of participation from non-EU/non-associated countries under specific conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Project Stage: The project stage is primarily focused on demonstration and validation, with an emphasis on scaling up existing biotech processes. The call aims to move processes from batch or fed-batch to continuous operation at a commercial scale. Therefore, the expected maturity is at the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5-7, focusing on demonstration in relevant environments and scaling up to pilot or industrial scale.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the CBE JU call. For the HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-04 topic, the budget is around €7,000,000. Other topics within the call have different budget allocations, ranging from around €1,000,000 for coordination and support actions to around €20,000,000 for innovation actions.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process. The call opened on April 3, 2025, and the deadline for submission is September 18, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant. This is a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Application Stages: The application process consists of a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe program, specifically the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). It aims to fund innovation actions that promote the scale-up and sustainability of biotech processes for producing bio-based chemicals, materials, and ingredients. The focus is on transitioning from traditional batch or fed-batch processes to more efficient and cost-effective continuous biotech processes. Projects should address bottlenecks in scaling up, integrate efficient downstream processing systems, and valorize side streams to enhance resource and energy efficiency. Proposals should also implement online monitoring and control systems, apply the safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) framework, and ensure complementarities with existing R&I projects. The call is open to entities from EU member states and associated countries, with potential participation from non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions. The funding is provided as a grant, with a budget of around €7,000,000 for the HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-04 topic. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of September 18, 2025. Successful projects will contribute to the EU's broader goals of promoting biotech and biomanufacturing, implementing the Bioeconomy Strategy, and achieving a circular, zero-pollution economy.