The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) selected 11 projects under the first cut-offs of the Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) Instrument calls under stands 1 and 2a.
The beneficiaries are consortia coming from all over Europe and will receive about EUR 70.5 million of EU funding coming from the European Regional Development Fund, and at least 70% of the funding will be directly invested into companies.
The average funding for a project is EUR 6.4 million and will be shared among 255 beneficiaries from 22 EU Member States. The successful projects where selected from 28 applications.
The key feature of the I3 Instrument is the cohesion dimension helping to bridge the innovation divide Europe is facing. In seven Strand 1 projects, accelerating market uptake and scaling-up of innovation solutions: 63 less developed regions and transition regions will benefit from connecting their innovation ecosystems with the ones of the more developed regions .
The deadline for the next cut- off is 18 October 2022.
Get more information about the call on the I3 Instrument online information day that took place on 23 June 2022.
Background
The Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) Instrument financed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF represents an opportunity to support interregional portfolios of companies’ investments bringing innovation to the market at high technology readiness levels (TRL 6-9) and reshaping EU interregional value chains. The cohesion dimension is very pronounced under the I3 scheme and the interconnection of regional innovation ecosystems along the Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3)priorities. It gives the opportunity to less developed, transition and outermost EU regions to catch up with the more developed regions.
The call has two Strands:
- Strand 1 focusses on investing into interregional innovation projects in EU regions
- Strand 2a focusses on increasing the capacity of regional innovation ecosystems in less developed regions to participate in global value chains.
Source: European Commission I EISMEA (https://bit.ly/3Ow4gUm)