Interregional Innovation Investments Strand 2a (I3-2026-INV2a)

FOR ALL THREE THEMATIC PRIORITIES:

Expected impact at the closure of the project (non-exhaustive list):

• Creation of new value chains in less developed regions and transition regions;
• Application and deployment of innovative technologies and solutions (new to
• the region) in less developed and transition regions (innovation diffusion);
• Exploitation of project results;
• Innovative technologies tested and adopted by the market;
• Innovative solutions deployed improving businesses confidence, competences
• and means to digitalise and grow;
• Contribution to digitisation and health systems transformation, through various
• types of innovation and the supply of IT services;
• Uptake of technologically/economically reliable and viable solutions on the
• market;
• Deployment of new technologies fostering the growth of Europe’s manufacturing sector;
• Innovative technologies adopted by SMEs;
• Identification of possible sources of funding/funding mix, to cover the residual investment needs (public-private partnerships for the deployment of innovation, the collaboration with venture capitals, EIB group loans etc);
• Strengthening innovation diffusion channels;
• Reinforcing the capacity of regions to co-invest together, joining forces on common S3 investment priorities (interregional investments).

Long-term impact (non-exhaustive list):

• Reduction of the innovation divide and of disparities between more developed and less developed regions;
• Increased companies’ productivity and efficiency;
• Improved user-friendly, accessible and interoperable public services;
• Improved level of digital skills;
• Improved EU innovation capacity and competitiveness;
• Creating new market opportunities for EU companies;
• Making the EU industry more efficient and sustainable;
• Improved way of living and of doing business;
• Increased social and territorial cohesion as well as personal well-being;
• Improved education and vocational training systems (indirectly);
• Reinforcing/reshaping EU value chains whilst increasing EU competitiveness in
• global markets;
• Unlocking the innovation potential of EU regions/countries;
• Contributing to the European Green Deal objectives;
• Positive impact on environment, security, health, climate, social and economy;
• Contribution to the twin transition and to the efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness of the EU manufacturing sector;
• Economic growth and job creation;
• Reinforcing/reshaping EU value chains whilst increasing the competitiveness of the EU in global markets.

Objective:

The Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument is a funding instrument under the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF, article 13).

Implemented under Cohesion Policy, the I3 Instrument supports interregional cooperation in innovation by using Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) as a guiding framework to connect regional strengths, align complementary capabilities and strengthen EU value chains.

The I3 Instrument supports the scaling-up and commercialisation of interregional innovation projects in shared or complementary S3 areas. It promotes innovation diffusion and industrial deployment by mobilising coordinated investments across regions and enables innovation actors to move from validated solutions and investment ideas towards market uptake and economic impact.

This direction aligns with the Union’s broader policy agenda on competitiveness, industrial transformation, innovation, security and resilience as reflected in the Competitiveness Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal, the Single Market Strategy, the proposed European Competitiveness Fund, the Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, and the forthcoming European Innovation Act. A core objective of the I3 Instrument is to strengthen EU and regional value chains and Europe’s competitiveness through interregional cooperation that brings together less developed, transition and more developed regions.

In practice, the I3 Instrument focuses on bringing mature innovations into deployment across regions (move from TRL 6 to TRL 9. Projects are therefore expected to use I3 Instrument for validation, demonstration, adaptation, replication, scale-up and market uptake.

This approach helps connect companies, intermediaries and public authorities across regional ecosystems, with the aim of accelerating market uptake and strengthening European value chains. Over time, this should contribute to more diversified industrial activity and new business opportunities across EU regions.

Scope:

This call for proposals is for Strand 2a and focuses on reinforcing the integration of innovation actors from less developed regions and transition regions in developing EU value chains while creating local opportunities for innovation and smart economic transformation in regions with shared (or complementary) smart specialisation areas.

The objective of the present I3 Instrument Strand 2a call for proposals is to support interregional innovation investments by offering consortia of innovation actors from the quadruple helix ecosystems the necessary financial and advisory support to bring their innovations to a mature level, ready for scale-up and commercialisation. This call specifically aims at reducing the innovation divide in Europe, with a strong cohesion policy focus on integrating less developed and transition regions into European value chains.

Projects shall demonstrate how less developed and transition regions will take on concrete and sustainable roles in the targeted value chains, including through business opportunities, capability building and follow-up investment perspectives.

