European startup grants, Horizon Europe calls, EIT programmes, Eurostars-style funding, and EU-wide opportunities for founders.
5 current opportunities
Funding guide
Use this page for Europe-wide funding and support programmes where eligibility commonly depends on EU Member State, Horizon Europe Associated Country, consortium, SME, or cross-border criteria. Each card links to the official programme page and keeps the practical founder fit visible.
Current opportunities
5 opportunities shown.
Aspiring and early-stage founders in Portugal who want a lightweight in-person entry point into the local startup ecosystem, founder lessons, mentor discovery, and networking with founders, mentors, investors, and ecosystem builders.
Founder Institute Portugal’s in-person event combines founder insights from Joana Pinto and Nuno Fernandes, Founder Institute Portugal 2026 Demo Day pitches, and a networking session. The page highlights practical resources for launching and growing a startup, including local support organisations, mentor access, industry resources, and early-stage funding sources.
Register through the Founder Institute event page. The event is scheduled for 16 Jul 2026, 10:30-11:30 Europe/Lisbon, at Sítio Fintech House, Av. Duque de Loulé 12, Lisbon. The page describes an in-person networking event and includes a registration form.
European SMEs, startups, and research organisations building defence or dual-use technologies, especially teams with AI, cyber, quantum, energy, surveillance, digital, hardware, advanced materials, or other deep tech that can be adapted to defence applications.
The EDF 2026 work programme allocates about €1B to collaborative defence R&D, including dedicated EUDIS non-thematic SME calls. SME-led research actions can fund projects up to €4M and SME development actions up to €6M, with business coaching support to help move R&D results toward defence products and market entry.
Applications close 29 Sep 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. EDF projects generally require cross-border consortia from EU Member States or Norway; the SME research call requires an SME coordinator, at least TRL 4, disruptive defence impact, and limits research organisations to 40% of the requested grant budget.
Medical device, in vitro diagnostic, and digital health startups, professionals, organizations, and stakeholders who need practical regulatory strategy, health technology assessment, reimbursement, or European market-access guidance.
Structured 13-week training programme with practical tools and strategic guidance for regulatory compliance and market access in Europe. Previous editions have supported 100+ participants from 50 companies, including companies that later attracted more than €4M in investment.
Applications are open until 14 Aug 2026 and places are limited. Participants should be working on or supporting medical device, IVD, digital health, regulatory affairs, technology assessment, or market-access strategies in Europe.
Women-founded or women-co-founded early-stage deep tech startups in EU Member States or eligible Horizon Europe Pillar III Associated Countries, especially teams preparing to move from validated technology toward market readiness.
€75,000 equity-free grant funding plus personalised business development support, mentoring, training, expert guidance, matchmaking, networking, and help bridging toward other EIC funding and support schemes.
Woman founder or co-founder in a top management role such as CEO or CTO, with at least 25% of company shares at submission. Company must be a commercial SME registered for at least six months and no more than five years, be before high-fidelity MVP stage (TRL4-TRL6), have raised less than €1M in equity, and must not have already benefitted from Women TechEU or EIC Accelerator. The eligibility strand has weekly Tuesday cut-offs at 17:00 Brussels time until 13 Jul 2027; the next near-term cut-off is 14 Jul 2026.
Entrepreneurs from startup to scale-up who want a structured European hub for training, networking, mentorship, funding visibility, and market-expansion resources.
Access to online training, workshops, webinars, MOOCs, community features, mentor and investor marketplace, funding and visibility resources, and learning paths for business growth.
Register on the European Entrepreneurship Academy platform. Best suited to founders willing to use self-serve training and ecosystem resources rather than applying to a fixed cohort programme.
Founder guidance
No. This guide includes official EU programmes and Europe-wide opportunities relevant to EU or Horizon Europe eligible startups. Each card points to its source so founders can verify the final eligibility rules.
Many European grant schemes are designed for cross-border collaboration, pilots, or R&D consortia. The requirements field flags this when it is visible from the source.
That depends on programme complexity. For lighter open calls, direct applications can work. For major grants, founders may benefit from specialist support, especially around impact, budget, and consortium structure.
