Lantern Grants

Reinforcing synergies between experimentation spaces and innovation procurement

Funder
European Commission · Horizon Europe
Award amount
Up to €10,000,000
Deadline
September 15, 2027
Eligible countries
European Union, United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Israel, Global

Summary

Forthcoming EU call topic HORIZON-EIE-2027-01-CONNECT-02 · HORIZON Pre-commercial Procurement. Part of call HORIZON-EIE-2027-01: Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems (2027.1). Opens 2027-06-01; next deadline 2027-09-15. Topic page: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-EIE-2027-01-CONNECT-02

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes: - Advancing public sector modernization by capitalising on the transformational power of innovative technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of public services; - Reinforce EU strategic autonomy and increase resilience in the supply chains by opening up opportunities for innovative companies, including notably SMEs and startups, to access the public procurement market and scale up their business; - Improving opportunities for market uptake and economies of scale for the supply side through increased demand for innovative solutions and where relevant contribution to standardisation, regulation or certification; - It is expected that if PCP results in the successful innovative solutions than at least one of those will be ready for deployment or even being already deployed in the project. - Supporting the uptake of innovative and sustainable solutions through collaborative procurement approaches that encourage safer and more efficient practices in public sector applications.

Scope: This topic aims to shorten the time to market for innovations by reinforcing synergies between innovation procurement and experimentation spaces such as test beds, livings labs or regulatory sandboxes. While public buyers often do not use experimentation spaces to test before they invest, companies also too often only start looking for potential customers, verifying regulatory compliance and product certification after R&D is finished, which delays commercialisation. This action enables innovators to develop and test innovative solutions…

Summary as listed by the funder. Always read the full announcement for eligibility, limits and how to apply.

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What European Union reviewers look for

  • Most Horizon Europe calls score three criteria (the ERC uses excellence alone). Excellence: clarity and ambition of the objectives, and the soundness of the methodology.
  • Impact: credible pathways to the expected outcomes, and measures to communicate and exploit results.
  • Quality and efficiency of implementation: the work plan, resources and the consortium's capacity.

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