European network for upscaling venture builders’ roles in research performing organisations (CSA)

What it funds:a single Coordination and Support Action to set up a European network that raises awareness of, upscales and/or establishes venture builder roles in research performing organisations (universities, RTOs and research infrastructures); supports exchange of best practice, shared resources and skill development for venture building; and promotes gender-sensitive measures to tackle barriers faced by women innovators and entrepreneurs.

Who can apply:Eligible applicants are legal entities (universities, research performing organisations, research and technology organisations, research infrastructures and other organisations in the innovation ecosystem) established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries. Check the Work Programme General Annexes for full eligibility and participation rules.

Project scope and expectations:build a Europe-wide network to demonstrate and promote different venture builder models in research organisations; deliver capacity building, shared tools/resources and exchange mechanisms; apply a gender-sensitive approach; and demonstrate pathways that increase commercialisation from lab to market.

Indicative funding and timeline:Total topic contribution: around €1 000 000; indicative number of grants: 1; planned opening date: 13 October 2026; single-stage submission. Projects use lump-sum funding rules under Horizon Europe.

How to apply:submit a single-stage proposal via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the application form in the Submission System; follow Horizon Europe general annexes on eligibility, evaluation, award criteria, and lump-sum rules.

Opportunity title:European network for upscaling venture builders’ roles in research performing organisations (CSA). Call identifier: HORIZON-CL4. Funding programme: Horizon Europe, Call: INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2027-01). Type of action: HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA). Type of Model Grant Agreement: HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS). Deadline (Brussels time): 2 February 2027, 17:00. Planned opening of submission system: 13 October 2026. Single-stage submission procedure.

Call budget and expected grant size:This topic is part of a suite of CL4 topics for 2027. The overall indicative contribution for this specific topic action HORIZON-CL4 is around €1,000,000 for the year 2027 and the indicative number of grants expected is 1. The expected EU contribution for the selected project is around €1,000,000 under a lump-sum format.

Objective:Support research performing organisations (universities, Research and Technology Organisations, research and technology infrastructures) to upscale, establish or strengthen venture builder functions and roles that accelerate commercialisation of research results (from lab to market). Scope: Build a European network and activities to raise awareness about venture builders as part of the startup support ecosystem, promote upscaling or creation of venture builder functions of different types adapted to institutional needs, and enhance capacity to share resources, exchange best practices and develop venture-building skills. The action must demonstrate a gender-sensitive approach and specifically address barriers faced by women innovators and entrepreneurs across the innovation ecosystem.

Expected outcomes:1) Raised awareness of venture builders’ roles as part of the ecosystem that supports startup and spin-off creation in research performing organisations; 2) Upscaling or establishment of venture builders’ roles across research performing organisations in Europe; 3) Enhanced capacity for sharing resources to support venture building, exchange of best practices, training and skills development for successful venture building, leading to increased commercialisation of research results and stronger lab-to-market pathways.

Eligible applicant types:Universities, research performing organisations, Research and Technology Organisations, research and technology infrastructures, public research institutions, innovation hubs, incubators, accelerators, science parks, nonprofit organisations and other legal entities active in R&I and technology transfer. SMEs, private partners, industry and other third parties may participate as partners or associated partners where relevant and allowed by the Work Programme and Grant Agreement rules.

Funding type:grant. This topic uses the Horizon Lump Sum Grant model. Eligible costs will be covered through a lump sum contribution defined by the Work Programme and the Lump Sum Decision referenced in the Funding & Tenders Portal documents. The grant form is a HORIZON-CSA lump-sum action (Coordination and Support Action with lump sum). The funding rate is defined by the Horizon rules for CSAs; the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement and the Decision authorising lump sums for Horizon Europe apply. The topic page references the Decision of 7 July 2021 on lump sums and the Horizon General Annexes for specific rules.

Lump-sum modality specifics:Eligible costs for the action will be covered by a predefined lump sum in the Grant Agreement. Proposals must follow the application templates in the Submission System (Part A and Part B) and provide the information requested by the Lump Sum MGA and detailed budget table (as required for lump-sum topics). The Lump Sum Decision and the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement (MGA) govern the financial set-up.

