For our Pledgers and the Talents following the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative we would like to draw your attention to this funding opportunity.
Open Horizons is a 26-month EU-funded Horizon Europe project which started on February 1st, 2025, and is designed to accelerate the growth of women-led deep-tech companies by facilitating collaboration with leading corporations to pilot tailored solutions to real-world challenges, and providing substantial financial backing. The project will provide €1.2 million in funding for startups.
Selected startups follow a two-phase path:
- A 1-month Inception Stage, with mentoring and a €10,000 grant to co-develop a pilot roadmap; and
- A 5-month Piloting Stage, involving the implementation of the solution with the corporate partner and up to €45,000 in additional funding. Only half of the initial cohort progresses to the second stage.
The goal of Open Call #1 is to support the development and enhance the investment potential of these startups, helping them scale their solutions and create long-term impact within the deep-tech ecosystem.
Open Call #1 is offering a total budget of €335,000 to empower up to 11 women-led startups, 5 of which will go on to the piloting stage. Each company can receive up to €55,000, which is disbursed depending on and based on the achievement of KPIs, participation in the programme’s activities, and performance on the final demo day.
As part of this initiative, a curated set of real, market-driven challenges provided by leading corporates was identified. These challenges represent concrete technological problems that require innovative, deep-tech solutions, offering startups a unique opportunity to test, validate, and potentially co-develop their technologies with real-world applications and demand.
Startups applying to Open Call #1 will be invited to select one of the following published 17 challenges that aligns with their solution and propose how they can address it.
- Enhancing Infrastructure Resilience: A Data-Driven Approach for Assessing Grid Disruption (AI, Advanced computing, IoT, Energy, Cybersecurity)
- Intelligent Congestion Management for Electricity Distribution Networks (AI, Energy)
- Unified Data Integration Platform for Prosumers’ Energy Flows (AI, IoT, Energy)
- Autonomous Cyber Digital Expert for IT & OT Threat Detection and Response (AI, Cybersecurity)
- Adaptive Optimization Algorithms for Urban EV Charging Networks (AI, Advanced Computing)
- Towards Reliable and Data-Efficient Machine Learning for Engineering Simulation (AI, Advanced Computing)
- Enabling Secure and Efficient Model Exchange in Simulation Workflows (Blockchain, Metaverse, Cybersecurity, IoT)
- AI-powered tool to revolutionize formulation development using secondary data sources (AI, Advanced computing, Greentech)
- Innovative Automatic Forecasting Tool Leveraging Public Data (Advance computing)
- Multidirectional energy flows: Vehicle-to-grid-to-home. Designing powerful inverters (Energy)
- Comparative tool for renewable thermal solutions, based on hourly demand profiles (Energy)
- Improved photosynthesis of microalgae (Energy, GreenTech, AgriTech)
- Innovative solutions for a Smart(er) Home (AI, IoT, Energy)
- Sound absorbing, acoustic meta-material (Other (Advanced materials))
- Building Tomorrow – Low-Carbon & Circular Construction Solutions (GreenTech)
- Prediction of Fabric Physical Properties and Suitable Yarn Density Combinations Based on MRP Data (AI, Advanced Computing)
- Automatic Machine Assignment and Optimization of Weaving and Dyehouse Production Processes Based on Yarn and Fabric Parameters (AI, Advanced Computing)
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants must:
- Be established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
- Qualify as early-stage startups by the Horizons Europe criteria.
- Be led by women (cis or trans) who are legally recognised founders/co-founders, hold executive roles, and possess at least 25% ownership.
- Operate within the digitalor deep-tech domains (e.g., AI, advanced computing, life sciences, robotics, etc.).
Find more information about this Call on the EU Funding Portal website.
Partners
