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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Single, clear statement of grant's core objective: This grant aims to support interregional innovation investments, helping consortia of innovation actors bring mature innovations (TRL 6+) to commercialisation and scale-up, strengthening EU value chains, and reducing the innovation divide by integrating less developed regions.
Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: Target recipients are consortia of innovation actors from quadruple helix ecosystems, with a specific focus on SMEs, but involving partners from across the development spectrum (less developed, transition, and more developed regions).
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': This grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC.
Geographic scope and any location requirements: Geographic scope covers European Union Member States. Projects must involve interregional cooperation, actively seeking to integrate partners from less developed and transition regions into European value chains.
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening:
Must address one of three thematic priorities: Digital Transition, Green Transition, or Smart Manufacturing.
Projects must be based on innovations at a minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6.
Applications require a consortium demonstrating interregional cooperation.
Grant frequency and program context: This call is part of the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument, established under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regulation. It operates within the 2025-2027 I3 work programme, indicating a recurring program.

Financial Structure

Budget: The total budget allocated for this call (I3-2025-INV1) is 23,000,000 EUR.
Funding type: Financial support will be provided through direct funding to consortium beneficiaries or through cascade funding/financial support to third parties (FSTP).
Eligible costs:
Tangible and intangible investments.
Activities for producing plans, arrangements, or designs for new, altered, or improved products, processes, or services.
Demonstrating, testing, and piloting activities.
Large-scale product validation and market replication.
Adaptation of existing prototypes (e.g., combining Key Enabling Technologies) and tailoring them for demonstration in real environments.
Development of project portfolios for close-to-market investments.
Activities connecting or utilizing testing and demonstration facilities.
Innovation services for business investment development.
Test beds and complementary activities aimed at improving regulations, standards, or removing innovation barriers.
Advisory support for investment (developing or implementing interregional business and 'go to market' plans).
Ineligible costs:
Ex-novo prototyping (creating entirely new prototypes) is explicitly stated as not eligible.
Matching funds/Co-financing: Not explicitly stated as a required percentage for applicants. However, the grant emphasizes reinforcing the capacity of regions to co-invest together, indicating a preference for leveraged funding.
Currency: All financial amounts are understood to be in EUR.
Financial reporting: Detailed requirements for financial reporting and the legal/financial set-up of grants are described in section 10 of the call document.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type & Structure

Eligible organizations: Consortia formed by innovation actors from the quadruple helix ecosystems. This includes businesses (companies in the lead, especially SMEs), research organizations, public authorities, and civil society organizations.
Consortium requirement: Mandatory. Projects must involve cooperation among partners from different regions.
Legal structure: Not explicitly defined beyond the consortium requirement; applicants must refer to detailed call documents for specifics.

Geographic Location

Participants must be from European Union Member States.
Projects must demonstrate interregional cooperation, involving partners from at least two different EU regions.
Strong emphasis on including partners from less developed regions (LDRs) and transition regions (TRs) to strengthen European value chains and promote cohesion.

Technical & Project Stage Requirements

Technology Readiness Level (TRL): Projects must start at a minimum TRL 6 ('technology demonstration in relevant environment').
Project focus: Innovations ready for demonstration, scaling up, and market uptake. Not for ex-novo prototyping.
Expected outputs: Development of mature business cases for commercialization and scale-up.

Exclusions

Ex-novo prototyping (creating entirely new prototypes) is not eligible for direct funding.
Activities not focused on demonstration, scaling up, and market uptake of mature innovations (TRL 6+) are likely out of scope.

Application Process

Application Deadline & Timeline

Submission Deadline: The absolute deadline for submitting proposals is 2025-11-13 00:00:00+0000.
Submission Window: The submission session for this call opened on 2025-05-22.
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: This information is described in section 4 of the call document (not provided in full here).

Submission Process

Submission System: Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Electronic Submission Service.
Procedure: The application process is single-stage.
Access: To access the submission system, applicants need to log in to the Funding & Tenders Portal and navigate to the 'My Proposals' page within the 'My Area' section.

Required Documentation

Proposal Content: Adherence to proposal page limits and layout is crucial, as described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form.
Specific Forms: Applicants must complete the Standard application form (I3) and the Detailed budget table (I3 FSTP 100%).
Compliance Declaration: An S3 Compliance Declaration (I3) is required.
Supporting Documents: Reference is made to additional documents like the I3 Model Grant Agreement (MGA), I3 Instrument Work Programme, ERDF Regulation, EU Financial Regulation, rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA (Annotated Model Grant Agreement), Online Manual, Portal Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Statement. Applicants are advised to consult these.

