Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The Single Market Programme (SMP) covers the single market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics. Specifically, the programme brings together aspects in order to streamline, exploit synergies and provide a better flexible, transparent, simplified and agile framework to finance activities aiming at a well-functioning sustainable internal market.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
This call will fund projects within the bioeconomy, with a special focus on biotech applied in the food sector. The projects aim at boosting collaboration between biotech clusters, creating a critical mass able to compete with global hubs. Projects will have to actively support their SMEs developing innovative products made with bio solutions, especially to scale-up from the laboratory to pilot- and commercial scale, and explore the best options to provide regulatory support to help bring those products to the market.
Detailed Call Description
This is a call for proposals for EU action grants in the field of sustainability of the agrifood industrial ecosystem under the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs strand of the Single Market Programme (SMP COSME), in accordance with the 2026-2027 SMP Work Programme and will be managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) (‘Agency’).
The call covers the following topic: − SMP-COSME-2026-BIOAGRIFOOD – Agri-food Biotech Scaling-up
This call for proposals aims to support projects, bringing together biotech clusters from different countries participating in the Single Market Programme (SMP). Each selected project will create a partnership aiming at gathering clusters, SMEs and other relevant stakeholders to reach a critical mass and develop structured collaboration enabling to compete with global hubs. Projects will have to contribute to EU priorities such as strategic autonomy, sustainability, resilience and food security.
The projects will provide scale-up support tailored to SMEs’ needs – from applied R&D and co-innovation to piloting and demonstration – to strengthen their pathway towards first commercial production. They will also offer regulatory support to help SMEs navigate the relevant regulatory pathways for bringing their products to market. The projects are encouraged to take into account initiatives in the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy and the Horizon Europe work Programme 2026-2027 in relation to industrial symbiosis, biomass hubs and biomass flows.
Each SME will receive at least one type of support – either scale-up support to advance the product or process to the next development phase, or regulatory support to prepare for and achieve market entry. Where both are relevant to the SME’s needs and can be delivered within available resources, combined support can be offered.
Projects are expected to focus on advanced fermentation for food and feed applications in the agri-food sector. Advanced fermentation refers to fermentation processes beyond traditional applications, including biomass and precision fermentation, that use specialised microorganisms to produce targeted outputs. Proposals must cover all of the following priorities:
- establish a coherent strategic direction;
- facilitate knowledge exchange and networking;
- provide relevant scale-up support, including the use of appropriately equipped facilities;
- offer targeted advice in preparing regulatory dossiers.
The project will include, at least the following mandatory activities:
- Mandatory activity 1: Develop a strategy
- Mandatory activity 2: Foster network collaboration and identify SMEs for support
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- Sub-activity 2.1: Build a network of partners
- Sub-activity 2.2: Identify and select SMEs
- Sub-activity 2.3: Organise collaboration activities
- Sub-activity 2.4.: Engage SMEs through entry-level support
- Mandatory activity 3: Support SMEs by delivering scale-up support and/or providing regulatory support
- Sub-activity 3.1: Deliver scale-up support (including piloting)
- Sub-activity 3.2: Provide regulatory support
- Mandatory activity 4: Communicate about the project and disseminate its outputs
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
The total available budget under the present call is €3.000.000.
Project budgets (requested grant amount) are expected to be around €1.500.000 per project. This does not however preclude the submission/selection of proposals requesting other amounts. The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.
It is expected that 2 projects will be funded under this call.
The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (90%).
Projects should normally last for 36 months.
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Food
- Environment and Climate Change
- Industry
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- International Organisations
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Single Market Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature (list of participating countries).
Consortium composition
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from at least 2 different eligible countries, which complies with the following conditions:
- at least 2 cluster organisations or cluster networks from 2 different EU Member States that:
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- are registered or have a pending registration request to the ECCPby the submission deadline of this call for proposals;
- have a proven track record of at least 3 years in supporting biotech SMEs in the food and/or feed sector.
- any other relevant organisation(s) suitable for the implementation of the project.
For the purpose of this call for proposals, cluster organisations are understood as the legal entities that support the strengthening of collaboration, networking and learning in innovation clusters and act as innovation support providers by providing or channelling specialised and customised business support services to stimulate innovation activities, especially in SMEs. They are usually the actors that facilitate strategic partnering across clusters.
It is requested that all applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) fill in Annex 5 to Part B Eligibility checklist by providing:
- For cluster organisations and cluster networks from an EU Member State: a short description of their activities justifying a track record of at least 3 years in supporting biotech SMEs in the food and/or feed sectors;
- For cluster organisations and cluster networks from an EU Member State already registered in the European Cluster Collaboration Platform: the link to the completed cluster organisation profile for each applicant registered on the Platform must be provided; or
- For cluster organisations and cluster networks from an EU Member State not yet registered on the European Cluster Collaboration Platform: for each applicant, a declaration on their honour that they represent a cluster organisation or a business network organisation offering or channelling innovative support services to businesses (in compliance with the definition of ‘innovation clusters’), together with proof that a cluster profile has been submitted to the ECCP for registration and is pending, with the respective information included in the descriptive form.
It is recalled that individual applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) cannot participate in several proposals under this call for proposals. If such a case is detected by the funding body, it will lead to the rejection of the applicant concerned.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry
Industry and Technology Service
1421, Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: sit@meci.gov.cy
Contact Person:
Spyros Triantaphyllidis
Telephone: 22867333
Email: striantafyllides@meci.gov.cy