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Do you have questions about your Innowwide application or market feasibility project? Our FAQ answers the most asked questions about eligibility criteria, the application process, budgeting and funding rules, subcontracting and more.
We have answered questions about the 4th Innowwide Call for market feasibility projects submitted to the helpdesk or asked during webinars. Repeated questions have been grouped.
These FAQs are only for reference and do not carry legal weight. Please consult the Innowwide call for projects text and implementing guidelines.
The total available budget is 4.2 million euro to fund 70 market feasibility projects.
Call 3 received more than 600 applications from SMEs. For Call 4, more than 800 applications reached us.
No, you may only submit one application per call for projects.
No. Your market feasibility project can only target one pilot market (country) where you intend to develop and validate your innovative business solution with a local counterpart.
However, as part of your application, you should indicate if you intend to continue exporting your innovation beyond the initial target market, describe how you plan to do this, and state the timeframe.
Yes. SMEs that received funding in previous Innowwide calls are eligible to apply again. However, they must target a different country than in their previously funded project, and propose either a different innovative solution, or a significantly different application of the same solution used in their earlier funded project.
This call for projects has no thematic or industry focus. Innovative SMEs from any sector can apply.
Foundations can apply only if they are an SME according to the European Union definition, which considers:
You must confirm your status as eligible to receive Innowwide funding.
You can participate in Innowwide with an innovative product concept or a solution you have already developed and commercialised (in your home market).
Your Innowwide market feasibility project can be the start of a future international R&D and innovation project you intend to carry out (in the short or medium term) with local counterparts in your target country. This future project may be for developing, improving or researching new applications for your innovative solution (product, process or service), including frugal innovation.
Innowwide is for companies looking to expand into new markets outside Europe, where they are not active yet. However, if you already have one client in the target country but your presence in that market is in an exploratory phase, it does not exclude you, as long as your feasibility project shows potential to grow beyond that one client and reach more customers in that market.
To be eligible, your application must include at least three eligible activities from sections 1, 2 and 3 (market and technical activities) and may include eligible activities from sections 4 and 5 (business development and promotion).
However, if you select all eligible activities listed, your six-month project plan may seem unrealistic to evaluators.
Whilst you can complete your application form in any order, we recommend you complete the sections in the order they appear in, from left to right.
Bear in mind that there are some requirements – for example, you cannot invite your counterpart until you have completed the project description. Furthermore, in the “quality and efficiency of the implementation section”, you must budget for activities based on those previously selected in the “excellence” section.
You can save your draft application and return to it as often as you wish before the call deadline.
To ensure consistency and facilitate evaluation, we recommend using the same or similar wording in your workplan for any activities that will be budgeted. If an activity does not closely match any in the list, you may still include it to help present a clearer project, but you should clearly indicate that it is complementary and not part of the budget request.
The list of eligible activities that can be funded by Innowwide is provided in section 4.2. Eligible activities of the Innowwide call guidelines.
You do not need to have participated in another Eureka programme to be able to apply to Innowwide, but your Innowwide project can complement another Eureka programme project and vice versa. Likewise, your marketable solution can be a result of a funding programme or accelerator outside Eureka.
For example, your Innowwide project may come after completing an R&D project to help you discover whether the output or your company’s innovative solution could be commercialised in a selected target market. That previous R&D project could have been financed by any funding programme or by your own means.
No, you do not need to have a funding source for future exploration beyond the scope of the Innowwide funding programme.
For this call, there is no minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for the innovation you are planning to explore in your market feasibility project. However, it is expected that the innovation should have been validated in a lab (TRL 4).
Regarding the top limit, the TRL of that innovation must not exceed 8 in your target country. Where further R&I activities are expected, TRL 7 is the indicative top limit.
Independent experts will assess the impact of your innovative solution in the target market based on its expected sales, overall relevance for the target market and end users, and its societal and environmental benefits. They will also consider ethical and gender-related aspects, particularly in relation to alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Civil applications” refers to the area of application and purpose of your project. This means that to be eligible for Innowwide funding your project (and its results) must be exclusively for civilian purposes and cannot be for military use.
