Grants This Autumn'25

VC funding has dropped since 2022, but EU grant funding is set to triple with the new FP10. While others compete for shrinking VC pools, smart founders are tapping into the €95+ billion public funding pipeline.

This month: €4M+ in funding opportunities across eight industries, with all deadlines hitting September-October. Perfect timing to prepare winning applications.

🔥 Hottest Grant Opportunities by Industry

🌱 Food & Agriculture

Research and Innovation for Food Waste Prevention
Deadline: September 4, 2025
Perfect for: IoT, AI, or blockchain solutions reducing household food waste
What: €1.5-3M for consumer-facing technologies with measurable impact
Application: User validation and pilot results strengthen application

Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing
Deadline: October 29, 2025
Perfect for: AgriTech startups using biotech for sustainable agriculture and plant-based manufacturing
What: €2-4M for field trials and commercialization of climate-resilient crop solutions
Application: Strong IP portfolio and regulatory strategy essential

🔋 CleanTech & Energy

Innovative, AI-based solutions for urban planning and management
Deadline: September 4, 2025
Perfect for: UrbanTech, GovTech, and AI startups aiming to make cities smarter, more sustainable, and more resilient.
What: Horizon funding for breakthrough AI solutions to tackle urban challenges

ELIAS - European Lighthouse of AI for Sustainability - 1st OPEN CALL
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Perfect for: SMEs and startups (even not incorporated ones) in AI Chips, AI Consulting & