Verified against official EU sources · last checked 8 days ago (8 Jul 2026)
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Overview
AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) are large EU-backed sites where AI and robotics companies put their technology through real-world conditions before launch. The programme runs four sector nodes: TEF-Health for healthcare, AgrifoodTEF for agri-food, AI-MATTERS for manufacturing, and CitCom.AI for smart cities and communities. Each is run by a big consortium and offers physical and virtual testing, regulatory sandboxes, reference datasets and expert support. They target providers at TRL 6 to 8, and SMEs use the core services free during the funding period. The whole thing is funded under the Digital Europe Programme, the same instrument behind major EU digital builds. Companies like EWC (the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium) and DC4EU (Digital Credentials for Europe) took the Digital Europe route to scale cross-border infrastructure, and DS4Health used it to push digital skills into healthcare. TEFs apply that same money to a narrower job: getting your product from lab-validated to market-ready and EU AI Act-compliant. Some nodes also run cascade funding open calls with grants of roughly 50K to 200K euros per SME. The point is simple. TEFs close the gap between a prototype that works in your lab and a product Europe will actually certify and buy.
Be clear about what you are actually applying for, because there are two different odds here.
Is this for you?
- Working AI or robotics solution at TRL 6–8 (past the lab, pre-market)
- SME or startup registered in the EU, EEA or an associated country
- Single company — no consortium, no Part B proposal
- Fits one of the four sectors: healthcare, agri-food, manufacturing, smart cities
- Needs AI Act compliance checks or CE-marking preparation
- Need cash, not testing services → EIC Accelerator (grant + equity)
- Still at lab stage, TRL 1–5 → Horizon Europe or EIC Pathfinder
- AI outside the four sectors → your local European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH)
- Building the testing infrastructure itself → Digital Europe consortium calls
Large companies can use TEFs too — but they pay the published national price list, not the subsidised SME rate. You can test at any TEF node in any country, regardless of where you are registered.
The sectorial TEFs
Success rates — the honest picture
Roughly 1 in 3 applications gets funded. A sharp, evidence-backed proposal is what separates the funded from the rejected.
| TEF | Sector | Budget | Coordinator | How you get in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEF-Health | Healthcare & medical robotics | €60M | Charité Berlin (53 partners, 10 countries) | Open call — up to €300K subsidised services per SME, rolling until 31 Dec 2027 |
| agrifoodTEF | Agri-food | €60M | Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy) | Direct contact — no formal call |
| AI-MATTERS | Manufacturing | €60M | CEA-List (France) | Direct contact — browse services by country or challenge |
| CitCom.AI | Smart cities & communities | €40M | Imec (Belgium) | Direct contact via helpdesk |
TEFs are not competitive grant calls, so no success-rate or cut-off statistics exist. The binding limit is the €300,000 de minimis state-aid ceiling per company over three fiscal years; TEF-Health evaluates rolling applications in about 45 working days.
Eligibility
- 1You are a technology provider with an AI or robotics product sitting at TRL 6 to 8: working prototype validated in a relevant setting, not a slide deck and not yet a fully market-proven product.
- 2Your solution fits one of exactly four sector nodes - health (TEF-Health), agri-food (AgrifoodTEF), manufacturing (AI-MATTERS) or smart cities and communities (CitCom.AI). If it spans two, you still pick the single best-fit node to enter through.
- 3You are legally established in an EU Member State or a Digital Europe Programme associated country. A US or UK entity with no EU presence cannot book the facilities.
- 4SMEs and startups get the core testing and validation services free or heavily discounted during the funding period - TEF-Health, for example, currently provides state-aid support as discounts on the market price of its validation services; large companies, research bodies and public authorities typically pay or cost-share.
- 5To use the facilities you do not compete: if you are eligible and genuinely at the right TRL, you book access. The competition only applies to the separate cascade funding open calls, where SMEs bid for 50K to 200K euro grants.
- 6Pure research projects, lab-stage ideas (TRL below 6) and consultancies with no AI product of their own are not the target and will be turned away at intake.
