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Eurostars

Published on:
12 November 2019
Last checked on:
23 February 2024

Are you an innovative SME entrepreneur working on high-tech Research & Development? Do you work with international partners, or are you planning to do so in the future? Then the Eurostars programme could be a tool for your next project. Eurostars funding contributes to the faster development and growth of your small business.

Amount of funding and budget

Start date:
Monday, 1 January 2024
09:00 (CET)
End date:
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
17:00 (CET)
Maximum subsidy:
€ 500.000 per project
Total budget:
€ 22,000,000

4 April: Eurostars - Ready for take off

Want to know more about the Eurostars program and connect with potential project partners? Please attend the event 'Eurostars: Ready for take-off' at ARTIS in Amsterdam. Here, as an entrepreneur, you will discover how Eurostars can become an important part of your success.

Budget

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy allocates € 22 million yearly, divided over 2 calls per year.

Criteria

International funding

If you want to receive international Eurostars funding, your project and consortium need to meet the following criteria:

  • An innovative SME from a participating country leads the project consortium. Please check the Eureka website for an overview of all Eurostars countries.
  • The project consortium exists of at least 2 organisations that are independent of one another.
  • The project consortium exists of organisations from at least 2 Eurostars countries with a minimum of 1 organisation from a Eureka full member or partner country.
  • The SME budget from the participating countries is 50% or more of the total project cost. This does not include subcontracting.
  • No single participant or country handles more than 70% of the project's budget.
  • The project duration is 36 months or less.
  • The project has an exclusive focus on civil applications.

National funding criterium

  • Universities and research institutes can only apply for funding if a Dutch company participates in the consortium.

Funding rates

The funding rates for Eurostars projects are:

  • SME: 50%
  • Large company: 40%
  • University/research institute: 50%

The maximum funding amount is €500,000 per project.

Only project costs directly related to Research & Development are eligible for Eurostars funding. Read more about the funding rules (in Dutch) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

How to apply

A Eurostars application consists of 2 parts. Your proposal has to be approved internationally before you can request national funding.

Application procedure

  1. The project and consortium meet all the international and national criteria mentioned above.
  2. You register on the Eureka Project Management Platform and apply as a consortium. Read more about the required documents for a complete application.
  3. 3 experts will rate your project. Then an independent evaluation panel will draft a ranking list of all proposals. Read more about the international evaluation process on the website of the Eureka network.
  4. Does your application rank high enough on the ranking list? And are all applicants in the consortium eligible for funding? If so, we will invite you to submit a national application. The call for a national application will be open for about 4 weeks.

International calls

6th call

The 6th call of the Eurostars-3 program opens on 12 January 2024 and closes on 14 March 2024, 14:00 CET.

The following countries have indicated that they do not have funding available:

  • Greece
  • Israel
  • Italy (Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT)*
  • Slovenia

Partners from these countries can only participate based on self-funding.

* There is funding available for Italian organizations through the Ministry for Universities and Research (MUR). Contact the Italian National Funding Body for more information.

Matchmaking 6th call 

On the occasion of the 6th international Eurostars call, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) offers you matchmaking opportunities with potential project partners via a B2Match platform with virtual marketplace available 24 hours a day. On this platform, you can book online meetings with potential partners to discuss cooperation opportunities.

Read more and register

7th call

The 7th call of the Eurostars-3 program opens on 12 July 2024 and closes on 12 September 2024, 14:00 CET.

Points of attention

The following aspects need extra attention when you apply for Eurostars funding:

  • The conditions for granting and the subsidy amount differ per participating Eurostars country. We strongly advise your partners from other countries to contact their national funding institutes to discuss the conditions that apply to them. You can find the contact information on the Eureka website.
  • Proposals the evaluation panel finds eligible for funding do not automatically receive national funding. This allocation depends on the position of the project on the ranking list and the available budget per country.
  • National Eurostars funding can only be applied for R&D-related costs. For example, marketing and management costs are not eligible for funding.

Team IRIS can help you

International collaboration can be challenging. Do you want to apply for Eurostars funding but have some questions on your project idea or the procedure? Please contact one of our advisors in your technological area, or submit your project idea to us via eurostars@rvo.nl.

The Eurostars project of the Waste Transformers

In practice

The Waste Transformers, an innovative SME from the Netherlands, has received Eurostars funding to support their innovative solution for organic waste. Find out what they do and how Eurostars contributes to reach their goals.

  • Watch the video The Eurostars project of the Waste Transformers.
  • See which entrepreneurs have gone before you in the Eurostars case studies (in Dutch only).
  • At ‘follow innovation’ (in Dutch only), you can see which companies have received financial support through the Eurostars programme.
  • You can find all Eurostars projects in the Eureka database.

Legislation

Eurostars legislation follows the Dutch regulation national subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (in Dutch only).

Eurostars background

Eurostars is a European innovation programme, a Eureka network and European Commission initiative. Eurostars provides financial support for projects through national funding of each participating country. The funding amount depends on project activities, the type of partner organisation and the country in which they are established.

Eurostars helps (small) companies to install market-oriented technological development. This development can be in any sector. Eurostars aims to shorten the time-to-market of new technologies and reduce technical risks. Small companies can thereby increase their development and growth rate. Under certain conditions, other organisations can also take part in Eurostars projects.

Celebrating the start of Eurostars-3 programme

After a succesful event, you are now able to enjoy the video of the celebration of the start of Eurostars-3 programme.

European Partnership

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe.

Commissioned by:
  • Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
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