Open call for proposals Innovation projects

Open call for Innovation Projects (EIT Culture & Creativity) targeting close-to-market innovations in architecture, audio-visual media and fashion. The two-stage cascade funding offers selected Stage 1 applicants a €20,000 fixed lump sum (up to 30) and up to 11 Stage 2 awards of up to €900,000 each from a total indicative budget of €10.5 million. Projects must be at approximately TRL 7 at submission and aim to reach TRL 9 within an 18-month implementation phase; EIT support may reimburse up to 70% of eligible costs and requires applicants to provide co-funding. Key deadlines are Stage 1 by 30 October 2026 and Stage 2 by 15 March 2027; applicants should consult the official call page for full eligibility and contractual details.

What it funds

Scope and objectives

Supports high-impact, close-to-market innovations at TRL 7 in Architecture, Audio-Visual Media and Fashion, to advance to TRL 9 and full market deployment. Projects must demonstrate a credible commercialisation pathway and contribute to EIT Culture & Creativity KPIs such as market deployment and IP generation 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Call page and application portal: EITCULTURE Business Plan 2026.

Core facts

Call identity and scope

Key dates and duration

Funding structure and amounts

Eligibility and who should apply

Eligible applicant types

The call targets organisations and teams capable of delivering close-to-market innovation in the specified sectors. Eligible applicant types include startups, SMEs, large enterprises, universities, research institutes, non-profit organisations, cultural and creative organisations, individual entrepreneurs (where permitted by the EITCULTURE rules), public institutions and public-private partnerships. Applicants must be able to demonstrate capacity to reach TRL 9, undertake pilot deployment and show credible commercialisation and scaling plans.

Beneficiary geographic scope

The call is implemented under the EIT Culture & Creativity action within Horizon/EIT. Geographic eligibility follows the EITCULTURE cascade funding rules and the Horizon/EIT framework; primary beneficiaries are organisations established in the EU and associated countries to Horizon Europe. The call page and EITCULTURE guidance should be consulted for specific eligibility lists and any exclusions. For reference, this call is published on the European Commission portal and targeted at EU programme participants and partners.

Call topics, technology and project maturity

Target sectors and themes

Expected project stage and activities

Application and evaluation process

Submission method and deadlines

Evaluation stages and criteria

Success rate and selection volumes

Financial and contractual conditions

How to apply and templates

Applications must be submitted via the EIT Culture & Creativity online submission platform. Stage 1 submission requires information sufficient for evaluation against Excellence, Impact, Quality and efficiency of implementation, and EU dimension. Selected Stage 1 applicants will prepare a Business Development Plan during a six-week preparatory phase funded by the €20,000 fixed lump sum. Stage 2 applicants must submit a full proposal including detailed work plan, budget justification (for lump sum calculation), technical development and validation plans, pilot deployment plans, commercialisation and investment readiness strategy, IP and regulatory mapping, scaling plan and consortium/partner commitments where applicable.

Support, contact and further information

Applicants may submit questions through the EIT Culture & Creativity Contact Form. Questions received during the submission period may be anonymised and published on the call webpage. An online information session will take place on 7 October 2026, 10:00–12:00 CEST; registration is required and the recording will be published. Applicants should consult the call webpage regularly for updates and published Q&A.

Mentioned countries and geographic references

The call text does not list specific countries by name. It is published on the European Commission portal under Horizon/EIT; therefore geographic scope is assumed to be EU and Horizon-associated countries. Applicants should consult the call guidance and EITCULTURE documentation for the exact list of eligible countries.

Summary and practical advice

This open call funds high-impact, near-market innovations in Architecture, Audio-Visual Media and Fashion. It targets applicants with solutions already at TRL 7 that have credible routes to commercialisation, IP creation potential and market deployment plans. The process is competitive and staged: submit a concise Stage 1 application by 30 October 2026 to compete for one of up to 30 Stage 1 invitations; invited applicants receive €20,000 to develop a Business Development Plan and then submit a Stage 2 full proposal by 15 March 2027. Up to 11 projects may then be awarded up to €900,000 each for an 18-month implementation phase, with EIT funding covering up to 70% of eligible costs. Evaluation combines expert external reviews and an internal portfolio selection with a hearing; achieving required thresholds at each phase is mandatory. Applicants should prepare strong technical and business plans, evidence of market validation, IP and regulatory strategies, and co-funding sources.