TEF (Testing and Experimentation Facility) support is delivered as state aid in the form of reduced or zero fees on services priced against each node's published list. The Commission's own FAQ is blunt: SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) can use TEFs without paying, while large companies pay the full list price, with that revenue booked as project income. TEF-Health structures the subsidy either as innovation aid for SMEs under Article 28 of the GBER (General Block Exemption Regulation) or as de minimis aid — €200,000 per company over three financial years in its Call #1 documentation, with its Call #2 pages citing a €300,000 de minimis ceiling. There is no cash transfer to your bank account at any point.
Being incorporated in the EU is not enough. TEF-Health requires that the SME's shareholding be held by legal persons incorporated or established in an EU Member State or a country associated to the Digital Europe Programme, evidenced by an official declaration from the authorities of the company's headquarters plus disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners. An EU subsidiary with a US or UK parent can fail this test even with a flawless product. Non-eligible third-country entities may only use services where this does not compromise EU security or strategic autonomy, with restricted access to confidential information.
TEFs are funded under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), whose membership differs from Horizon Europe's. The UK is associated to Horizon Europe but is a non-associated third country for DIGITAL, so UK-registered companies are outside the standard eligibility perimeter. Switzerland only gained DIGITAL participation under transitional arrangements from 1 January 2025. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are fully associated, alongside Ukraine, Moldova, Türkiye and the Western Balkans. Individual TEF calls can be narrower still: TEF-Health Call #2 admits only SMEs legally registered in the EU or EEA (European Economic Area).
Eligibility for the discount depends on aid you have already received. TEF-Health requires evidence — a self-declaration or declaration of honour, and for some national registries an official certificate — that the company has not exhausted its state-aid ceiling over the previous three fiscal years. National innovation vouchers, regional grants and other de minimis support all count against the same ceiling, so a startup that has been efficient at harvesting small national schemes can find its TEF discount eliminated. Aid is tracked through national registries (in Portugal's case, the AD&C central de minimis register).
TEF-Health's evaluation grid allocates 15 of 100 points to funding: applicants must show budget availability aligned with the service catalogue's prices and a solid financial track record covering the estimated cost of the services. A newly created company with no accounts and no cash to cover the unsubsidised share scores poorly here even if its technology is strong. The applicant must also qualify as an SME under Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (fewer than 250 staff, turnover ≤ €50M or balance sheet ≤ €43M), proven by official declaration.
The Commission targets technology providers at TRL (technology readiness level) 6–8 — solutions ready for real-world testing, not lab concepts. Individual calls set their own floor: TEF-Health Call #1 accepted self-declared TRL 4 and above, while its Call #2 requires TRL 6 or higher. TEF-Health also requires a self-declaration that the same solution is not already supported by another national testbed, and selection expects the solution to demonstrably climb TRL within six months of the services — that criterion is scored pass/fail (1 or 7) with no middle ground.
The money — services, not cash
TEFs are not a grant — you receive testing, validation and compliance services instead of cash. Each consortium publishes a country-level price list; the value of what you consume is passed on to you as state aid, which is why a paper trail exists even when you pay nothing.
Under EU de minimis rules a company may receive at most €300,000 in such aid over three fiscal years — across ALL sources, not just TEFs. If you have already taken de minimis aid (national innovation vouchers, subsidised loans), it eats into your TEF headroom. You sign a declaration; misdeclaring is a clawback risk.
For three of the four TEFs you simply contact the facility, describe your technology, and get matched to the right node. Only TEF-Health runs a formal open call: rolling applications evaluated in roughly 45 working days, open until 31 December 2027 or until capacity is filled.
Every TEF must operate an intellectual-property policy guaranteeing that innovators — SMEs in particular — retain ownership of all IP created during testing at the facility. Your test data and results are yours to take to investors and notified bodies.
How to apply — step by step
- 1Discover available services1 hour
Browse the CoordinaTEF service catalogue to find testing, validation, and compliance services across all four TEFs. Filter by sector, service type, country, and TRL level.
Browse TEF catalogues → - 2Contact the relevant TEF1 day
Reach out to the TEF matching your domain — TEF-Health for healthcare AI, agrifoodTEF for agriculture/food, AI-MATTERS for manufacturing, or CitCom.AI for smart cities. Each has an online portal or helpdesk.
