Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe.
To apply, you must fulfill seven eligibility 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 from one another.
- The project consortium is composed of entities from at least two participating countries with a minimum of one organisation from an EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
- The budget of the SMEs from the participating countries (excluding any 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.
*We define an innovative SME as any SMEs with the ambition to collaborate on R&D and innovation with international partners to develop new products, processes and services for European and global markets. Innovative SMEs do not need to have a proven track record of R&D activities.
R&D: “Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.” (OECD Frascati Manual 2015, p. 44)
Innovation: “a new or improved product or process (or combination thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit (process).” (OECD Oslo Manual 2018, p. 20)
**Eurostars countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. (As of 1 January 2024, entities established in the United Kingdom are considered to be established in a Horizon Europe Associated Country).
***Eurostars countries that are not a European Union Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country: Canada, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Switzerland.
***If justified, you may be permitted an extension after your project has started. This must be approved by the Independent Evaluation Panel, Eureka Secretariat and relevant national funding bodies.
Please read all our guidelines before submitting a project application. If you do not meet all our eligibility criteria, your application will be rejected.
National criteria
BSMEPA has additional national criteria for projects to be eligible to receive funding:
- Bulgarian companies must be established in accordance with Bulgarian commercial law to be eligible for funding.
- Participating Bulgarian research organisations should be responsible for at least 10% of the project costs.
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing projects are not eligible for funding.
- Investment projects are not eligible for funding.
- Projects already receiving funding from other funding programmes (Bulgarian, international or EU) are not eligible for funding.
The next steps
Read all our guidelines before submitting your project application.
Check your financial viability. Our tool indicates whether you have the financial capacity to support your costs in the project.
