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.

Service request: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦…

Service request: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 - 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘴 - 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴?

Open call run by the EU-funded project Govtech4all 2.0 (The second iteration of the govtech incubator will deliver eight digital government pilots including reuse of existing digital solutions and startup challenges). You apply to the project, not to the European Commission. Synced from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal on 9 November 2026.

On this page · 7 sections→

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

The project running this call: Govtech4all 2.0

The second iteration of the govtech incubator will deliver eight digital government pilots including reuse of existing digital solutions and startup challenges

Govtech4all 2.0, the second iteration of the govtech incubator will deliver eight digital government pilots including reuse of existing digital solutions, startup challenges and innovative procurement on a wide range of topic. It is a variable geometry collaboration by 23 digital agencies, mostly public. The goal is to support and accompany the goals of the Interoperable Europe Act, as well as wider policy goals of public sector innovation and startup growth in Europe. The second iteration of the Govtech incubator will learn from the beta version and deploy at scale with a view to sustainability. It will run govtech pilots with startups and provide supporting activities for the govtech community in Europe.

EU contribution

€4.0M

Total cost

€8.0M

Runs

1 Jun 2025 to 31 May 2027

Programme

Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL)

Official project record ↗

Who runs it: the consortium

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

The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness ASBL · BelgiumCoordinator
Ministry of Digital Transformation · North MacedoniaPartner
Direction Interministerielle du Numerique (Dinum) · FrancePartner
Malta Information Technology Agency · MaltaPartner
Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informacio de la Generalitat de Catalunya · SpainPartner
Fjarsysla Rikisins · IcelandPartner
Beta-I Collaborative Innovation, Lda · PortugalPartner
National Infrastructures for Research and Technology · GreecePartner
Lantik, S.a.m.p. · SpainPartner
Ayuntamiento de Madrid · SpainPartner
Bron Innovation AB · SwedenPartner
Stichting Ictu · NetherlandsPartner
Oda Ventures SL · SpainPartner
Biedriba Latvijas Digitalais Akselerators · LatviaPartner
Govmind GmbH · GermanyPartner
Viesoji Istaiga Inovaciju Agentura · LithuaniaPartner
Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine · UkrainePartner
Majandus Ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium · EstoniaPartner
Ypourgeio Psifiakis Diakyvernisis · GreecePartner
Fundacja Digitality · PolandPartner

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

The procurement procedure is conducted as an open design contest with electronic proposal submission through the CPV IS platform. Suppliers are encouraged to follow the structure of the procurement documents and use provided templates where applicable. Submitted tenders are encrypted, signed, and time-locked until the tender submission deadline has expired. Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the criteria and procedures described in the procurement documents.

Eligibility & conditions+

Further information, procurement documents, clarifications, and updates are available through the CPV IS platform: https://viesiejipirkimai.lt/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=10208098. All communication related to the procurement shall take place electronically through the procurement system.

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: Govtech4all 2.0

The second iteration of the govtech incubator will deliver eight digital government pilots including reuse of existing digital solutions and startup challenges

EU contribution

€4.0M

Total cost

€8.0M

Runs

1 Jun 2025 to 31 May 2027

Programme

Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL)

Official project record ↗

Who runs it: the consortium

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

The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness ASBL · BelgiumCoordinator
Ministry of Digital Transformation · North MacedoniaPartner
Direction Interministerielle du Numerique (Dinum) · FrancePartner
Malta Information Technology Agency · MaltaPartner
Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informacio de la Generalitat de Catalunya · SpainPartner
Fjarsysla Rikisins · IcelandPartner
Beta-I Collaborative Innovation, Lda · PortugalPartner
National Infrastructures for Research and Technology · GreecePartner
Lantik, S.a.m.p. · SpainPartner
Ayuntamiento de Madrid · SpainPartner
Bron Innovation AB · SwedenPartner
Stichting Ictu · NetherlandsPartner
Oda Ventures SL · SpainPartner
Biedriba Latvijas Digitalais Akselerators · LatviaPartner
Govmind GmbH · GermanyPartner
Viesoji Istaiga Inovaciju Agentura · LithuaniaPartner
Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine · UkrainePartner
Majandus Ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium · EstoniaPartner
Ypourgeio Psifiakis Diakyvernisis · GreecePartner
Fundacja Digitality · PolandPartner

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

Eligibility & conditions+

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

The project running this call: Govtech4all 2.0

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.

The project running this call: Govtech4all 2.0

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.