ICT Call for Proposals: Seeking Projects Helping Established Startups

Deadline: 25 April 2017

Startup Europe has launched a call for proposals for its ICT program with an aim to fund projects that help established startups and prospective tech entrepreneurs grow and achieve market success, and raise awareness of high potential innovators in Europe from EU-funded ICT projects.

Funding Information and Focus Themes

The ICT Call has a total budget of 12 million Euros.

A budget of €10 million is available for EU funding for Innovation Actions (IA) projects for proposals covering one or both of the following themes:
- Reinforcing ICT ecosystems for high growth tech startups by interconnecting and creating new synergies between 3-4 different Startup hubs across Europe per project. Activities should focus on scaling-up of companies by connecting, across different entrepreneurial ecosystems, key relevant stakeholders such as tech entrepreneurs, mentors, corporates, customers, designers, media, investors and local authorities.
- Facilitating financing and improving the liquidity for European investments in fast growing ICT startups and scaleups, increasing their chances for a successful exit.
A budget of €2 million will be available for EU funding for Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) projects for proposals covering the following themes:
- Support services for EU funded innovators: “Innovation Radar” initiative.
- Establish a European wide network of support centers (nodes) for innovative researchers. Actions primarily targeted towards technologies developed in EU funded projects in order to turn their research results into marketable products and, preparing such innovators for success in the market place.

Expected Outcomes

Innovation actions
- Connecting tech start-up hubs and their companies (startups, scaleups) to the larger European business ecosystem seeking maximum synergies in terms of number of concrete collaborations between relevant players within existing ecosystems and networks;
- Increased access to customers, new products or services on the market, increase in turnover, better access to qualified employees, access to the right combination of finance and prospects for scaling up across borders and new job opportunities;
- Stimulate European investments in digital sectors through creating increased mutual understanding between investor communities and in particular tech startups and scaleups;
- Demonstrate sustainability of proposed actions beyond the life of the project;
- Where appropriate, seeking synergies with ESIF funds or ESIF supported actions to improve the synergies between H2020 and ESIF.
Coordination and Support actions
- Increase the number of digital technology based spin-offs and startups or successfully transferred technology from EU funded projects;
- Enable a significant number of companies based on ICT technologies to reach investment maturity and market introduction readiness;
- Enable innovators from EU funded projects to be part of the relevant EU networks created by Startup Europe;
- Where appropriate, seeking synergies with ESIF funds or ESIF supported actions in order to improve the synergies between H2020 and ESIF.

Eligibility Criteria

Research & Innovation Actions (RIA): At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other.
Innovation Actions (IA): At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other.
Coordination & support actions (CSA): At least one legal entity established in an EU Member State orHorizon 2020 associated country.
SME instrument Action: At least one SME. Only applications from for-profit SMEs established in EU Member States or Horizon 2020 associated No concurrent submission or implementation with another SME instrument phase 1 or phase 2 projects.
ERA-NET Cofund actions: At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other. Participants in ERA-NET Cofund actions must be ‘research funders’, i.e. legal entities owning or managing public research and innovation programmes.
Precommercial procurement (PCP) & Public procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI) actions: At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other. Furthermore, there must be a minimum of two legal entities which are ‘public procurers’ from two different EU Member States or Horizon 2020 associated countries. Both legal entities must be independent of each other.
European Joint Programme (EJP) Cofund actions: At least five legal entities. Each of the five must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All five legal entities must be independent of each other. Participants in EJP Cofund actions must be legal entities owning or mandated to manage national research and innovation