Deadline Date: September 22, 2026
The European Commission is requesting applications to scale up sustainable biomanufacturing and strengthen industrial biotechnology ecosystems.
The initiative focuses on achieving full industrial-scale biorefineries and value chains for bio-based products, ensuring market-ready performance of these products, improving sustainability, circularity and resource efficiency compared to benchmarks, and enhancing strategic autonomy, resilience and competitiveness within the EU.
Eligible product categories include chemicals, intermediates, polymers, ingredients and enzymes, while food and feed applications as primary outputs are excluded. Optimisation of cells, enzymes or microorganisms is permitted if the starting maturity is at least TRL 6. Projects must also demonstrate the conversion or application of biorefinery outputs into at least one validated end product at TRL 6 or higher, supporting a viable business case and potentially targeting additional high-value applications.
The total budget for this funding call is €170,760,699, with €20 million specifically allocated to boosting biorefinery competitiveness through biotechnology. Eligibility is open to any legal entity regardless of location, including organisations from non-associated countries and international organisations, provided they meet Horizon Europe requirements.
Applicants must register in the Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code and complete validation before grant agreement signing. Affiliated entities, associated partners, entities without legal personality under specific conditions, EU bodies, and associations may participate, subject to compliance with the defined rules.
For more information, visit European Commission.
