Innovation Call for Proposals 2026

Manufacturing solutions for Key Strategic Industries and Value Chains

Scope of the call

This call aims to support consortia that bring together diverse skills and expertise to address complex industry challenges with significant innovation potential, thereby generating tangible impact along the value chain in key strategic EU industries:  

1. Automotive​  
2. Machinery & Equipment (Including Robotics)​  
3. Electronics & Semiconductors​  
4. Basic Metals & CleanTech​  
5. Aerospace​ & Defence  
6. Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals​  
7. Food & Beverages​  
8. Textiles & Apparel​  

Across the value chains in specific sectors, the following focus areas are considered the most strategic for receiving EIT Manufacturing support:  

• Battery innovation  

• Lightweight and advanced materials (composites)  

• Advanced robotics and cobotics  

• Energy-efficient and energy-optimised manufacturing  

• Recycling and reuse of metals and polymers for circular economy  

• Clean energy production and integration  

The call seeks to enable systemic solutions that go beyond isolated innovations and drive transformation across key strategic industries in Europe.  

Applicants are encouraged to tackle interconnected challenges, fostering synergies across multiple stages and actors within a value chain. The call aims to accelerate innovation in European manufacturing by supporting projects that: 

• Address interdependencies and complexities in manufacturing, unlocking value across the entire ecosystem rather than benefiting only individual players. 

• Create synergies between different industry actors, enabling a more integrated and efficient approach to innovation. 

• Ensure long-term impact and scalability by fostering collaboration among key stakeholders, including industrial partners, technology providers, and any other relevant actor. 

Who can apply?

The call is open to legal entities forming a consortium, including at least 3 independent entities established in countries covering at least two different EIT Manufacturing regions (check our geographical coverage here In your country – EIT Manufacturing).  

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the Member States (including Overseas Countries and Territories, OCTs) or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe, as well as low- and middle-income countries (check the list here).  

Legal entities established in different countries can participate as consortia members, but they are requested to cover their expenditures with resources different from EIT funding. 

The participants in the consortium must cover, at least, the following roles: 

• 1 Lead Partner, in charge of coordinating the consortium and being the direct contact for EIT Manufacturing 

• 2 two industrial organisations from the same value chain, positioned at different stages and supporting the adoption in a real industrial environment of the innovation commercialised by the Business Owner 

• 1 Business Owner, in charge of the commercialisation of the solution with a legal entity established in a Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. 

Duration and funding

Applicants are invited to present project proposals covering a duration of 18 months or 24 months. The maximum funding per project is EUR 1 200 000 for 18 months duration and EUR 1 500 000 for 24 months duration. The EIT funding can cover up to 67% of the total eligible expenditures. 

Type of challenges and solutions expected

Applicants need to identify challenges at the value chain level that need to be solved through the cooperation of several actors of that value chain. Applications could be focused on – but not limited to – the following list of challenges:  

Competitiveness-related challenges

• Loss of competitiveness of energy-intensive industries due to high energy costs and energy prices volatility  

• Digitalisation lag of small and medium manufacturing companies due to low investment capacity and lack of digital skills  

• High dependence on single, non-European sources of supply for critical raw materials  

• Technology gap and manufacturing capacity lag in future growth industries (semiconductors, batteries, hydrogen, solar PV, wind energy…)  

• High labour costs  

Regulation-related challenges

• Lack of unified framework to monitor and implement net-zero strategies  

• Need for new technologies to reach net-zero targets  

• Compliance with EU regulations regarding recyclability, use of recycled materials, sourcing obligations  

• Regulatory requirements around the use of AI-based solutions  

While some of these challenges are related to specific industries and should be addressed with solutions involving several actors along the value chain of those industries, others are transversal to multiple industries and could be addressed with solutions applicable to multiple industries. Desirable applications could be focused on – but not limited to – the following type of solutions:  

Digital solutions

• Data spaces and/or applications based on existing data spaces to allow for product or carbon footprint traceability and associated strategies, such as product life extension or carbon reduction strategies  

• AI-enabled generative design to allow for rapid optimisation of product performance, lifetime, cost and manufacturing process, for example to support the development of semiconductor chips or new battery architecture  

• Digital twins and AI prediction models to orchestrate energy management between energy grid, local production, energy storage capacity and production schedule  

Green technologies

• Development of carbon neutral lightweight solutions complying with safety standards of the automotive or the aerospace industries  

• Development and validation with an end-user of alternative approaches to batteries, such as alternative materials for anodes/cathodes of Li-ion batteries or new battery technologies (solid-state, Ca-ion…)  

• Development and deployment of carbon capture solution in carbon-intensive industries  

Circular economy

• Development of energy efficient recycling processes for critical raw materials and rare metals, and their use in the manufacturing of batteries and/or semiconductor chips  

• Circular design for composite materials: new production methods and recovery methods to allow for remanufacturing or recycling  

• New business models around the integration of second-life batteries for energy storage in manufacturing facilities or integration with renewable energy production  

• Low energy recycling technologies for metals and/or polymers  

• New additive manufacturing strategies using recycled materials (metal powder, polymers) with the right level of purity to allow for same performances as virgin raw materials  

Expected results

The innovative solution developed within the project scope is expected to reach TRL 8 (with a minimum TRL of 6 at the project start) and to prove its market readiness by generating sales of a minimum EUR 10 000 by the project end date (“marketed innovation”). 

To ensure effective support to innovative projects in their effort to commercialise the outputs of their funded activities after the project ends, EIT Manufacturing set up a Service Agreement framework.  

As part of the services agreement, EIT Manufacturing will offer to the projects’ Business Owners a comprehensive support package consisting of Core and Customised Support Packages. The amount of fees to be paid by the Business Owners in return is connected to the ability of the solution to generate revenues after the project conclusion; it is composed of a fixed fee (EUR 50 000 – EUR 65 000 depending on the duration of the project), to be paid at the end of the project, and a percentage of the revenues generated by the funded solution over a period of 5 years after the project conclusion, this revenue sharing percentage being at least 7%. 

Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) path

EIT Manufacturing aims to boost the innovation capacity of EIT RIS countries, widening the participation of such countries in the KIC’s activities. To support this goal, at least 15% (TBC) of the total budget of this call will be specifically allocated to proposals that align with the RIS mission and objectives.  

To be considered aligned to the RIS mission, proposals must indicate their alignment in the application form and demonstrate their contribution to enhancing the innovation capacity of EIT RIS countries. For proposals aligned to the RIS mission, the role of the Business Owner and at least one of the industrial organisations from the same value chain that will support the adoption of the innovation commercialised by the Business Owner (ensuring its implementation in a real-world industrial setting while demonstrating its value across the value chain) should be taken by organisations based in EIT RIS countries.