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The European Innovation Ecosystems programme sits within Pillar 3 of Horizon Europe and focuses on strengthening Europe’s innovation capacity. It addresses gaps in innovation performance, supports the transfer of research results to the market, and helps innovative companies grow at scale. A central objective is to foster breakthrough technologies and turn them into commercially successful ventures capable of competing globally.
European Innovation Ecosystems, including cooperation through Eureka, brings together innovators, investors, public authorities and support organisations to help companies expand and thrive.
Its main areas of action include:
- Developing connected and inclusive innovation ecosystems across Europe by building on national, regional and local strengths, while engaging underrepresented regions and actors to work towards shared societal goals, including the green, digital and social transitions.
- Strengthening collaboration within and between ecosystems to drive sustainable growth and deliver broader societal impact.
- Supporting the European Partnership for Innovative SMEs (Eurostars 3).
- Complementing the European Regional Development Fund by reinforcing innovation ecosystems and promoting interregional cooperation linked to smart specialisation priorities.
All open calls under this programme fall within a single Destination: CONNECT – Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems. The actions funded under CONNECT are designed to help steer the European economy towards a more entrepreneurial, innovative and inclusive model by reinforcing collaboration among innovation stakeholders. The objective is to build a vibrant ecosystem that can better support the next generation of innovative companies, enabling solutions that strengthen EU competitiveness while contributing to a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient society.
The Work Programme sets out the expected impacts, as well as the specific calls for proposals and the conditions for participation. Applicants are encouraged to consult these details carefully before preparing and submitting a proposal.
Single-stage calls opening 1 Jun 2027, deadline 15 Sep 2027
HORIZON-EIE-2027-01-CONNECT-01: Startup Europe. c.€2m per project for up to 9 projects.
At least 50% of the beneficiaries in a consortium must be established in ‘moderate’ or ‘emerging’ innovator countries or regions. See the work programme for full details.
HORIZON-EIE-2027-01-CONNECT-02: Reinforcing synergies between experimentation spaces and innovation procurement. c.€10m for a single project.
HORIZON-EIE-2027-01-CONNECT-03: Enhancing the involvement of philanthropic organisations in innovation ecosystems. c.€1m per project for up to 6 projects.
The coordinator of the project must be a higher education institution, or research technology organisation(s) (RTOs) or a network of such organisations. Consortia must include at least 3 participants from three 3 different member states or associated countries, including higher education institution(s) or RTOs and philanthropy organisation(s) or network of philanthropy organisations. See work programme for full details.
At present, no information days are scheduled for the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme. Any future events will be announced on the dedicated EIE information pages.