Deadline: January 20, 2026
The Horizon Europe call Scaling Up Deep Tech Ecosystems aims to strengthen deep tech innovation ecosystems by enhancing cooperation between research infrastructures, industry, and other innovation actors across the EU.
The focus areas for this opportunity are: Enhanced development of deep tech ecosystems around pan-European research infrastructures to generate, scale and deploy breakthrough technologies with market and societal value; increased involvement of industry, including SMEs, with research infrastructures to raise the technology level and competitiveness of companies and generate market opportunities, including through the generation of start-up or spin-off companies; improved valorisation of the socio-economic impact of past investments in pan-European research infrastructures from the European Structural and Investment Funds; and fostering the potential of pan-European research infrastructures for innovation training and education.
This initiative recognizes pan-European research infrastructures as strategic assets to drive research, innovation, and scientific discovery at multiple levels. By engaging both academia and industry, including SMEs and startups, these infrastructures can enhance competitiveness, overcome fragmentation in the European Research Area, and foster market-oriented or socially beneficial technological advancements. The call encourages proposals that identify deep tech innovations with breakthrough potential, assess their feasibility and scalability, cluster innovations ready for industrial implementation, and provide pilot grants to test these innovations across different technological areas.
Applicants are expected to strengthen innovation ecosystems across the EU by ensuring inclusiveness, gender diversity, and connection among innovation actors. This involves co-planning, co-implementation, and co-investments around European strategic priority areas, and mobilizing policies and funding instruments at EU, national, and regional levels. Proposals should also enhance cross-border collaboration, knowledge sharing, and integration of less represented regions to maximize innovation potential.
The expected impact of the action includes more interconnected, inclusive, and efficient innovation ecosystems; improved network connectivity and interregional collaboration; wider adoption of innovation procurement; increased innovation co-investments; and enhanced coordination of innovation policies among Member States and Associated Countries. Projects should allocate at least 60% of total eligible costs to financial support to third parties, with a maximum grant of EUR 500,000 per third party to facilitate deep collaboration and ecosystem creation.
The call is open for submission from 10 September 2025 until 20 January 2026, with proposals evaluated for their potential to create robust and scalable innovation ecosystems that support deep tech solutions with societal and market value.
For more information, visit EC.