Consortium requirement:Expected: consortium with multiple beneficiaries spanning EU Member States and/or Associated Countries; check the Submission System Part A/Part B instructions and the topic-specific conditions in the Portal for final consortium composition rules and minimum participation requirements.

Geographic eligibility:Horizon Europe eligibility rules apply (Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes). Beneficiaries must be established in Horizon-eligible countries (EU Member States, Horizon-associated countries and, where exceptional funding is allowed, eligible non-associated third countries under specific conditions). The Topic page advises applicants to consult Annex B for the list of eligible countries and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide for exceptional funding cases.

Mentioned countries / region:Region: EU and Horizon-associated countries. The topic targets Europe (research performing organisations across Europe). The Horizon Programme Guide and General Annexes list eligible countries and conditions for third-country participation.

Primary thematic sectors:research commercialisation, innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurship, technology transfer, higher education engagement with industry, science and technology infrastructures, capacity building for venture creation and management, gender-sensitive entrepreneurship support. Cross-cutting relevant areas include digitalisation, artificial intelligence (as policy priority) and innovation ecosystem strengthening. Projects should work at the intersection of research performing organisations and regional/national innovation systems to promote venture builders as a complementary or integrated function to incubators, accelerators and technology transfer offices.

Target sector(s):Innovation ecosystems, higher education and research, technology transfer/commercialisation, startup & spin-off creation, venture building, public research organisations and research infrastructures, ecosystem intermediaries (incubators/accelerators).

Project stage:Implementation and demonstration of coordination, capacity building and scaling activities for venture building functions; readiness expected at policy/organisational and pilot operation levels rather than pure early-stage research. Activities: mapping and benchmarking existing venture builder models in research performing organisations across Europe; designing training and exchange programmes; creating shared resources, toolkits and repositories; delivering pilot upscaling activities in several RPOs; arranging workshops, cross-institutional secondments and learning exchanges; integrating gender-sensitive measures and monitoring uptake and results; dissemination, exploitation and sustainability planning. Expected deliverables: European network platform or hub, synthesised best-practice repository, training curricula and workshops, pilot implementation reports, assessment of gender-sensitive measures and recommendations for policy uptake, strategic roadmap for scaling venture building in research performing organisations.

Project stage:Demonstration, validation and upscaling of venture builder functions in research organisations; capacity building and policy/organisational transformation.

Indicative budget for this topic:around €1,000,000 in 2027. Indicative number of grants: around 1 (single expected grant for this topic). The Work Programme lists the topic under the broader CL4 budget overview and the topic page indicates it is a Horizon-CSA with around €1,000,000 contribution for one grant. Applicants should consult the Topic page in the Funding & Tenders Portal for the final advertised contribution and check the detailed lump-sum budget table when preparing proposals.

Submission:single-stage procedure through the Funding & Tenders Portal (Submission System). Use the official application form available in the Submission System (Part A and Part B). Proposal layout, page limits and format follow Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and the Part B template in the Submission System. Evaluation forms: Standard evaluation templates for Horizon CSAs will be used (EU Grants: Evaluation form HE CSA). Proposals must include the required administrative details (Part A), a full implementation proposal (Part B), and annexes such as the Lump Sum budget table, information on financial support to third parties (if applicable), and other reference documents specified in the Portal.

Submission method:Open call (single-stage) via the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System. Use the application form within the System and follow the Part B template and Annexes.

Evaluation:Applications will be evaluated using the Horizon Europe CSA evaluation form with the standard three criteria: Excellence, Impact and Quality and efficiency of implementation. Thresholds for CSAs follow General Annex D (individual criterion threshold 3/5, overall threshold 10/15) unless the lump sum or topic-specific rules require otherwise. For lump-sum actions, reviewers must assess the quality of the coordination/support measures, including methodology, and verify that proposed lump-sum activities reasonably match the requested lump sum contribution; specific guidance on lump-sum assessment in evaluation forms will apply. Indicative evaluation timeline and the grant agreement preparation timeline are described in the Work Programme General Annexes (Annex F).

Evaluation criteria and thresholds:Standard Horizon CSA criteria: Excellence, Impact, and Implementation. Consult General Annex D and the CSA evaluation form templates. For CSA topics the usual individual criterion threshold is 3 and overall threshold 10 unless topic-specific thresholds are provided.

