European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Innowwide CALL 5

Innowwide CALL 5 (InnovativeSMEs) has a €4,200,000 budget for 70 six-month market feasibility projects. Selected projects receive a €60,000 grant, with a maximum funding rate of 70% and eligible costs of at least €86,000; the beneficiary funds the remainder. Applications open on 1 October and close on 1 December 2026 at 14:00 Brussels time (15:00 Cyprus time). Funding depends on evaluation, ranking, ethics scrutiny and the available budget.

Applicants must be innovative SMEs with their own legal personality in an EU Member State, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Türkiye or the United Kingdom, established on or before 1 December 2024. SME self-assessment and validation are required: fewer than 250 persons, annual turnover no greater than €50 million and/or annual balance-sheet total no greater than €43 million, under Recommendation 2003/361/EC. Companies without closed annual accounts or not yet having economic activity/turnover may qualify under the guide's specific evidence rules, but the minimum company age still applies. SMEs funded under earlier Innowwide calls in 2022–2025, natural persons/self-employed applicants and branches or units without independent legal personality are excluded. Only one application per company is permitted.

The target country must be in Africa, the Americas, Asia or Oceania; countries eligible for applicant funding, such as Israel and Türkiye, cannot be targets. An independent, legally established local main subcontractor with appropriate capabilities is required; the applicant's subsidiary is not eligible. Independence follows the direct/indirect/common-control rules and exceptions in footnote 5 of the guide. The beneficiary pays and remains responsible for the subcontractor's work. Subcontracting must have a positive, reasonable budget and be awarded on best value for money. The main subcontractor cannot change during grant contracting. EU restrictive-measure participation rules apply, alongside declarations excluding fraud/illegal practices, bankruptcy and undertakings in difficulty under Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.

The six-month project must test the innovation's technical, commercial, legal and socio-economic viability in that market and focus exclusively on civil applications. The innovation must be at least TRL 4 and no higher than TRL 8 in the target country; where further research and innovation are expected, TRL 7 is the indicative upper limit. Activities must combine elements from each of guide sections 1, 2 and 3: preparatory co-creation/technology uptake, market research and compliance verification. Business trips and promotional technical material may be included only to a limited, justified extent. Standalone research/innovation projects, business plans, unilateral activities, exclusively trips/events/promotion, full-scale development, large-scale piloting and commercial deployment are excluded. The target country is for market validation, not unrelated sourcing or manufacturing for other markets.

A legally authorised representative submits in English through https://eureka.smartsimple.ie/. All fields, declarations, the six-month GANTT and workplan in the mandatory template must be completed. The main subcontractor must accept the commitment and declaration of honour on the platform; accepting the email invitation alone is insufficient. No additional information may be submitted after the deadline, apart from clarifications/corrections requested by the team. The automatic completeness check does not confirm eligibility; failures can cause rejection or recovery of funding.

Evaluation thresholds are 18/30 for Excellence, 24/40 for Impact and 18/30 for Quality and Efficiency of Implementation. The top 105 above-threshold proposals, including ties at the cutoff, proceed to panel and ethics review. Redress must concern an evidenced procedural irregularity or factual error, rather than mere disagreement: one English request through the platform, within five calendar days of notification of eligibility/evaluation results, up to 5,000 characters including spaces and three pages. Redress cannot begin after funding decisions; re-evaluation can lower the score.

Selected beneficiaries must supply, before signing and by the notified deadline, the signed legal-entity form, VAT/exemption evidence no older than one year, a valid registration extract no older than one year unless a longer validity is expressly stated, an SME declaration, a signed contract with the same main subcontractor and any required ethics documents. Annex 2 governs official supporting evidence and translations; sworn statements cannot replace SME-status proof. A financial viability check may be requested. Costs within the project period can include personnel, subcontracting, purchases and indirect costs at 25% of direct eligible costs excluding subcontracting.

Payment is €42,000 initially and €18,000 after the six-month project and acceptance of the final report, due within 30 days of the official end. An insufficient report can require further information within one month and result in reduction, withdrawal or repayment of pre-financing. Changes must be emailed to [email protected]; material changes such as target country, scope/activities or delays exceeding three months are not accepted as specified in the guide, and lost eligibility triggers recovery. Official checks and consequences of incorrect declarations also apply after the project. Full terms: https://www.eurekanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Innowwide-call-5-guidelines.pdf. Contact: [email protected].