Can I apply to Innovation Fund?

By country

• Can a company from an EU country apply?Yes
• Can a company from Poland (a Widening country) apply?Yes
• Can a company from the UK apply?Yes
• Can a company from Switzerland apply?Yes
• Can a company from Norway apply?Yes
• Can a company from Israel apply?Yes
• Can a company from Ukraine apply?Yes
• Can a company from Türkiye apply?Yes
• Can a company from Canada apply?Yes
• Can a company from Japan apply?Yes
• Can a company from South Korea apply?Yes
• Can a company from the United States apply?Yes
• Can a company from India apply?Yes

By organisation

• Can a founder without a company yet apply?Yes, ifRegister a company first: the applicant must be an incorporated SME.
• Can a startup apply?Yes
• Can an established SME apply?Yes
• Can a mid-cap company apply?Yes
• Can a large company apply?Yes
• Can a university apply?Yes
• Can a research organisation apply?Yes
• Can a company apply on its own, without partners?Yes

By stage

• Can I apply with an idea or early research?NoToo early: this starts at TRL 6 (a prototype tested outside the lab).
• Can I apply with a proof of concept?NoToo early: this starts at TRL 6 (a prototype tested outside the lab).
• Can I apply with a prototype?Yes
• Can I apply with a pilot with real users?Yes
• Can I apply with a product on the market?Yes

The rules in full

Where you must be based

any country

Your company can be based in any country. The project itself must be built in an EU Member State, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (Northern Ireland under conditions).

Who can apply

a startup, an SME, a mid-cap, a large company, a university, a research organisation, a public body or a non-profit

Any public or private legal entity, alone or in a consortium. Individuals cannot apply.

Who can join as a partner

a startup, an SME, a mid-cap, a large company, a university, a research organisation, a public body or a non-profit

Same rule: partners can be based anywhere; the plant must be in the EU or EEA.

Alone or with partners

Alone, or as a consortium

No minimum consortium. One company or a project company (SPV) can apply alone.

Stage

TRL 6 to 9

Commercial-scale, first-of-a-kind plants for proven technology. A separate pilots topic takes technology that still needs validation at pilot scale.

Also required

Commercial-scale deployment

What you get

grants

Grant up to 60% of relevant costs (roughly the extra cost compared with a conventional plant). Projects need capital expenditure above EUR 2.5M; IF25 topics were EUR 2.5M to 20M (small), EUR 20M to 100M (medium) and above EUR 100M (large), plus clean-tech manufacturing and pilots above EUR 2.5M.

Funding rate

Up to 60% of relevant costs. Most of the grant is paid only once the plant runs and delivers verified emission cuts.