Support & Assistance

General Help: The Funding & Tenders Portal offers an FAQ section for submission queries and an IT Helpdesk for technical support (e.g., forgotten passwords, access rights).
Call-Specific Help: For questions directly related to this call, applicants can contact [email protected].
Q&A Document: A Q&A document is available for download and will be regularly updated until the call deadline to address common questions.

Project Implementation & Reporting

Implementation Timeline: While a specific timeline is not provided, projects aim to bring innovations to market readiness, implying a focus on practical implementation and acceleration of market uptake.
Reporting Obligations: Financial reporting and other legal/financial aspects are detailed in section 10 of the call document.
Post-Award Requirements: Applicants are expected to provide an exploitation plan outlining how project results will be used and built upon after the project concludes.

Evaluation Criteria

General Note

Detailed award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document, which is not provided in full here. Applicants should consult the official call document for precise scoring information.
However, the 'Expected Impact' and 'Objective' sections of the grant description provide strong indications of what will be evaluated for project quality and relevance.

Expected Impact & Contribution

Innovation & Technology Uptake: Project success will be measured by the adoption of innovative technologies by companies and public administrations, and the uptake of technologically/economically reliable and viable solutions in the market.
Economic Competitiveness: Evaluation will consider the project's contribution to strengthening European competitiveness, increasing business productivity, creating new market opportunities for EU companies, and enhancing EU industry efficiency and sustainability.
Regional Cohesion & Value Chains: Projects should reinforce the capacity of regions to co-invest, strengthen innovation diffusion, integrate innovators from less developed regions into existing value chains, and reshape/reinforce EU value chains.
Societal & Environmental Impact: Importance is placed on contributions to digitisation and health systems transformation, improved public services, enhanced digital skills, and overall positive impacts on the environment, health, climate, social well-being, and the economy, aligning with European Green Deal objectives.
Job Creation: Projects are expected to contribute to economic growth and job creation.

Strategic Alignment

Alignment with one of the specified thematic priorities: Digital Transition, Green Transition, or Smart Manufacturing is crucial.
Contribution to the New European Innovation Agenda and objectives outlined in the Strategic Technology for Europe Platform (STEP).
Alignment with regional Smart Specialisation (S3) strategies will be a factor.

Project Quality & Collaboration

Cooperation: The effectiveness of interregional cooperation and collaboration among innovation actors, particularly SMEs from diverse regions, will be assessed.
Maturity & Business Case: Projects starting at TRL 6 must demonstrate a clear and viable path to commercialisation and scale-up, supported by mature business plans.
Exploitation Plan: A well-defined exploitation plan that outlines how project results will be utilized and scaled after completion, including the broad introduction of new products, services, or processes, is expected.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Overarching Framework: The grant operates under the ERDF Regulation 2021/1058 and the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
Legal Entity Validation: Compliance with rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment, and Financial Capacity Assessment is mandatory for all participants.

Technical & Quality Standards

Technology Readiness Level (TRL): Projects must demonstrate innovations at a minimum TRL 6.
Innovation Quality: Focus is on supporting innovations that are new to Europe or to the application sector, emphasizing the uptake of technologically/economically reliable and viable solutions.

Ethical Standards & Cross-Cutting Themes

Implicit Ethical Standards: As an EU grant, adherence to high ethical standards and principles is expected, though not explicitly detailed in the provided text.
Social Impact: Projects are expected to contribute to social cohesion, improved living standards, and public services.

Intellectual Property (IP)

IP Support: The grant offers non-financial support for the protection of IPR, indicating that intellectual property management is an important aspect of supported projects.

Risk Management

Project De-risking: A key objective of the I3 Instrument is to de-risk projects and maximize the use of European technologies and solutions, implying that risk assessment and mitigation strategies are important considerations for proposals.

Strategic Alignment & Context

EU Strategic Alignment: Projects must explicitly contribute to the European Green Deal objectives and align with the New European Innovation Agenda and Strategic Technology for Europe Platform (STEP).
Value Chain Focus: Emphasis is placed on strengthening EU value chains and bridging the innovation divide by actively involving less developed and transition regions.
Problem-Solving: Encourages addressing burning challenges identified in the New European Innovation Agenda and integrating critical technologies outlined in STEP.

Unique Aspects

Investment Portfolio Approach: Selected projects will be implemented through an investment portfolio approach, which may comprise several investment-ready sub-projects.
Quadruple Helix Collaboration: Strong emphasis on collaboration within quadruple helix ecosystems (businesses, academia, public authorities, and civil society).
Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP): The mechanism allows for financial support to third parties, potentially including SMEs, to complement main project activities.

Grant Details