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.

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.

NOSTRADAMUS - Open Call #1: Funding Digital Applications…

On this page · 7 sections→

01The project
02Consortium
03Similar calls
04Cascade funding FAQ
05Call scope
06Eligibility & conditions
07Official source

The project running this call: Nostradamus

Data Cube and Copernicus data for Food Security and European Independence

Nostradamus, in line with the Farm to Fork strategy, the Common Agricultural Policy, and the European strategy for data, will design, develop, and evaluate a scalable and robust platform for the online and real-time harvesting of valuable information derived from different data sources for developing several agricultural applications. Based on European and four national multidimensional datasets, an automated pipeline regarding the data acquisition, storage, and pre-processing, the developed platform will handle several open and commercial satellite datasets while employing in (near) real-time several server-side algorithms for time-series analysis and value-added geospatial maps. For enhancing the sustainability performance and competitiveness of the agricultural sector through a multi-actor approach, Nostradamus will develop a number of open-source-based digital applications for…

EU contribution

€5.0M

Total cost

€5.0M

Runs

1 Sept 2024 to 31 Aug 2028

Programme

Horizon Europe

Official project record ↗

Who runs it: the consortium

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

Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence · CyprusCoordinator
Cropt Doo Novi Sad · Serbia · SMEPartner
F6s Network Ireland Limited · Ireland · SMEPartner
AG Futura Technologii Dooel Skopje · North Macedonia · SMEPartner
Biosense Institute - Research and Development Institute for Information Technologies In Biosystems · SerbiaPartner
Itc - Inovacijsko Tehnoloski Grozd Murska Sobota · SloveniaPartner
Kmetijsko Gozdarska Zbornica Slovenije Kmetijsko Gozdarski Zavod Murska Sobota · Slovenia · SMEPartner
Dlg eV · Germany · SMEPartner
Eidgenoessisches Departement Fuer Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung · SwitzerlandPartner
Ypourgeio Georgias, Agrotikis Anaptyxis Kai Perivallontos · CyprusPartner
Terradue SRL · Italy · SMEPartner
Universitaet St. Gallen · SwitzerlandPartner
Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis · GreecePartner
Ceska Zemedelska Univerzita V Praze · Czech RepublicPartner
Universite de Geneve · SwitzerlandPartner
Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft - und Raumfahrt eV · GermanyPartner

Similar open calls from EU projects

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

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

What this call funds

Applications must be submitted electronically via the F6S platform: https://www.f6s.com/nostradamus-open-call-1/apply by 02 December 2026 at 17:00 CET.

All Open Call #1 documents are available for download at: https://nostradamus-project.eu/open-call-1/

Evaluation Workflow:

Admissibility & Eligibility Check: Verification of submission criteria, official templates, language (English), single submission rules, country eligibility (EU Member States & Horizon Europe Associated Countries), and applicant eligibility (individual SMEs/start-ups/small mid-caps or 2-partner consortia).
External Remote Expert Evaluation: Each eligible proposal is reviewed independently by two external experts against 4 criteria: Alignment (score 0–5), Excellence (score 0–5), Impact (score 0–5), and Implementation (score 0–5). Thresholds: min. 3/5 per criterion, min. 12/20 overall.
Consensus & Ranking: Expert review panel establishes a consensus report and topic ranking lists (one list per topic, 5 in total).
Online Interviews: The top 3 ranked proposals per topic undergo a 30-minute pitch and Q&A session with an Interview committee to finalize scores and ranking.
Final Selection & Contracting: Selection of 5 sub-projects (guaranteeing min. 1 project per topic T1–T5) followed by formal KYC verification and Sub-Grant Agreement signature.

Eligibility & conditions+

Official Project Website: https://nostradamus-project.eu

Helpdesk Email: opencall@nostradamus-project.eu

Eligible Applicants: Single SMEs / start-ups / small mid-caps, or consortia of up to 2 entities (Lead Beneficiary must be an SME/start-up/small mid-cap; 2nd partner can be an RTO/university or end-user/sectoral representation organisation).

Funding Model: Fixed 12-month lump-sum grant of up to €50,000 paid / per project in 4 tranches linked to sprint performance reviews (10% + 25% + 40% + 25%).
Starting TRL: Minimum TRL 4 (technology validated in lab), targeting TRL 7 by Month 12.