Full call and application details are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the EIT Culture & Creativity call page. The public citation for this call is EITCULTURE Business Plan 2026 available on the European Commission portal Call page 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Call information and full documentation are published on the European Commission Funding & Tenders Portal: ec.europa.eu

Executive summary

This opportunity supports high-impact, close-to-market innovations in architecture, audio-visual media and fashion. The expected progression is from Technology Readiness Level 7 to Technology Readiness Level 9, followed by market deployment, commercialisation, investment readiness and scaling. The call is particularly suited to commercially oriented startups, scale-ups, SMEs and larger companies with a validated innovation, a credible route to market and sufficient capacity to deliver the proposed activities. 1

The call uses a two-stage process. Stage 1 provides up to 30 selected applicants with a €20,000 fixed lump sum for a six-week business development phase. Up to 11 projects may subsequently receive up to €900,000 each for an 18-month implementation phase. The total indicative budget is €10.5 million, subject to formal approval by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

Opportunity profile

Funding overview

The Stage 2 support is not a general unrestricted grant. EIT Culture and Creativity may reimburse up to 70 percent of the eligible project costs used to establish the project-based lump sum. Applicants or consortium members must provide the remaining financing from their own resources or other eligible non-EU sources. The maximum grant amount and reimbursement rate do not remove the requirement to demonstrate a realistic, fully financed project budget. 2

The call materials also refer to financial sustainability mechanisms involving revenue sharing or SAFE arrangements. Applicants should examine the detailed call guidelines and contractual documentation carefully before accepting Stage 2 support, because these mechanisms may affect future revenues, investment transactions or ownership-related arrangements.

What the funding is intended to achieve

The target innovation should already be at approximately TRL 7, meaning that a relevant prototype or system has been demonstrated in an operationally relevant environment. The project should then address the remaining technical, operational and commercial barriers to reaching TRL 9 and full market deployment.

Expected activities may include final technical development, industrial or operational validation, pilot deployment, customer or user testing, regulatory preparation, intellectual property protection, market entry, commercial partnerships, investment preparation and scaling. A proposal focused only on basic research, early concept development or exploratory feasibility work would be poorly aligned with the call.

The proposal should demonstrate measurable contribution to EIT Culture and Creativity objectives and key performance indicators. Relevant outcomes include market deployment, revenue generation, intellectual property generation, customer adoption, investment readiness and scalable commercial impact.

Eligible sectors

Who can apply

Stage 1 may be submitted by a single legal entity. Eligible applicant types may include startups, scale-ups, SMEs and larger companies, provided that the applicant operates within or directly serves one of the three priority sectors and satisfies the specific call conditions.

Stage 2 requires a consortium of two to three independent legal entities. The consortium should combine the capabilities needed for technical development, sector validation, market access, commercialisation and scaling. A strong consortium will normally include a commercial lead together with complementary technical, research, industry, cultural or market partners.

Research organisations, universities and cultural institutions may participate as consortium partners where their contribution is relevant to the project. A research organisation, university or cultural institution acting alone is not suitable as the Stage 1 lead applicant because the call is explicitly oriented towards commercial outcomes and market deployment.

Geographic eligibility

Applicants must generally be legal entities established in an eligible Horizon Europe country. This includes EU Member States, including their outermost regions, Overseas Countries and Territories linked to EU Member States, Horizon Europe Associated Countries and certain low and middle-income countries eligible under Horizon Europe rules.

Third countries associated with Horizon Europe must be formally associated by the launch of the relevant call. Legal entities established in other countries may participate where their involvement is considered essential for implementing the action, subject to the detailed eligibility rules and funding conditions.

Applicants should verify their country status at the time of submission and confirm whether every consortium member is eligible to receive financial support. Eligibility for participation and eligibility for funding are not necessarily identical.

Core eligibility and capacity requirements

Applicants and partners should be legal entities with the experience, qualifications, staff, organisational capacity and operational resources required to perform their roles. They should also have stable and sufficient financial resources to cover the non-funded share of costs and maintain implementation capacity throughout the project.

The lead applicant should demonstrate that the innovation is genuinely at TRL 7 at the beginning of the project. Evidence may include a working prototype, pilot results, operational testing, customer validation, performance data, deployment evidence or other independent proof appropriate to the sector.

The consortium should hold or have access to the intellectual property, technical capability, sector expertise, customer relationships and regulatory knowledge necessary to complete the route to market. Intellectual property ownership, licensing rights, freedom to operate and access to background assets should be addressed explicitly.

