Horizon Europe Bridging Actions 2027: €20M for project results

The Horizon Europe topic “Valorising Horizon project results via innovation ecosystems” (HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-06-02) opened on 20 October 2026. The topic is included in the Horizon Europe “Bridging Actions 2027” call. It is a €20 million call dedicated to the valorisation of Horizon results. The ecosystems involved are the European, regional and national innovation ecosystems. Proposals can be submitted until 16 February 2027. For the world of startups and innovation intermediaries, it is a concrete opportunity to bring to market technologies that would otherwise remain locked in the laboratory.

What the Horizon Europe call funds

The call aims to bridge a structural gap. Many projects funded by Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe stop at laboratory validation. Acceleration instruments and private investment only come in at later stages. The action therefore funds projects that create a continuous innovation pathway, driven by the innovation ecosystems.

There are five covered activities. First, the scouting and mapping of innovations, startups, SMEs and high-potential results emerging from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects. Second, financial support to third parties: competitive calls that directly fund prototyping, experimentation, piloting and market replication. Third, mentorship, with personalised guidance on intellectual property strategies, business models and access to real testing sites such as living labs, demonstrators and industrial facilities. Fourth, the training of research teams on scalability, investment readiness and entrepreneurial skills. Fifth, the bridging towards follow-on funding, from European scaling programmes such as the EIC and the EIE to the Regional Innovation Valleys, up to national public and private funds.

Every proposal must mandatorily focus on one of the five thematic areas identified by the Commission. The areas are agriculture and food systems, clean transition with energy and transport, and health. The list is completed by the bioeconomy and raw materials with advanced materials.

Budget, deadlines and eligible entities

The total budget of the call is €20,000,000.00. The indicative contribution per project is between €2,500,000.00 and €4,000,000.00. Around 5 projects are indicatively fundable. The Commission guarantees the funding of at least one project for each of the 5 thematic areas. The condition is that the proposals exceed the minimum evaluation thresholds.

The call targets consortia of knowledge intermediaries operating in the innovation ecosystems. These include technology transfer offices (TTOs), business incubators and accelerators, and innovation clusters. Also included are the EU-supported European ecosystems and platforms. Also eligible are initiatives supporting local, regional or transnational entrepreneurship.

The central mechanism is the Financial Support to Third Parties, the cascade calls. Each consortium must allocate at least 60% of the requested EU contribution to third-party funding. The final recipients must be exclusively holders of results deriving from projects funded under Horizon 2020 (Pillar III) or Horizon Europe (Pillar II). The maximum amount grantable to each third party is €150,000.

Who can apply as a beneficiary

For Italian incubators, accelerators and TTOs, this is a role as consortium builder. It is not simply being a cascade candidate. They are the ones receiving the contribution and managing the competitive calls towards the holders of Horizon results. The deadline for submitting proposals is 16 February 2027. Startups and research teams hold results from projects in the two indicated pillars. The route to access the €150,000 per third party will go through the cascade calls. These calls will be published by the winning consortia.

Sources:

• ec.europa.eu
• Horizon Europe: bando da 20 milioni per la valorizzazione dei… | europainnovazione.com