European Startup and Scaleup Hubs pilot

Funding & Duration:Indicative EU contribution ~€20 million per selected pilot project; overall call budget ~€40 million; typical project duration 2 years; funding rate 50% (co‑funded action) 1

Reference and deadlines:Call identifier: HORIZON-EIE. Planned opening date: 06 October 2026. Deadline (single-stage): 05 January 2027 17:00 Brussels time. Topic published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal EU Funding & Tenders Portal 1.

Primary eligible applicants and consortium members:innovation hubs represented by a single legal entity (umbrella organisations such as a science & technology park, a cluster, district, accelerator or a venture builder embedded in an innovation ecosystem) or several legal entities representing the local innovation actors (research and higher education institutions, research and technology organisations (RTOs), corporates, public authorities, capital providers). Additional eligible applicant types to be included in consortia or associated with hubs: universities and higher education institutions, research institutes, RTOs, incubators/accelerators, venture builders, corporate partners, large enterprises, SMEs, investors and venture capital organisations, regional or national public authorities, nonprofit organisations, networks (e.g., EEN, EDIH, EIT KICs), and innovation infrastructures. Associated partners and third parties (subcontractors, providers of in-kind contributions and recipients of financial support to third parties) are also foreseen in implementation designs.

Primary funding mechanism:grant (Horizon Europe Programme Cofund Action). The action may be implemented partially through financial support to third parties (cascading grants) in the form of sub-grants to startups and scaleups. Financial support to third parties (if used) must be grants; maximum amount per third party is €60,000 unless explicitly indicated otherwise in the call conditions. The co-fund funding rate is 50% of eligible costs; co-funding (complementary funding) of 50% is required from other sources (national/regional/private/EU).

Geographic eligibility:EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries as described in Work Programme General Annex B. Non-associated third countries may participate only under specific conditions described in General Annex B and in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. The action explicitly requires transnational participation across Member States/Associated Countries, and the consortium must include widening country hubs.

Thematic focus:deep tech and strategic technology sectors. Examples explicitly mentioned: artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, advanced semiconductors, medical technology, biotechnology, bioeconomy applications, cleantech and energy (including nuclear technology), water and blue tech, security and defence, space, robotics and advanced materials. Activities may also connect to digital, manufacturing and other strategic sectors.

Expected Maturity:activities target ecosystem building, acceleration and scaling stages (validation, demonstration, market uptake and commercialization). The action includes short-term mobility, shared infrastructure access, pilot acceleration programmes for early-stage startups (European combinator), Demo Days and market access activities; it assumes hubs have demonstrated capacity in venture building and scaling.

Indicative budget for the topic:around €20 million per call year (total around €40 million across 2026–2027 according to the Portal budget overview). The call indicates an expected EU contribution per project around €20 million (typical project scale; selection of around 2 projects is indicated). Funding rate: 50% of eligible costs; remainder (50%) must be secured from complementary sources (national/regional/private or other EU funds). Maximum grant to third parties (if used) is €60,000 per third party.

Nature of support:monetary grant funding to consortium beneficiaries (50% co-fund), plus optional cascading financial support to third parties in the form of sub-grants to startups (each capped at €60,000). Non-monetary support expected to be delivered by beneficiaries includes acceleration services, mentoring, access to labs and infrastructure, networking, Demo Days and training. The action therefore combines monetary support and service delivery.

Application and selection process:single-stage proposal submission to the EU Portal, followed by evaluation against Horizon Europe criteria (Excellence, Impact, Quality & Efficiency of Implementation). Evaluation uses standard Part B templates and forms. If successful, grant agreement preparation follows. Operational implementation may involve launching cascaded calls (if financial support to third parties is used) that include further selection steps to award sub-grants to startups. At least the following stages apply: 1 (single-stage for main proposal) plus potentially 1 additional stage for cascading calls to third parties.

Estimated success rates:The call indicates an expected number of projects funded of around 2 (indicative) and a topic budget of around €40 million across the published years. Actual success rates depend on the number and quality of proposals submitted; historical Horizon Europe COFUND and EIE topic success rates are typically low (single-digit to low double-digit percentages) for competitive topics of this size. No explicit numeric success rate is provided in the topic text.

Grant type:HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based (HORIZON-AG). Evaluation will follow Annex D award criteria (Excellence, Impact, Quality of implementation). Continuous reporting and periodic reporting requirements as per Horizon Europe MGA apply. Financial management follows General Annexes (Annex G); beneficiaries may be requested to provide certificates if thresholds are reached. For COFUND, the funding rate is 50% and beneficiaries must implement co-financing and monitoring arrangements, including procedures to ensure fairness and independence if beneficiaries participate in cascaded calls.

Application uses the standard Horizon Europe Submission System forms:Part A (administrative web-forms) and Part B (technical narrative using the specific HE COFUND Part B template). The Topic-specific application template (Part B) will be available in the Portal submission system. Required annexes: information on financial support to third parties (if applicable) must be uploaded as a separate annex, the usual supporting documents (financial statement, letters of intent for co-funding, legal entity validations, gender equality plans where applicable, ethics self-assessment etc.) must be provided according to the General Annexes and Online Manual. Applicants must respect the formatting, font and page-limit rules set in the Part B template.

Template structure and guidance (what you must include):Part B must follow the HE COFUND template structure: (1) Excellence (vision, objectives, methodology, open science, interdisciplinarity, coordination of national activities); (2) Impact (pathways to impact, dissemination & exploitation, communication plan, IPR strategy); (3) Implementation (detailed work plan, work packages, deliverables, milestones, risk management, resources, management and governance, annual work plan for year 1). Include a distinct work package for the co-funded call activities (if using FSTP), evaluation and selection procedures and measures to prevent conflicts of interest, and a DMP and dissemination & exploitation plan as early deliverables. Provide KPIs and a monitoring and evaluation framework. The submission system provides the Part A administrative forms and a downloadable Part B template specific to HE COFUND actions.

