Interconnected Innovation Ecosystems (2026.2)

Today’s challenges are inherently complex and systemic and cannot be solved by individual actors or territories in isolation. Enhancing the innovation ecosystems across the European Union (EU) requires a holistic approach that is nuanced, collaborative and inclusive, connecting diverse actors along the research and innovation cycle.

Interconnectedness is particularly crucial to boost Europe’s competitiveness. Despite the competitive advantages of the European innovation ecosystems, much of the knowledge produced in Europe remains unexploited. As has been highlighted by the Draghi report^[1], a key reason behind this failure is the fact that researchers in Europe are less well integrated into networks of universities, startups, large companies and venture capitalists, which account for a large share of successful commercialisations in high-tech sectors. This indicates that strengthening the links between resources, organisations and investors is a crucial step to putting research and innovation at the heart of our economy.

Such effectively connected ecosystems can provide innovative companies with the necessary support and conditions to thrive through access to capabilities, data, customers, knowledge, and talent. Network connectivity within and between innovation ecosystems greatly contributes to sustainable business growth with high societal value. In line with the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, this destination improves the framework conditions for startups and scaleups, enabling them to capitalise on new geopolitical opportunities and reducing the reasons to relocate outside the EU.

Therefore, the actions of this destination aim to shift the European economy towards a more entrepreneurial, innovative and inclusive model by strengthening and expanding cooperation between innovation players. They aim to create a dynamic ecosystem to better support the next generation of innovative companies whose solutions will lead the shift towards a more competitive EU and a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient world.

In addition to stronger innovation performance, increased competitiveness and faster transitions to a green and digital society, ecosystem integration can provide innovation actors and companies with access to new resources, markets, customers, and contribute to disruptive and innovative solutions. By being actively engaged in their local, regional, national, and European networks, companies can increase their overall growth potential.

Accordingly, this destination offers a holistic package of actions that:

• Increase the capacity to convert research results generated in Europe into innovative products and services, leading to a higher rate of successful commercialization of these solutions by companies based in the Member States and Associated Countries;
• Reinforce EU strategic autonomy and increase resilience in the supply chains by opening up opportunities for innovative companies to access the public procurement market and scale up their business;
• Establish robust, pan-European alliances of top-tier deep tech startup and scaleup hubs embedded in research and higher education ecosystems;
• Facilitate market expansion for deep tech startups across regions and sectors, thus enhancing cohesion and competitiveness across the EU;
• Strengthen less-connected innovation ecosystems by integrating them into a Europe-wide collaborative network;
• Increase the level of public and private investments in innovative companies, particularly startups and scaleups, through strengthened links with investors, including foundations;
• Establish stronger links between regions and countries with different innovation performances across the EU and Associated Countries;
• Promote a better alignment of the innovation policies of the Member States and Associated Countries, in line with the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, through the EIC Forum;
• As a result of the above, achieve an increased level of retention of promising startups and scaleups in Europe, particularly in the deep tech sector and strategic sectors like life sciences, artificial intelligence, clean tech, biotech, security, defence (including dual use technologies), robotics, advanced and raw materials, quantum technologies, cybersecurity, and many others.

Where appropriate, the applicants should consider and actively seek synergies with possibilities for further funding from other relevant EU, national and/or regional innovation programmes, including Cohesion Policy funds, the Recovery and Resilience Fund and other public and private funds or financial instruments.

Expected impact

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to strengthening robust interconnected innovation ecosystems and creating a favourable environment to promote the scalability of businesses, including in the deep tech sector, and more specifically covering one or several of the following impacts:

• More competitive and more efficient European innovation ecosystems which provide favourable framework conditions for the development and market uptake of innovative solutions, drawing on the existing strengths of national, regional, and local ecosystems;
• Enhanced cross-border network connectivity and inter-regional collaboration to untap Europe’s potential for successful commercialization of innovative products and services, notably through reinforced links between resources, organizations, investors and policymakers;
• Improved access to funding by European startups and scaleups, notably in the deep-tech and strategic sectors, through diverse sources, including innovation procurement and philanthropy;
• Enhanced knowledge and technology transfer and capacity building within the European innovation ecosystems, providing innovative companies with the necessary conditions to thrive;
• Increased participation of less represented R&I stakeholders and less advanced innovation territories in the R&I cycle, capitalising on the experience and vision of an increasingly diverse range of people, companies and territories while promoting social cohesion, inclusion, accessibility and gender balance;
• Improved systemic conditions to tackle key EU strategic priorities, including the green and digital transitions, through building innovative capacities;
• Increased coordination of innovation policy and networking activities by the Member States and Associated Countries through the EIC Forum.

[1] The future of European competitiveness – A competitiveness strategy for Europe

Expected Outcome:

Projects under this topic will contribute to the following outcomes:

1. Accelerate market expansion for European deep tech startups across EU regions and beyond by fostering collaboration and mutual support among European tech startup ecosystem actors;
2. Establish robust, pan-European alliances of top-tier tech startup and scaleup hubs embedded in research, technology and higher education ecosystems;
3. Enable cross-border access to infrastructures, facilities, corporates, investors and talents to deep tech startups and scaleups, including those funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC);
4. Enable more European deep tech startups to succeed scaling into globally competitive companies;
5. Strengthen less-connected innovation hubs by integrating them into a Europe-wide collaborative network;
6. Mobilise greater private and public capital into deep tech ventures across participating innovation hubs.

