Deadline: October 22, 2025
The I3-4-SEAWEED Open Call is designed to drive transformative growth in the European seaweed sector by enabling interregional collaboration, scaling innovative business ventures, and ensuring market readiness.
Focus areas for the I3-4-SEAWEED Open Call include driving transformative growth in the European seaweed sector through interregional collaboration, scaling innovative business ventures and ensuring their market readiness, establishing a sustainable, transnational value chain based on advanced cultivation and biotechnological applications, targeted investment cases in food, biofertilizers, and cosmetics, comprehensive support in the form of capacity building, technical assistance, and business matchmaking, a cascade funding program for 30 SMEs, and the establishment of a transnational “Seaweed Food Innovation Network Center” to foster interregional competitiveness.
The Open Call accepts applications from 20 August 2025 until 22 October 2025, offering a 12-month program that includes both a Project Implementation Framework and a compulsory Capacity Building Programme. Applicants may focus on Strand A: Macroalgal Production, which supports research and innovation in macroalgal production targeting applications in food, cosmetics, and biofertilizer sectors, or Strand B: Macroalgal Biotechnology and Downstream Applications, supporting innovation in seaweed biotechnology and downstream sectors, particularly food, cosmetics, and biofertilizer/biostimulant applications. Only legal SME entities or consortia of up to 2 legal SME entities with a minimum Technology Readiness Level 6 may apply, and the program prioritizes direct investment into development, testing, or scaling of innovative solutions in the seaweed value chain. The maximum grant amount is EUR 60,000 per proposal, covering all eligible costs including personnel, research and technical development, testing, piloting, communication, dissemination, travel, equipment, and costs related to IPR or regulatory compliance. Selection involves a competitive evaluation focusing on excellence, impact and ambition, and implementation capacity, with a final shortlist of 30 projects invited to contract negotiations. The program provides ongoing technical and business support, performance monitoring through progress reports, and integrates both inner and outer capacity building mechanisms, requiring participation in both online and in-person workshops, culminating in a final in-person event. Ownership of solutions and results remains with the applicants, and full adherence to ethical, legal, and confidentiality requirements is mandatory.
For more information, visit I3-4-SEAWEED.