Applicants should address the following requirements precisely in their proposal:selection criteria for hubs (research excellence anchor institution per hub; track record on venture building, scaling and investment attraction); cross-border shared access to research infrastructures and labs; mobility of researchers, innovators and hub staff; design of a selective European combinator acceleration programme (competitive selection, structured months-long support, mentoring, Demo Days); linkage mechanisms to EEN, EDIH, EIT KICs and EIC; explicit actions to integrate less-connected hubs and measure their capacity-building; commitment to open access to services (equal access for external startups); targets and KPIs listed in the topic (minimum network-level newly supported startups, percentage raising seed/VC outside their local ecosystem within three years, number of startups newly supported by other hubs). Address gender and inclusion (support for women-led startups), linkages with other Horizon Europe parts and the EIC ecosystem, and measures to mobilise private investment.

Mandatory annexes and administrative checks:provide a single letter of intent identifying the source of complementary funding (50% of total eligible costs) at submission; include the information on any intended financial support to third parties and the information on conflict of interest avoidance measures if beneficiaries or their departments can apply to cascaded calls; anticipate Horizon Europe legal and reporting obligations (continuous reporting in portal, prefinancing and reporting schedule, audit and record-keeping periods). The maximum amount for financial support to third parties per recipient is €60,000 and the funding rate is 50% of eligible costs for the COFUND action. Proposal must comply with ethics, security and data protection rules set in the General Annexes and MGA.

Portal resources and templates:Use the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System: Part A web-forms and the HE COFUND Part B template (including tables 3.1a–3.1h for work packages, deliverables, milestones, risks and staff efforts). Read the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, General Annexes and the model grant agreement templates available on the Portal. The online Manual contains submission and evaluation procedures and the FSTP template must be uploaded as an annex if financial support to third parties is planned 1.

To maximise competitiveness applicants should:form a geographically balanced consortium reaching the minimum hub count early; secure and document 50% complementary funding sources before submission; anchor each hub with a recognised research/higher education or RTO institution and demonstrate concrete access to labs and facilities; present a realistic European combinator design with selection rules, mentor network and investor Demo Day format; describe cascaded call governance and conflict-of-interest mitigation; include a detailed implementation workplan (annual workplan for year 1) and a robust monitoring framework aligned with the KPIs; show clear linkages to EIC, EDIH, EEN, EIT and relevant national/regional instruments; include a gendersensitive approach and explicit measures to support women-led startups.

Eligible Applicant Types:Eligible applicant types include: hubs represented by a single legal entity such as umbrella organisations (science & technology parks, innovation clusters, innovation districts), accelerators, venture builders; universities, higher education institutions; research institutes and research and technology organisations (RTOs); SMEs and startups (as beneficiaries only if part of hub organisation as legal entity in consortium structure); corporates and large enterprises (as partners or consortium members); regional and local public authorities; nonprofit organisations, NGOs; public-private partnerships (where aligned to the hub model); investors and venture capital actors (as partners). At proposal submission hubs must be represented by legal entity(ies) and the consortium must meet the minimum hub count across Member States/Associated Countries.

Funding Type:Primary funding type is grant (Horizon Europe COFUND action). The action may implement financial support to third parties (sub-grants) in grant form (max €60,000 per third party). The grant is budget-based HORIZON Action Grant.

Consortium Requirement:A consortium is required. Minimum network composition: at least ten hubs from at least ten different Member States or Associated Countries. Population-based limits apply (<=€35M: 1 hub; >€35M: up to 2 hubs). At least two hubs must be in widening countries. Single coordinator representing consortium central management is mandatory.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Geographic eligibility: EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries as listed in Work Programme General Annex B. Participation of some non-EU/non-associated countries may be allowed under specific provisions of the Work Programme and Programme Guide.

Target Sector:Target sectors: deep tech and strategic technology sectors including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, advanced semiconductors, medical technology, biotechnology and bioeconomy, cleantech and energy (including nuclear), water and blue tech, security and defence, space, robotics, advanced materials and related digital and industrial deep tech fields.

Mentioned Countries:No individual countries are mandated. Participation must cover at least ten different Member States or Associated Countries and include at least two hubs from widening countries (as defined by Horizon Europe). Population thresholds use Eurostat data at call opening.

Project Stage:Expected maturity: ecosystem building, validation, demonstration and commercialization/scale-up stages for startups and scaleups. Activities support startups from early market traction through scaling and follow-on funding.

Funding Amount:Indicative EU contribution per project: around €20 million (topic budget around €20 million per year; total call indicative contributions shown ~€40 million across years). Funding rate: 50% (COFUND). Maximum EU grant for third-party support: €60,000 per third party.

Application Type:Single-stage open call via the Funding & Tenders Portal (official deadline and submission wizard). Applicants must upload Part B PDF and complete Part A web forms in the submission system.

Nature of Support:Beneficiaries receive monetary grants (budget-based COFUND grant) and will provide non-monetary services to startups/scaleups (mentoring, infrastructure access, events). Optionally beneficiaries may implement cascading grants (financial support to third parties) to startups (sub-grants) up to €60,000 each.

Application Stages:Main application: single-stage proposal submission to the EU Portal. If consortium opts to use financial support to third parties, further selection stages will occur within the project lifecycle (co-funded calls to select third-party recipients). Expect 1 main selection stage for project grant and additional competitive calls internally for subgrants.

Success Rates:No explicit success rate published. Indicative number of grants for the topic: circa 2 projects (topic budget and expected grants shown in Portal). Success rate depends on number and quality of proposals; historically COFUND and high-impact EIE topics are competitive.