Official source

Confirm the current call documents and submission conditions with the funding authority.

View on EU portal ↗

Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-11-09

On this page · 7 sections→

01The project
02Consortium
03Similar calls
04Cascade funding FAQ
05Call scope
06Eligibility & conditions
07Official source

The project running this call: Nostradamus

Data Cube and Copernicus data for Food Security and European Independence

EU contribution

€5.0M

Total cost

€5.0M

Runs

1 Sept 2024 to 31 Aug 2028

Programme

Horizon Europe

Official project record ↗

Who runs it: the consortium

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

Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence · CyprusCoordinator
Cropt Doo Novi Sad · Serbia · SMEPartner
F6s Network Ireland Limited · Ireland · SMEPartner
AG Futura Technologii Dooel Skopje · North Macedonia · SMEPartner
Biosense Institute - Research and Development Institute for Information Technologies In Biosystems · SerbiaPartner
Itc - Inovacijsko Tehnoloski Grozd Murska Sobota · SloveniaPartner
Kmetijsko Gozdarska Zbornica Slovenije Kmetijsko Gozdarski Zavod Murska Sobota · Slovenia · SMEPartner
Dlg eV · Germany · SMEPartner
Eidgenoessisches Departement Fuer Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung · SwitzerlandPartner
Ypourgeio Georgias, Agrotikis Anaptyxis Kai Perivallontos · CyprusPartner
Terradue SRL · Italy · SMEPartner
Universitaet St. Gallen · SwitzerlandPartner
Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis · GreecePartner
Ceska Zemedelska Univerzita V Praze · Czech RepublicPartner
Universite de Geneve · SwitzerlandPartner
Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft - und Raumfahrt eV · GermanyPartner

Similar open calls from EU projects

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

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

What this call funds

Applications must be submitted electronically via the F6S platform: https://www.f6s.com/nostradamus-open-call-1/apply by 02 December 2026 at 17:00 CET.

All Open Call #1 documents are available for download at: https://nostradamus-project.eu/open-call-1/

Evaluation Workflow:

Admissibility & Eligibility Check: Verification of submission criteria, official templates, language (English), single submission rules, country eligibility (EU Member States & Horizon Europe Associated Countries), and applicant eligibility (individual SMEs/start-ups/small mid-caps or 2-partner consortia).
External Remote Expert Evaluation: Each eligible proposal is reviewed independently by two external experts against 4 criteria: Alignment (score 0–5), Excellence (score 0–5), Impact (score 0–5), and Implementation (score 0–5). Thresholds: min. 3/5 per criterion, min. 12/20 overall.
Consensus & Ranking: Expert review panel establishes a consensus report and topic ranking lists (one list per topic, 5 in total).
Online Interviews: The top 3 ranked proposals per topic undergo a 30-minute pitch and Q&A session with an Interview committee to finalize scores and ranking.
Final Selection & Contracting: Selection of 5 sub-projects (guaranteeing min. 1 project per topic T1–T5) followed by formal KYC verification and Sub-Grant Agreement signature.

Eligibility & conditions+

Official Project Website: https://nostradamus-project.eu

Helpdesk Email: opencall@nostradamus-project.eu

Funding Model: Fixed 12-month lump-sum grant of up to €50,000 paid / per project in 4 tranches linked to sprint performance reviews (10% + 25% + 40% + 25%).
Starting TRL: Minimum TRL 4 (technology validated in lab), targeting TRL 7 by Month 12.

Official source

Confirm the current call documents and submission conditions with the funding authority.

View on EU portal ↗

Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-11-09

NOSTRADAMUS - Open Call #1: Funding Digital Applications for Sustainable and Efficient Agriculture

The project running this call: Nostradamus

Who runs it: the consortium

Similar open calls from EU projects

Cascade funding: what to know before you apply

What this call funds

Official source

Track this call and plan your application.

NOSTRADAMUS - Open Call #1: Funding Digital Applications for Sustainable and Efficient Agriculture

The project running this call: Nostradamus

Who runs it: the consortium

Similar open calls from EU projects

Cascade funding: what to know before you apply

What this call funds

Official source

Track this call and plan your application.