Activities and costs must comply with the applicable Horizon Europe and EIT Culture and Creativity conditions. Costs supported by other EU funding sources must not be claimed again, and applicants should maintain a clear audit trail for the costs and resources used to establish the project-based lump sum.

Application process

Stage 1: concept validation

Stage 1 applicants submit a short proposal through the EIT Culture and Creativity online submission platform by 30 October 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. The proposal should present the innovation, its TRL 7 evidence, sector relevance, market opportunity, preliminary intellectual property and regulatory considerations, expected impact and implementation concept.

Eligible Stage 1 proposals are evaluated independently by two external experts against Excellence, Impact, Quality and efficiency of implementation, and EU dimension. Proposals must meet all individual thresholds and achieve at least 23 points out of 30.

Up to 30 applicants may be selected for Stage 2. Each selected applicant receives a €20,000 fixed lump sum for a six-week preparatory phase. The main output is a Business Development Plan that should strengthen the evidence base and commercial logic of the full proposal.

Stage 2: feasibility and commercialisation planning

Only applicants selected in Stage 1 may submit a Stage 2 proposal. The full proposal is due by 15 March 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time and must include the Business Development Plan prepared during the Stage 1 funded phase.

The Business Development Plan should cover market validation, customer and user evidence, intellectual property mapping, regulatory mapping, business model development, commercialisation strategy, investment readiness, scaling assumptions, risks and the route to revenue.

Stage 2 proposals are evaluated by four independent external experts, including two technical or thematic experts and two business or financial experts. Proposals must meet all applicable thresholds and score at least 70 points out of 90 to proceed to internal portfolio selection.

Portfolio selection and final ranking

The internal portfolio selection includes a hearing and can award up to 40 additional points. Projects must obtain at least 24 points out of 40 in this stage. The final ranking combines the external quality evaluation and portfolio selection results and remains subject to the available budget.

A high technical score alone does not guarantee funding. Portfolio balance, strategic fit, sector coverage, scalability, commercial potential, risk, implementation capacity and the overall composition of the selected portfolio may influence the final decision.

Likely application documents

The published application information identifies the following principal submission materials:

Applicants should also prepare evidence of legal entity status, participant registration where required, ownership and access rights for relevant intellectual property, partner roles, financial contributions, conflict of interest controls and any regulatory or ethical approvals relevant to the proposed pilots.

Implementation expectations

The 18-month implementation phase should be organised around a small number of measurable work packages leading to market deployment. A credible work plan will normally link technical milestones to validation milestones, customer adoption, regulatory readiness, intellectual property actions, investment milestones and commercial revenue or deployment targets.

The project should identify the pilot users, customers or deployment partners who will validate the solution. Letters of support, pilot agreements, paid customer evidence, distribution partnerships or other credible market commitments can materially strengthen the impact and implementation case where available.

The budget should distinguish clearly between eligible costs covered by the project-based lump sum, the applicant or consortium contribution and any other eligible non-EU financing. The proposal should avoid dependence on uncertain future investment unless there is a documented fundraising strategy and sufficient working capital for delivery.

Key dates and information events

The information session requires registration and is expected to be recorded and published subsequently. Applicants should monitor the call webpage because clarifications and anonymised questions may be published during the submission period.

Main strengths required for a competitive proposal

Principal risks and points requiring attention

Recommended preparation plan

Overall assessment

This is a strong opportunity for commercially mature creative-sector innovations that already have operational validation and need substantial support to complete technical development, enter the market and scale. It is less suitable for applicants that are still proving the underlying technology, lack customer evidence, cannot finance the co-funded share or do not have a credible path to TRL 9 within 18 months.

The two-stage design reduces early application risk by providing selected Stage 1 applicants with dedicated resources to improve their business development plan. However, applicants should treat Stage 1 as a highly competitive gateway and prepare the initial proposal with enough technical, market and intellectual property evidence to establish a compelling basis for Stage 2.

Footnotes

1. 1Official opportunity information is available from EIT Culture and Creativity Innovation Projects Open Call and EIT Culture and Creativity call page.
2. 2The published EIT Culture and Creativity opportunity information states that Stage 2 financial support may reimburse up to 70 percent of eligible project costs and that the remaining costs must be covered by applicants or consortium members through own resources or other eligible non-EU sources.
3. 3The official detailed call guidance is available from Innovation Projects call guidelines. The Funding and Tenders Portal remains the authoritative source for the formal call record and submission conditions.