Thereby, proposals under this call for proposals seek to facilitate:

• the support of innovation actors with investment ideas that are ready to be developed into mature business cases;
• the identification of new regional technological domains and market opportunities with the EU priorities and bridging the gap between the supply and demand sides to help innovation ecosystems overcome market failures;
• the creation of new value chains in less developed and transition regions and the integration into interregional and cross border value chains with more developed regions;
• the improvement of knowledge and practical skills in business and investment planning, particularly for SMEs, as well as for other consortium partners.
• the application and the deployment of innovative technologies and solutions in less developed and transition regions;
• the interaction and collaboration of SMEs from less developed and transition regions in interregional/multi-national value chains with innovation actors from more developed regions.

The focus is on technology transfer and highly specialised advisory support for the implementation of experiments and demonstration cases in companies. Participation of innovation actors is based on shared or complementary innovation priorities, as defined in their regional and/or national smart specialisation strategies. Projects shall show a balanced participation of regions with varying levels of development and innovation performance.

I3 Instrument business investment cases start with a minimum TRL 6 and have the ambition to facilitate demonstration and to accelerate market uptake and commercialisation. The development of the business and investment cases is facilitated by the regional innovation ecosystems with companies in the lead. Projects are expected to demonstrate a clear role for enterprises, in particular SMEs, in driving deployment, market uptake and scale-up activities.

The support to be provided shall include one or both of the following forms:

(a) financial support, through direct funding to consortium beneficiaries or through cascade funding/financial support to third parties (FSTP), and/or

(b) non-financial support, such as coaching, mentoring, or matchmaking activities.

This shall include a credible perspective for follow-up investment, wider deployment and long-term integration of project results into European value chains.

At the end of the project implementation, all involved regions and partners shall have a clear perspective on how to exploit and build on the I3 project results, including through the broad introduction of new products, services, or production processes.

Projects are expected to deliver action-oriented policy recommendations addressed to policymakers at regional, national and European levels. Recommendations shall be clear, practical and evidence-based, drawing on the project’s implementation and deployment experience (including barriers, enabling conditions and market uptake constraints). They shall explain how each recommended action addresses the identified need and indicate where uncertainty remains. Recommendations shall link to relevant policy initiatives and strategic frameworks at regional, national and European levels, as appropriate, and connect project results to the proposed actions. A manageable number of recommendations should be provided, prioritised by impact or urgency, and shall clarify who shall act, at which level (regional, national or European), and through which instruments, including, where relevant, an indication of practical conditions for implementation and potential resource needs. Recommendations shall, where relevant, also identify conditions needed to support follow-up investment, wider replication and stronger participation of less developed and transition regions in European value chains.

To enhance the EU’s competitive edge by strategically addressing the current challenges, proposals submitted under this call for proposals must tackle one or more of the designated thematic priorities:

1. Digital transition
2. Green transition
3. Smart manufacturing

Across these thematic priorities, projects are expected to contribute to the strengthening of resilient and competitive European value chains through concrete interregional investment cases with clear deployment and scale-up potential.

Applicants for the I3 Instrument Investments calls for proposals (I3-2026-INV1 and I3-2026-INV2a) benefit from a lighter budget table to be uploaded by the call deadline. Compared with the previous I3 Instrument calls, the submitted new budget tables will be much shorter. For example, there is no longer any requirement to submit individual sheets in detail per partner and work package. The simplified table will also be used for the projects to be funded during the grant agreement preparation (GAP) phase. However, for the reporting phase at mid-term and at project end, the previous detailed budget tables remain in use.

The revised award criteria for the I3 Instrument provide a more comprehensive and transparent evaluation framework, supporting the evaluation of proposals and guiding applicants in understanding what is expected of them. The introduction of sub-criteria enables a more accurate assessment of proposals. Furthermore, a rebalanced scoring system, with a greater emphasis on Impact (now 10 points) and a reduced emphasis on Relevance (now 5 points), reflects the importance of generating substantial and lasting benefits for the regions involved and the value chains.

The other key change for the newly published calls is the increase of the maximum threshold for SMEs to be funded through financial support to third parties (FSTP) from €60 000 to €100 000. EISMEA opted for this derogation due to the large scale nature of the I3 Instrument projects, with total project grants of up to €10 million. The increase of the FSTP threshold will allow a better critical mass for sub-granted projects and therefore better support the main investments in the I3 Instrument projects.

https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/funding-opportunities/calls-proposals/interregional-innovation-investments-strand-2a-i3-2026-inv2a_en#details