Call for proposals 2025 – Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems (HORIZON-EIE-2026-01)

Objectives

The call Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems (2026.1) supports actions under the CONNECT destination to foster enabling innovation ecosystems across the EU through a systemic, inclusive and collaborative approach that involves diverse actors, institutions and territories. It aims to maximise the value of innovation and ensure equitable diffusion of its benefits by strengthening links among regions and stakeholders.

Within this call, topic CONNECT-01 will reinforce innovation procurement capacity by creating or expanding national competence centres and establishing a European-wide network to increase the use of pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative solutions and to scale up the diffusion of innovative solutions across Member States and Associated Countries. Topic CONNECT-02 will expand investment ecosystems by building connections between emerging or moderate innovator regions and stronger EU hubs, increasing awareness and access to local deals for foreign investors, improving knowledge of regulatory frameworks and creating market-access pathways for start-ups to boost later-stage growth and cross-border investment. Topic CONNECT-03 will scale up deep-tech ecosystems linked to European research infrastructures, fostering collaboration between academia, industry and SMEs to generate and scale breakthrough technologies, valorise past investments and enhance the role of research infrastructures in competitiveness, skills and innovation training.

Across topics, the call follows an end-to-end logic to bridge research, innovation, market access and deployment, with indicative per-topic budgets and expected EU contributions per project specified in the Work Programme 2025 for European Innovation Ecosystems.

Actions

This call covers the following topics:

HORIZON-EIE-2026-01-CONNECT-01: European network of national competence centers for innovation procurement

HORIZON-EIE-2026-01-CONNECT-02: Expanding Investment Ecosystems

HORIZON-EIE-2026-01-CONNECT-03: Scaling up deep tech ecosystems