- 3Share your technology and use case1–2 weeks
Describe your AI solution, its current TRL level, and what you need tested or validated. The TEF team will assess whether your technology fits their capabilities.
- 4Receive facility matching1–2 weeks
The TEF matches you to the best testing node across their European network. You may access nodes in multiple countries depending on your needs.
- 5Get a customised test plan2–4 weeks
Domain experts design a tailored testing and validation plan for your AI solution. This covers technical testing, safety checks, and if needed, regulatory compliance assessment.
- 6Conduct testing with full supportVaries (weeks–months)
Execute your test plan using TEF infrastructure — physical facilities, virtual environments, or both. TEF teams provide technical support throughout. SMEs receive services free or at heavily subsidised rates.
- 7Receive independent validation report2–4 weeks after testing
Get a comprehensive validation report from the TEF — covering performance, safety, compliance, and recommendations. Use this for investor pitches, market entry, and regulatory submissions.
What evaluators look for
Relevance
Evaluators judge how squarely the proposed facility fits the call's scope and the EU's wider digital, competitiveness and sustainability goals — i.e. whether it genuinely serves the targeted sector and Europe's trustworthy-AI agenda.
- Alignment with the call's objectives and the targeted AI sector
- Contribution to EU policy priorities (competitiveness, digital transformation, sustainability)
- Demonstrated need and added value at European scale
Implementation
Evaluators assess whether the consortium can actually deliver: a coherent work plan, sound milestones and resourcing, and a partnership with the track record and capacity to run a large, multi-country reference facility.
- Quality and clarity of the work plan, tasks and milestones
- Appropriate allocation of resources and budget
- Consortium expertise, complementarity and operational track record
Impact
Evaluators weigh the expected effect on society, economy and technology, plus a credible plan for exploitation, dissemination and sustaining the facility's services beyond the grant period.
- Concrete societal, economic and technological benefits
- Strategy for exploitation, dissemination and uptake by AI suppliers
- Long-term sustainability of the facility's services
Documents you'll need
The master document for all Digital Europe funding — covers AI TEFs, EDIHs, GenAI, AI Factories.
- Contains:
- Defines all Digital Europe Programme calls for 2025-2027 including AI factories, data spaces, digital identity, cybersecurity, and digital skills. TEFs were funded under the 2023-2024 work programme with 5-year grants — this document references continued support for sector-specific testbeds.
- Length:
- ~120 pages (TEFs referenced throughout)
- Why:
- Understand the broader EU digital funding landscape TEFs sit within, and upcoming opportunities like GenAI testbeds and AI Factories.
- When:
- If exploring other Digital Europe opportunities beyond TEFs
Official overview of all four sectorial TEFs with scope, objectives, and access information.
- Contains:
- The EC's official TEF policy page covering all four sectorial TEFs: what they are, their investment (€220M), the 50/50 co-funding model, sector breakdown (healthcare, agri-food, manufacturing, smart cities), and links to each TEF.
- Length:
- Single web page with links
- Why:
- The authoritative starting point for understanding TEFs. Gives you the big picture before diving into individual TEF portals.
- When:
- Read first — before contacting any TEF
Browse all 580+ services across the four TEFs — filter by sector, service type, country, and TRL.
- Contains:
- The unified catalogue linking to each TEF's individual service portfolio: 200+ services from agrifoodTEF, 250+ from AI-MATTERS, 93 from CitCom.AI, and 40+ from TEF-Health. Filter by sector, country, technology type, and TRL level.
- Length:
- Navigation hub linking to 4 TEF catalogues
- Why:
- The fastest way to find out exactly what testing services are available for your AI solution. Start here if you're not sure which TEF to contact.
- When:
- When choosing your TEF and scoping services
Official EC FAQ covering eligibility, access, funding, IP protection, and service scope.
- Contains:
- 82 questions across 4 sections: Concept of TEFs (Q1-15), Sustainability & Operations (Q16-33 — IP management, HPC access, data collection), Links with Other EU Initiatives (Q34-39 — EDIHs, AI Act, data spaces), and Funding & Process (Q40-82 — co-funding model, state aid, eligible costs).
