Eurostars Call 12 for projects

Key Features

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

Programme:     Eureka

Award:     Share of up to £2.5 million

Opens: 17th Dec 2026

Closes: 4th Mar 2027

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Grant Overview

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs, funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects.

Grant Scope

Eurostars is a funding instrument that supports innovative SMEs and project partners by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organisations can access public funding for international collaborative R&D projects in all fields.

To have a successful Eurostars application you must:

  • Define your project idea
  • Collaborate internationally, sharing expertise
  • Develop products, processes or services that can be easily commercialised

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply for this competition you must meet seven international criteria.

  • The project consortium is led by an innovative SME from a Eurostars country.
  • The project consortium is composed of at least two entities that are independent of one another.
  • The project consortium is composed of entities from at least two Eurostars countries with at least one organisation coming from an EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country
  • The budget of the SMEs from a Eurostars country, excluding subcontracting, is 50% or more of the total project cost.
  • No single participant or country is responsible for more than 70% of the budget of the project.
  • The project duration is 36 months or less.
  • The project has an exclusive focus on civil applications.

Additional eligibility criteria for UK applications can be found here.

You can submit your R&D and innovation project application between 17 December 2026 and 4 March 2027 14:00 (Brussels time) using our project platform (myeurekaproject.org).

Your project consortium must have an innovative SME in the leading role, but it can also include other types of organisations like large companies, universities, research organisations and more.

For further information, please see the Eurostars guidelines here.

Grant Exclusions

Large companies: Innovate UK will not fund large enterprises under this call. Large enterprises may still apply and participate but must do so on a self-funded basis

Research organisations and universities: Innovate UK will not fund research organisations or universities under this call. Research organisations and universities may still apply and participate but must do so on a self-funded basis

Grant Funding

Innovate UK funds R&D costs for SME’s participating in the Eurostars programme. The total funding available is £2.5 million.

SMEs: Innovate UK will cover up to 60% of project costs in grants for SME’s. The maximum funding amount is 360,000 Euros per project. If there is more than one UK partner in the project, this amount is shared.

For further information on this competition, please see full details.

Full competition details