Reporting:Continuous reporting via the Funding & Tenders Portal Continuous Reporting tool and periodic reporting for lump-sum CSAs in the Submission System per the Data Sheet schedule. Lump sum actions must submit the deliverables and comply with reporting templates in the Portal. Management: Grant Agreement will be the Horizon Lump Sum MGA for CSAs and will include special clauses from the Work Programme and General Annexes, including clauses on financial support to third parties (if applicable), confidentiality, IPR, data management, impact monitoring and participation in project clusters and coordination activities for the topic portfolio. Beneficiaries must keep records and evidence supporting the implementation of the work described in the application, in line with Annex 20 (record-keeping) provisions for lump-sum topics.

I. Results and IPR:Ownership of results remains with beneficiaries. The granting authority will have royalty-free rights of use for non-sensitive deliverables for communication and policy uses; rights of use and access rights are further defined in the MGA and General Annexes. II. Data and FAIR: Projects should apply FAIR principles to research data produced. Where relevant, data should be deposited in trusted repositories and made accessible in line with ethical and legal constraints. III. Open science: Applicants are encouraged to adopt open science practices and to ensure that essential deliverables and guidance documents are openly accessible to stakeholders, policymakers and the research and innovation ecosystem, subject to confidentiality and security constraints.

Open science expectations:Adoption of FAIR principles, open access to publications, open dissemination of non-sensitive deliverables, sharing of training materials, toolkits and repositories to maximise reuse and uptake by research performing organisations across Europe.

Gender and inclusiveness:This Topic explicitly requires a gender-sensitive approach. Projects must consider barriers faced by women innovators and entrepreneurs and propose concrete measures to reduce inequalities in access to venture building support. The integration of gender analysis into the project activities, monitoring and evaluation is required and projects should adopt inclusive practices, particularly for underserved groups (e.g., women founders, minority groups). Cross-cutting priorities: The topic references cross-cutting priorities such as artificial intelligence and digital agenda in the Programme metadata; projects should consider ethical, legal and social implications of digital tools used in venture building, including bias, privacy, transparency and robustness of AI when employed for matchmaking, evaluation or acceleration services.

Application stages:Single-stage submission (this topic). Evaluation: One evaluation stage using CSA templates. Success rates: Not published for the topic; typical success rates in Horizon calls vary widely depending on call pressure; applicants should assume a competitive process. Co-funding: No mandatory co-funding percentage is specified in the topic page; lump-sum modality means the grant pays the agreed lump sum; beneficiaries must ensure they can implement the activities and show capacity and commitment. For certain actions or co-funded schemes in other topics, co-funding is required; consult the Topic page and General Annexes for details.

Use the official Submission System Part B template. Typical CSA structure:excellence (definition of how venture builders are interpreted and the novelty and added value of the network), impact (pathway to outcomes, dissemination and exploitation plan, participation in cluster activities across the programme), implementation (work plan, work packages, milestones, deliverables, quality management, consortium description and roles). Annexes: legal entity forms, letters of commitment, CVs of key staff, Lump Sum Detailed Budget table or relevant Lump Sum justification templates, information on financial support to third parties if relevant, ethics self-assessment if necessary, and the clinical studies template only if clinical research is involved (not applicable to this topic).

Risks to address in the proposal:consortium delivery risks, limited institutional buy-in, insufficient engagement of women entrepreneurs, inadequate exploitation/sustainability planning, and data protection or ethical issues if personal data or sensitive information are used. Proposals must include an assessment of key risks, mitigation measures and, where personal data processing is included, compliance with GDPR and data protection requirements.

Funding type:Horizon Coordination and Support Action under Horizon Europe, using a lump sum grant5.

Call status and timing:Forthcoming call, planned opening on 13 October 2026 and deadline on 2 February 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time12.

Indicative budget:€1.00 million total indicative budget for the topic5.

Expected grants:1 grant is expected, with an indicative contribution of around €1.00 million5.

Project focus:Upscaling venture builder roles in research performing organisations, with strong attention to resource sharing, skills development, best practice exchange and commercialisation of research results5.