Digital Europe Programme — AI & Supercomputing

Any legal entity (public or private) established in an EU Member State, an associated EEA country, or a Digital Europe-associated country can apply. The programme funds deployment of mature AI, so it suits companies, research organisations, hospitals, and public bodies that can put working AI solutions into real use. Startups and SMEs are welcome, and most topics are designed for consortia rather than single applicants.

These are grants, not equity, so you do not give up shares. The March 2026 AI Continent call (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09) had a total budget of €60.2 million across seven topics, with per-project grants ranging from roughly €1 million to €17.5 million depending on the topic. The currently open call (DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10) has an €8.5 million budget with lump-sum grants of €2 million to 5 million per project. The standard funding rate is 50 percent of eligible costs, rising to 75 percent for SMEs on SME-support topics and 100 percent for coordination and support actions, so you co-fund the remainder.

Most AI Continent topics require a consortium, not a single applicant. Depending on the topic you typically need a minimum of 3 to 7 independent organisations from different eligible countries (for example, 5 partners from 5 countries for the health data topics, and 7 from 7 countries for the AI cancer-imaging topic). A small number of coordination or secretariat topics allow smaller groups, but plan to build a cross-border partnership.

The main 2026 call (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09) closed on 3 March 2026; evaluation ran March to April 2026, results are communicated from June 2026, and grant agreements are expected around September 2026. The AI Continent call open now is DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10 (digital solutions for regulatory compliance through data), which opened on 21 April 2026 and closes on 1 October 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. All proposals are submitted electronically through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal; paper submissions are not accepted.

Digital Europe deployment calls are less of a lottery than research grants, because each topic funds a small number of large projects (often just 1 to 4 awards per topic). Competitiveness depends heavily on the specific topic and how many strong consortia bid. The currently open DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10 call has an €8.5 million budget for a single topic, so expect only a handful of awards — the realistic path is to bid only where your consortium is a clear fit rather than spreading thin.

Expect roughly eight months from deadline to signature on the current call: the 1 October 2026 deadline for DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10 leads to evaluation in October to November 2026, results in January to February 2027, and grant agreements in May to June 2027. A pre-financing payment usually follows shortly after the grant is signed, with the rest paid against reporting milestones over the project lifetime. Budget for several months of bridge funding between applying and receiving the first instalment.

Winning proposals show clear European added value: cross-border impact, alignment with the AI Continent priorities (AI infrastructure, data spaces, AI Act-ready trustworthy AI, and AI in strategic sectors like health and mobility), and a credible plan to deploy at scale. Build a consortium that covers the whole value chain, hit the topic-specific KPIs the call lists, and prove your AI is mature and ready to use, not still being researched.