However, this does not exclude project results that could meet the needs of both civilian and military end-users (known as “dual-use” goods or technologies), provided the project has a clear focus on civilian applications.
Yes, you can download a template for your workplan from the implementation section of your online project application form. You must use this template. Applications that do not, will be discarded.
Startups can apply to this call for projects. You may be asked to provide a two-year business plan.
Your final report includes:
We will provide you with a final report template before the end of your market feasibility project.
Companies exempt from value added tax (VAT) can still apply to Innowwide. You must indicate your VAT exemption status and be able to provide proof of VAT exemption upon request.
A NACE code is the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Union and some other countries. Other non-EU companies have an equivalent code, e.g., ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification). A company usually has several NACE codes (or equivalent) if it engages in multiple types of economic activities.
These codes are assigned to companies when registering or updating their registration details to reflect changes in their economic activities.
You can find your company’s NACE code(s) in your national registration documents.
No, your subcontractor does not need to state their NACE codes(s).
A participant identification code (PIC) number is a nine-digit number that serves as a unique identifier for legal entities applying to and participating in European funding programmes. A PIC number has no expiry date.
Only the applicant SME must provide a PIC number. Subcontractors do not need to provide a PIC number.
Note that having a PIC number is essential for completing your application. Applicants are accountable for ensuring timely PIC requests.
To find out if your organisation already has a PIC number or to register for one, refer to the EU Participant Register page. Your organisation’s PIC number will be given when you have completed the registration, which takes 5-10 minutes.
Eureka is not responsible for the EU Funding and Tenders registration portal and does not have control over its functionality. Any inquiries should be directed to the EU Funding and Tenders portal IT Helpdesk.
You must have one local counterpart (main subcontractor) based in your target country.
You are allowed to use other minor subcontractors in your target country or in a different country (including in EU or Horizon Europe Associated Countries). These subcontractors must be justified and can only conduct minor tasks (e.g., publishing, preparing promotional material, supporting participation in trade fairs, supporting matchmaking, clerical support, etc.).
Subcontracting costs cannot be zero. Cooperation with a main subcontractor is an important part of your market feasibility project, so you must allocate a reasonable budget to your subcontractor.
As subcontracting costs vary from country to country, you can decide how much you want to dedicate to subcontracting.
You can incur costs in both your target country and home country.
However, you must provide a contract with your main subcontractor in your target country for an amount of above zero euro. You must also maintain regular bookkeeping practices to be ready for any checks, reviews, audits or investigations.
Yes. Subsidiaries/affiliated companies and parent firms can be a main subcontractor if they:
Subcontractors can be any type of legal entity organisation (e.g., SMEs, large industries, universities, research centres, self-employed professionals), independent from your organisation (the applicant organisation) and legally established in the target country.
In addition, one of the purposes of the Innowwide programme is to foster long-term partnership between you and your main subcontractor in your market feasibility project. When selecting your subcontractor, consider their capabilities (e.g. legal, technical, market analysis) to carry out your eligible activities, but also their potential to become a strategic partner for future collaboration.
In short: choose the best partner for your Innowwide project — and, if possible, one who could grow with you over time.
Your main subcontractor must complete these two steps:
Step 1: Accept the invitation via email (this action only registers their interest).
Step 2: Register or login to the SmartSimple application platform and accept the terms set in the commitment and declaration of honour. This action confirms their commitment.
Please note that accepting the invitation via email is not sufficient.
At the application stage, the main subcontractor commits their organisation to participate in the project if it is funded. They agree to the terms set out in the Commitment and Declaration of Honour, which include their readiness to set up all necessary provisions to participate as a counterpart to the beneficiary, and their acknowledgment of involvement in the project. They also declare their organisation’s legal and financial standing and confirm their independence from the applicant organisation.
It is essential that all subcontracted organisations fully understand the details of their involvement in the project — including activities, budget, and responsibilities — from the application stage, before agreeing to participate. This responsibility lies with the applicant organisation to ensure that subcontractors are well-informed from the outset.
