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HORIZON EUROPE – Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems (2026.2) – 2026

HORIZON EUROPE – European Innovation Ecosystems aims at strengthening interconnected and inclusive innovation ecosystems across Europe, by fostering collaboration among innovation actors and supporting the scaling up of companies, in synergy with the EIC, EIT and other EU programmes.

2026-03-10
20 million euros
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Call synthesis

Call reference HORIZON-EIE-2026-02
Programme HORIZON EUROPE
Institution European Commission
Sectors Research & Innovation Technology & Digital
Beneficiaries Smes & Start-Ups (< 249 Employees)

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Call reference

HORIZON-EIE-2026-02



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Priorities and funded actions

Some Horizon Europe budgets are structured in response to policy ambitions (“destinations”) and deployed through calls for proposals targeting more specific thematic/sector (“Topics”). Thus, your application must be linked to a topic of a call for proposals.

Various categories of projects are eligible:

  • RIA, Research and Innovation Actions: Basic and applied research / Technology development and adoption / Testing and validation of a prototype in the laboratory ;
  • IA, Innovation Actions: Prototypes, tests, demonstrations, pilot projects, market placement. These actions may include limited R&D activities ;
  • CSA, Coordination and Support Actions: Networking, studies & conferences, communication, studies for new research infrastructures ;
  • MSCA, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions / ERC individual grants: Training networks for researchers, Individual grants for experienced researchers, Staff exchange – mobility for researchers and non-scientific staff.

In addition, calls specify the categories of eligible beneficiaries:

  • Collaborative projects, composed of a coordinator and several partners organisations (consortium) ;
  • Single-beneficiary projects, involving a single organization ;
  • Individual scholarships, open to natural persons in their own name with their home institution.

TOPICS:

Open

  • HORIZON-EIE-2026-02-CONNECT-01 : European Startup and Scaleup Hubs pilot

Additional information

Useful

Financement
  • Total budget of the call: 20 million euros
  • Amount of the grant: 20 million euros
  • Funding rate:  between 30% and 70% of the total eligible costs