- Length:
- 82 questions, ~30 pages equivalent
- Why:
- The most comprehensive reference for any question about TEFs. Covers IP ownership, cross-country billing, de minimis rules, and relationship with other EU programmes.
- When:
- When you have specific questions about eligibility, IP, or funding rules
Apply for up to €300K in subsidised AI healthcare testing. Rolling applications until Dec 2027.
- Contains:
- The online application portal for TEF-Health Call #2. Submit your SME details, describe your AI/robotics healthcare solution, specify TRL level, and request testing services. Applications evaluated within ~45 working days on a rolling basis.
- Length:
- Online application form
- Why:
- This is where you actually apply if you're building healthcare AI. Up to €300K in subsidised services — the largest open TEF call.
- When:
- When ready to apply for healthcare AI testing
Access real-world testing for AI in agriculture and food processing across 9 European countries.
- Contains:
- Direct access portal for agrifoodTEF services. Browse available testing infrastructure for arable farming, viticulture, horticulture, livestock, and food processing AI. 34 partners across 9 countries, 200+ services catalogued.
- Length:
- Web portal with service directory
- Why:
- No formal call needed — contact directly to begin your testing engagement. Services free or reduced price for SMEs.
- When:
- When building AI for agriculture or food processing
Access 250+ AI and robotics services for manufacturing — factory optimisation, predictive maintenance.
- Contains:
- Service portal for AI-MATTERS with 250+ developed services, 90+ currently being provided. Browse by country (8 EU countries), technology area, or manufacturing challenge. Recently redesigned for easier SME access.
- Length:
- Web portal with service directory
- Why:
- Direct engagement model — no formal call. Contact the TEF, get matched with relevant nodes, and receive AI/robotics services.
- When:
- When building AI for manufacturing, robotics, or industrial automation
Testing AI for smart cities — energy, transport, and citizen services across 11 countries.
- Contains:
- Access portal for CitCom.AI with 93 services (66 professional, 17 virtual, 10 physical) plus 125 datasets. 130+ experiments in the pipeline, 15 testbed sites across 8 cities. Contact via helpdesk for service matching.
- Length:
- Web portal with helpdesk
- Why:
- Subsidised access to smart city test environments. 18 SMEs recently onboarded — continuous intake.
- When:
- When building AI for energy, transport, or urban services
The official portal for all Digital Europe Programme calls and submissions.
- Contains:
- The master portal for all Digital Europe funding opportunities. Search for open and upcoming calls, check deadlines, and submit applications. Also lists cascade funding opportunities that TEFs may publish.
- Length:
- Search portal
- Why:
- Useful if you're looking for complementary Digital Europe funding beyond TEF services.
- When:
- When exploring additional EU funding
Find open calls for SME funding through Digital Europe cascade mechanisms.
- Contains:
- Aggregator for all cascade funding calls under Digital Europe. Monthly roundups (13+ opportunities in Feb 2026). TEF-Health Call #2 is cross-listed here. Browse by sector, deadline, and funding amount.
- Length:
- Searchable directory
- Why:
- Discover additional SME funding opportunities beyond TEF services — including cascade grants from EDIHs and other Digital Europe projects.
- When:
- When looking for complementary cascade funding
Typical Budget Breakdown
2026 Deadlines
- Open now (rolling)Open now (rolling)Sectoral TEF call open
Each of the four TEFs (TEF-Health, agrifoodTEF, AI-MATTERS, CitCom.ai) runs its own open calls. The live benchmark, TEF-Health Call #2 for subsidised testing and validation services, has been open since April 2025 via apply.eithealth.eu / tef.charite.de.
- T+0T+0Submit application
Select up to three services from the node's catalogue ranked by preference; self-declare SME status, TRL and state-aid headroom over the previous three fiscal years.
- T+45 working days (~2 months)T+45 working days (~2 months)Evaluation results communicated
Rolling evaluation, not batch deadlines: TEF-Health commits to communicating results within roughly 45 working days of submission. Experts score 1–7 against weighted criteria (solution 40%, fit to TEF 45%, funding 15%); a weighted average of 5.0 is the pass threshold.
