European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars

European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars is a funding instrument that supports innovative SMEs and project partners (large companies, universities, research organisations, and other types of organisations) by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organisations from 37 countries can access public funding for international collaborative R&D projects in all fields.

Eligibility

To apply for European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars, you must fulfill seven eligibility criteria:

• The project consortium is led by an innovative SME* from a European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars country**.
• The project consortium is composed of at least two entities that are independent of one another.
• The project consortium is composed of entities from at least two participating countries, with at least one organisation coming from an EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
• The budget of the SMEs from the participating countries (excluding any subcontracting) is 50% or more of the total project cost.
• No single participant or country is responsible for more than 70% of the budget of the project.
• The project duration is 36 months or less***.
• The project has an exclusive focus on civil applications.

*They define an innovative SME as any SMEs with the ambition to collaborate on R&D and innovation with international partners to develop new products, processes, and services for European and global markets. Innovative SMEs do not need to have a proven track record of R&D activities.

R&D: “Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.” (OECD Frascati Manual 2015, p. 44)
Innovation: “a new or improved product or process (or a combination thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit (process).” (OECD Oslo Manual 2018, p. 20)

**European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars countries which are not an EU member state or a Horizon Europe Associated Country: Canada, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

***If justified, you may be permitted an extension after your project has started. This must be approved by the Independent Evaluation Panel, Eureka Secretariat, and relevant national funding bodies.

Benefits

• Funding

Application process

Click here to apply.

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