Scope:

This action builds upon the EU’s strategic vision outlined in the EU Competitiveness Compass^[1], the EIC scaling strategy^[2], and the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy^[3]. It aligns with the objectives of strengthening Europe’s deep tech capabilities, increasing regional innovation cohesion and supporting the growth of globally competitive companies.

The EU must act decisively to close the innovation gap with other world regions by enabling more commercial successes based on its scientific excellence. While Europe generates world-class research, European deep tech startups often struggle to scale into global champions. The European Startup & Scaleup Hubs (ESSH) pilot will address this structural weakness by creating a connected network of Europe’s leading and emerging startup supporting structures, embedded in innovation ecosystems that bring together universities, research and higher education institutions, research and technology organisations, corporates, entrepreneurs and investors, while also encouraging these hubs to expand their activities.

The action aims to pilot a network of around 10-18 ESSHs — highly capable startup and scaleup hubs deeply integrated with leading research, technology and higher education institutions and strong track records in venture building, scaling, and investment attraction as well as providing entrepreneurial education. These hubs shall collaborate across borders to:

• Open their ecosystems to non-local startups, enabling scaling through access to talent, corporates, capital, infrastructure, facilities and mentoring.
• Foster shared infrastructure and expertise, including access to labs, facilities, research departments, and innovation services.
• Support pan-European startup development, for both local and network-partner startups, including EIC-supported ventures, by connecting startups to relevant services of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), EU industry cluster organisations, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH)^[4], Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and technology (EIT) and other EU, national, regional or local instruments.
• Bridge regional gaps by integrating less-connected hubs into the network via mentoring, shared services, and capacity building.

Particular attention should be paid to enable deep tech spinoffs, startups and scaleups accessing resources, services and contacts not directly available in their local innovation hubs to facilitate the expansion of their operations in the single market.

The selected pilot ESSHs will form a “Champions League of startup hubs”, committed to supporting each other’s startups including EIC supported ventures and Seal of Excellence holders, thus catalysing a new norm of intra-European scaling. ESSHs will serve as role model for emerging hubs in Europe and share best practices. The selected pilot ESSHs should organise one of their yearly meetings at the margins of the EIC summit and will be invited to participate actively in the yearly EIC summit meeting.

The indicative project duration is two years.

Selection criteria for ESSHs should include:

• Proven track record in startup creation, scaleup success, venture capital mobilisation, and entrepreneurial education.
• Strong integration of at least one local university, research and higher education institution and research and technology organisation, recognised for its research excellence in deep tech areas, in each hub represented in the consortium.
• Sectoral strength in deep tech areas with relevance for European strategic sectors such as, for example, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, advanced semiconductors, medical technology, biotechnology, bioeconomy applications, cleantech and energy (including nuclear technology), water and blue tech, security, defence, space, robotics and advanced materials.
• Demonstrated ability to federate the relevant actors of the local innovation ecosystem (research and higher education institutions, corporates, capital providers, entrepreneurs and public authorities) and cross-border collaboration capabilities.
• Access to research and technology infrastructures, facilities and services, including legal and regulatory advice, and commitment to opening them to startups and scaleups from other hubs.
• Strong commitment and strategy on how to link up the activities of the ESSHs closely with the activities of the EIC.

KPIs during pilot phase:

• Number of newly supported^[5] startups (i.e. from the beginning of the project) at network level during the project (Target: Minimum 100).
• Number of supported startups that raised seed financing or venture capital by the end of the project (Target: Minimum 50%).
• Number of newly supported startups (i.e. from the beginning of the project) by a hub outside of the startups’ local innovation ecosystem during the project (Target: Minimum 50).

The ESSHs should facilitate access of deep tech spinoffs, startups and scaleups to all the relevant dedicated services, structures and funding opportunities available in Europe. This encompasses for instance the services offered by EEN and EDIH, activities supported by the EIT as well as opportunities offered by the EIC and the EIC Scaling Club initiative (EIC Scaling Club^[6]). For this purpose, the startup hubs are encouraged to liaise with experts from the EEN, EDIH, EIT, EIT KICs and the EIC. Cooperation could also be established with Regional Innovation Valleys^[7], Excellence Hubs^[8], Hubs for Circularity^[9], and Industry 5.0 System Innovation Hubs^[10]. ESSHs are also encouraged to leverage the EIC ecosystems programme and open up to EIC-supported ventures from outside their established partner network that would benefit their local ecosystems.

The action may be implemented through financial support to third parties or directly by the consortium partners to allow companies to best benefit from the services described above. For consortia opting for the financial support to third parties scheme, the monitoring of the support to third parties provided for each action, as well as the management of the financial support to third parties, will be ensured by the coordinator.

[1] Competitiveness compass - European Commission

[2] The term strategy refers to a set of actions launched under the EIC to support scaleups in particular the EIC STEP Scale Up scheme and the EIC Scaling club

[3] Choose Europe for your startup and scaleup - European Commission

[4] European Digital Innovation Hubs Network (europa.eu)

[5] ‘Support’ encompasses all the activities relevant to the development of startups such as provision of a service (advisory, legal or other), access to infrastructure, introduction to relevant business or investment leads, etc.

[6] Horizon Europe Grant Agreement n°101114582.

[7] Regional Innovation Valleys (europa.eu)

[8] Excellence Hubs - European Commission (europa.eu)

[9] Hubs4Circularity (h4c-community.eu)

[10] HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-HUMAN-65: Network of Industry 5.0 system innovation hubs in connected Regional Innovation Valleys (IA)