O-CEI 2nd OPEN CALL FOR UPTAKE PROJECTS

The project running this call: O-CEI

Open CloudEdgeIoT Platform Uptake in Large Scale Cross-Domain Pilots

O-CEI overarching goal is to pilot the imperative of accelerating the uptake and upscaling of innovative Cloud-Edge-IoT solutions, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and open strategic autonomy by orchestrating cross-domain data sharing, minimising energy footprint, stimulating multi-sided marketplaces, and promoting open standards for virtualisation and interoperability. For doing so, O-CEI will feed with such innovative technologies, and a comprehensive framework, to eight multidimensional real-world pilots framed in key strategic sectors: electricity grid, electromobility, software-defined vehicles, agrifood and agriculture, logistics and urban environments. It will swiftly create and implement innovative solutions across the cloud continuum; and effectively address the needs of existing and emerging individual and cross-sector business value chains. By designing blueprints and…

Funded under the EU call HORIZON-CL4-2024-DATA-01-03. Official project record ↗

Who runs it: the consortium

20 organisations in the project. The coordinator usually manages the open call and its evaluation.

• Universitat Politecnica de Valencia · SpainCoordinator
• Powerledger AG · Switzerland · SMEPartner
• Seamless Middleware Technologies SL · SpainPartner
• Agria Hispania SL · Spain · SMEPartner
• Anniviers Tourisme SA · SwitzerlandPartner
• societe cooperative de construction et d habitation Polygones · Switzerland · SMEPartner
• Fenix Network Cross-Border Data Sharing Association · Belgium · SMEPartner
• Agria Zero Emissions S.l. · Spain · SMEPartner
• Green Supply Chain Digital Innovation Hub Astiki Mi Kerdoskopiki Etaireia · Greece · SMEPartner
• Clemap AG · Switzerland · SMEPartner
• Inqbit Innovations SRL · Romania · SMEPartner
• Digital for Planet-D4p · SwitzerlandPartner
• Awake.ai Oy · Finland · SMEPartner
• Bluspecs SL · Spain · SMEPartner
• E-Gap S.r.l. · Italy · SMEPartner
• Nec Laboratories Europe GmbH · GermanyPartner
• Fundingbox Communities SL · Spain · SMEPartner
• Republique et Canton de Geneve, Departement de Lenvironnement, des Transports et de L Agriculture · SwitzerlandPartner
• Telefonica Innovacion Digital SL · SpainPartner
• Fiware Foundation eV · GermanyPartner

Similar open calls from EU projects

Other cascade calls on related topics that you can apply to now.

• Mission ocean in Slovenian seas — Call for proposals for the provision of financial support to third parties for the implementation of small-scale projects under the RISTANC projectRISTANC · closes 28 Nov 2026
• Call for proposals for large grants No. 4/SPLOT/GD/2026SPLOT wartosci 2.0 · closes 28 Dec 2026

Cascade funding: what to know before you apply

What is cascade funding?

Cascade funding (also called financial support to third parties) is money the European Commission gives to an EU-funded project, which the project then passes on to startups, SMEs, researchers or other organisations through its own open calls. You apply to the project, not to the Commission, and the project's own call rules apply.

Who can apply?

Each call sets its own eligibility in its call document: usually organisations established in an EU member state or a Horizon Europe associated country, often startups and SMEs. Check the call's eligibility section and the official guide before you apply.

Do I need a consortium?

Most cascade calls accept single applicants, which makes them one of the easiest ways into EU funding. Some calls ask for small teams; the call document says which.

How large are the grants?

Typically tens of thousands of euros per applicant and rarely more than €200,000, because the EU rules for financial support to third parties keep amounts per recipient modest. The exact maximum is in each call.

Can I combine it with other EU funding?

Yes, as long as the same costs are not funded twice. Many startups use a cascade grant to build evidence before applying to larger programmes such as the EIC Accelerator.

Cascade funding in the glossary · All open cascade calls