I3 INSTRUMENT – Interregional Innovation Investments Strand 1 – 2026

Objectives

• To bring innovations of innovation actors from the quadruple helix ecosystems to a mature level, ready for scale-up and commercialisation
• To increase the competitiveness and the resilience of EU value chains on the basis of interregional cooperation and shared smart specialisation areas
• To reduce the innovation divide in Europe with a strong cohesion policy focus of integrating all regions and in particular the less developed regions into European value chains

Priorities

• Priority 1: digital transition
• Priority 2: green transition
• Priority 3: smart manufacturing

Eligibility

• Be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• Be established in one of the eligible countries:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories)
  • Non-EU states: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the I3 Instrument (list of participating countries).
• Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting the proposal.
• A consortium composed of minimum 5 independent entities established in 5 different regions of 3 eligible countries must be constituted.
• The consortium must have at least 2 entities established in a less developed region.
• The coordinator must be a:
  • Public body or
  • Non-for-profit organisation or
  • Entity entrusted by national or regional governments to develop or implement innovation and investment actions for SMEs

Additional information

• Initial duration of the action: between 18 and 36 months

Extensions are possible, if duly justified and only through an amendment to the grant agreement.

• Contact: EISMEA-I3-INSTRUMENT-CALLS@ec.europa.eu

Useful

• Guidelines: Click here
• Other call documents: Click here
• Executive Agency website: Click here
• More information: Click here

• Total budget of the call: 28.2 million euros
• Amount of the grant: between 2.000.000 and 10.000.000 euros

The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.

• Funding rate: between 70% and 100% of the total eligible costs