- T+2–3 monthsT+2–3 monthsMatchmaking and service quotation
Approved applicants are matched with node service providers and receive quotations at published market prices — the state-aid discount is then applied against those prices.
- T+3–4 monthsT+3–4 monthsAdhesion (service) agreement signed
A private-law contract with the service provider, not an EU grant agreement. Where a provider's capacity is oversubscribed, signature is first come, first served — another reason rolling calls reward early movers.
- T+4 months onwardT+4 months onwardSubsidised services delivered — this is the money
No pre-financing payment exists: the support materialises as discounted or fully subsidised invoices up to the state-aid ceiling, ending with a product/pilot evaluation report and a higher-TRL validated solution.
- 31 Dec 202731 Dec 2027TEF-Health Call #2 closes
Or earlier, once service capacity is filled — capacity-capped rolling calls can close without notice.
- Jan 2028Jan 2028TEF funding period ends
All four TEFs are five-year Digital Europe projects launched in January 2023; subsidised services must be delivered within the funded window.
After you're funded
You leave with third-party validation evidence from real hospitals, farms, factories or city infrastructure — the kind of independent performance data that moves conversations with investors, procurement teams and notified bodies. Published users report concrete outcomes: TRYGONS cut assembly time 20–25% via AI-MATTERS; EdenCore hit over 90% vineyard-yield prediction accuracy via agrifoodTEF.
TEFs run conformity-assessment preparation: performance testing against safety benchmarks, bias and fairness checks, transparency and explainability review, cybersecurity validation. Relevant deadline — every Member State must operate at least one AI regulatory sandbox by 2 August 2026, and SMEs join those free of charge.
There are no periodic technical reports, no Commission audits, no work packages. What you do owe: a de minimis declaration, and the obligation to count the value of services received against your €300,000 three-year ceiling when applying for any future aid.
TEF IP policies guarantee innovators retain ownership of everything created during testing — models, training data improvements, results. There is no equity, no licence-back, no Commission claim on foreground IP.
The subsidised regime lasts only for the project lifetime — TEF-Health runs to December 2027, the others to roughly 2028 — after which the facilities must become financially self-sustaining and rates will reflect that. If you are at TRL 6–8 now, sooner is cheaper.
Practical notes
Unlike most Digital Europe calls, you don't write a proposal or build a partner consortium for the AI TEFs. The four sectoral facilities — agrifoodTEF, TEF-Health, AI-MATTERS (manufacturing) and CitCom.AI (smart cities) — are already-funded infrastructure that you approach as a single SME or startup to test and validate your AI/robotics solution (TRL 6-8). Pick the facility for your sector and request services directly via its own intake; there is no unified EU portal across the four.
Each TEF runs rolling 'calls' that are really intake windows for discounted service access under EU state-aid rules (GBER / de-minimis), so selected SMEs pay a reduced market price or nothing during the funded period. TEF-Health, for example, has run distinct calls such as Call 2 (services across multiple member-state partners) and Call 3 (access to French Health Data Hub secured data centres) — the same service can be cheap inside a call and full price outside one, so time your request to an active call rather than emailing cold.
A TEF spans many national nodes: TEF-Health alone covers nine member states (Germany lead, plus Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden) and 52 entities, and AI-MATTERS lists roughly 290 manufacturing services. You can be routed to whichever node holds the test environment, dataset or regulatory-sandbox capability you need — you are not restricted to the node in your own country, so scope by the specific facility/data you need.
The four TEFs coordinate jointly under the 'xTEF' label and run shared info and matchmaking days (the Commission has hosted final online information-and-matchmaking days for the sectorial TEF calls) — the practical place to meet node coordinators and scope a service before committing. Separately, the free Digital Europe National Contact Point (NCP) in your country gives one-on-one help understanding eligibility and which facility fits, at no cost.
Who's been funded
67 projects funded · €160.3M in EU contribution · sourced from CORDIS.
