AI-IGNITE 2024 Open Call

Welcome to AI-IGNITE Call 2024!

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

EIT Manufacturing South East launches the AI-IGNITE open call that seeks to promote Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital transformation across the South East region.

AI-IGNITE is one of the initiatives that emerged following the collaboration agreement between EIT Manufacturing South East and the Greek Satellite of AI-MATTERS with the goal of enhancing the competitiveness of the local business ecosystem by promoting the testing and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

AI-MATTERS is the world-class reference network of testing and experimentation facilities for AI and robotics technologies in the manufacturing sector. Framed under the Digital Europe Programme, coordinated by CEA from the Paris-Saclay innovation ecosystem, AI-MATTERS aims to strengthen Europe’s positioning and leadership in the uptake Artificial Intelligence systems by building on the competences, experience, and facilities of 25 major organizations from eight European countries (Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Greece, Spain and France). The Greek satellite, with the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS) acting as its representative body, has more than 30 years of research activities, combined with industrial customized services and a team of highly qualified and experienced experts.

Specifically, through “AI-IGNITE” we aim at accelerating the market deployment of AI-enabled concepts and innovative technologies by selecting and awarding Startups and SMEs that provide AI-based advanced solutions and take actions to boost the maturity of related technologies, enhance their competitiveness and productivity. Eligible companies are early-stage or mature companies, with a valid PIC number, that are registered and active in one of the following countries supported by EIT Manufacturing South East, namely Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, and Türkiye.

What’s in it for you?

The AI-IGNITE open call will award the five (5) top companies positioned for significant growth within the AI landscape, with:

• A financial award of €10,000 per beneficiary from EIT Manufacturing South East for implementing their development plans 
• A ticket of up to €40.000 of in-kind contribution from the AI-MATTERS Greek Satellite [an entity dedicated to advancing the adoption of AI technologies in manufacturing and related industries] covering the required infrastructure and expertise to design, engineer, deploy, and evaluate the beneficiaries’ solutions in their Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEF)
• A growth package of up to three (3) months of dedicated Access-to-Market (A2M) support services from EIT Manufacturing South East Business Development & Innovation team

The applicants to the AI-IGNITE 2024 Open Call must meet the eligibility criteria as set in the Competition website.

The Terms & Regulations and eligibility criteria can be found below in the “Useful Links” section or here.

Who can apply?

To be eligible for consideration, proposals must meet the following criteria: 

• Companies must be registered and active in one of the following countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, and Türkiye. 

• The legal status of the companies requesting to participate should be an early-stage or mature Startup or SME with a valid PIC number. 

• The application package should include a complete application form and logo in HD format. 
• The applying company is NOT a Partner Member of EIT Manufacturing, or a Linked Third Party of a Partner Member of EIT Manufacturing. 

What are the areas addressed?

The AI-IGNITE Open Call invites proposals for innovation activities that address all areas related to the available Services ( 2.2. AI-MATTERS Services for the AI-IGNITE Open Call), namely: 

• Industrial Digital Twins 

• Intuitive robot programming 

• Dynamic robot task planning & resources orchestration 

• Layout planning optimization 

• AR & VR for operator support & training 

• Industrial IoT platform, analytics & visualization 

• Synthetic data for training machine learning models 

• Monitoring & control of milling processes 
• Quality assessment in Resistance Spot Welding