You can refer to our non-exhaustive list of organisations that can help you find a relevant partner.
When contacting these organisations, please state information about your company (type of company, sector, previous experience in international collaboration, etc.), the type of partnership you need (cooperation description, type of partner sought, country, etc.) and your contact information.
Finding a counterpart can be time consuming. Please take this into account before starting your application for the next call for projects.
In the budget proposal, “Subcontracting” refers to contracted services which contribute directly to the project’s implementation, where a specific project task is partially or totally outsourced to the subcontractor. This does not include indirect costs for the beneficiary.
If the contracted service supports the completion of tasks without directly implementing defined tasks, it falls within “purchase costs: other goods, works and services.
There is no fixed allocation required between personnel, subcontracting, and other cost categories. However, all budgeted costs should be reasonable, justified, and necessary for the implementation of the project.
Subcontracting costs must be greater than zero. Cooperation with a main subcontractor in the target country is a key element of the market feasibility project, so a reasonable share of the total budget should be allocated to this subcontractor.
For minor subcontractors, costs may not exceed 20% of the total subcontracting budget.
Additionally, applicants should ensure that task descriptions and allocated resources are consistent. All costs should be appropriately estimated, avoiding both underestimation and overestimation.
Yes, all activities proposed in your work plan that correspond to the eligible activities under the call (see section 4.2. Eligible activities of the call guidelines) must have an associated cost in the budget, even if it is small. Make sure the activities listed in the Excellence section, the work plan, and the budget are aligned.
No. You must only state the budget for the applicant (beneficiary) SME.
Subcontracting costs (for the local counterpart in your target country) are listed in a budget category within the overall budget.
No. Innowwide is funded by Horizon Europe and exempt from De Minimis rules.
No, but the cost estimations for personnel or other categories must approximate your actual costs, align with your normal practices and be reasonable/not excessive and necessary for your activities.
The maximum grant for Innowwide projects is 60,000 euro. The grant covers up to 70% of the eligible project costs, although the total eligible project costs must be at least 86,000 euro. This means that if selected for funding, you must contribute at least 26,000 euro of the project costs.
There is no specific limit on your total project budget, but you should plan your activities and budget realistically within the six-month timeframe and the available funding.
Eligible project costs for Innowwide funding include:
Indirect costs are also eligible and are calculated as a flat rate of 25% of direct costs, excluding subcontracting.
Yes. When a funding decision has been made and a grant agreement has been signed, your market feasibility project can begin.
We intend to communicate evaluation results in the first trimester of 2026.
We expect grant agreements to be signed towards May 2026, with projects set to start around 1 June 2026.
No, costs cannot be claimed retroactively or after the project has ended. Costs must be incurred within the project duration, starting from the project start date specified in the Grant Agreement signed with selected companies. Therefore, any costs incurred prior to the grant decision or outside the official project period are not eligible.
As the beneficiary SME you are responsible for allocating work to and paying the subcontractor. You should define a payment method in the contract you sign with your subcontractor.
You cannot receive funding from any other EU funding programme for activities in your Innowwide market feasibility project.
This is accordance with the ‘double funding rule’, which prevents you from receiving funding from more than one European Union programme for the same activities and expenses.
Generally, you are not required to submit evidence of expenses after finishing your project. However, the Eureka Network (or the European Anti-Fraud Office, the European Court of Auditors, etc.) reserves the right to carry out checks, reviews, audits or investigations.
Innowwide reviews the outcome of you receiving the 60,000 euro lump sum. The payment of the grant is linked to approval of your work packages and deliverables rather than eligible costs.
If your project is carried out properly and your final report is approved, you do not need to report actual costs and resources such as timesheets, pay-slips or invoices (the grant will be paid regardless of the costs actually incurred). However, you need to follow regular bookkeeping practices. The beneficiary SME must have specific financial accounts and report the execution and results of your market feasibility project.
Purchases and subcontracting costs must be made considering best value for money and must be free of any conflict of interest.
Although the aim of your market feasibility project is to determine whether your product-, process- or service-market combination can be commercialised in your target market, you are not obliged to commercialise it after your project ends.
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