EWC
€10.3MEU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium
DS4Health
€10.0MDigital skills for Healthcare Transformation
3D-CIRCULAR
€10.0MDigital Deep tech Driven Circular Economy
DC4EU
€9.6MDigital Credentials for Europe
Europeum
€6.0MEUROPEUM European Digital Infrastructure Consortium
EDITH
€5.0MAn ecosystem for digital twins in healthcare
DIH4CAT AI CONNECT
€3.0MCatalonia Digital Innovation Hub
EDIH Rheinland 2.0
€3.0MEuropean Digital Innovation Hub Rheinland
EDIH Rheinland
€3.0MEuropean Digital Innovation Hub Rheinland
DIVA 2.0
€3.0MDigital Innovation Value Accelerator 2.0
DIVA
€3.0MDigital Innovation Value Accelerator
EDIH MADRID REGION 2.0
€2.9MEuropean Digital Innovation Hub Madrid Region 2.0. Supporting Digital Transformation
Who's been funded
A network of physical and virtual sites, coordinated by Italy's Fondazione Bruno Kessler, where agritech firms can field-validate AI and robotics on real farms and food chains before bringing them to market.
Coordinated by the Berlin Institute of Health at Charite, it lets developers test and validate clinical AI and medical robotics across 51 partners in nine countries to speed safe products to patients.
A 25-partner network coordinated by France's CEA, running eight world-class sites where manufacturers can trial AI and robotics on pilot production lines before factory deployment. Runs January 2023 to December 2027 under grant agreement 101100707.
Coordinated by Belgium's imec across three super-nodes spanning 11 countries, it tests AI and robotics for power, mobility and connectivity before they are let loose in places where people live.
Key Features
Official links & resources
Frequently Asked Questions
AI TEFs are open to technology providers developing AI or robotics solutions at Technology Readiness Level 6 to 8, meaning your product is mature but not yet fully market-validated. SMEs, startups, larger companies, research organisations and public authorities can all apply as users. You must be established in an EU Member State or a Digital Europe Programme associated country, and access is granted on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis.
AI TEFs do not give equity-based investment. The four facilities share over 220 million euros in combined EU and Member State co-funding for 2023 to 2028, of which the EU contributes around 110 million euros under the Digital Europe Programme. For SMEs the core benefit is that testing, validation and expert services come free or heavily discounted during the funding period - TEF-Health, for example, currently provides state-aid support as discounts on the market price of its validation services. Separately, some TEFs run cascade funding (financial support for third parties) open calls offering grants in the region of 50,000 to 200,000 euros per SME.
No. As an individual SME or startup you do not build a consortium to use a TEF; you simply apply through the facility's single digital access point for the services you need. Each of the four TEFs is itself run by a large consortium (for example TEF-Health has 51 partners and AgrifoodTEF has 29), but those are the facility operators, not the users. You engage as a customer or, in cascade funding calls, as a single applicant.
There is no single EU-wide deadline. Each of the four TEFs runs its own rolling intake and its own cascade funding open calls with separate cut-off dates that change through 2026 and 2027. To use the testing services you can apply at any time via the relevant TEF's digital access point. For cascade grants, check the specific TEF's open calls page (for example TEF-Health, AgrifoodTEF, AI-MATTERS or CitCom.AI) for the current deadline, as these are published per call.
Access to the testing services themselves is not a competitive grant; if you are eligible and at TRL 6 to 8, you can book the facilities, with SME services free or discounted during the funding period. The competitive element is the cascade funding open calls, where SMEs compete for the 50,000 to 200,000 euro grants. Those calls are evaluated and capped by available budget, so success depends on the specific call's volume and quality of applicants rather than a fixed published success rate.
Because the testing services are booked directly rather than awarded through a long evaluation, you can typically begin onboarding and scheduling tests within weeks of approaching the facility. Cascade funding grants follow the timeline set in each open call, usually a few months from application to signed agreement and first payment. Timelines vary by TEF, so confirm the schedule with the facility running your call.
For service access, show that your AI or robotics solution is genuinely at TRL 6 to 8 and clearly state which sector node fits (health, agri-food, manufacturing or smart cities) and what real-world validation you need. For cascade funding, present a focused testing plan, a credible path to market or to EU AI Act conformity, and concrete metrics the TEF will help you validate. Aligning your request with the facility's reference datasets, regulatory sandboxes and the relevant open call scope materially strengthens the application.
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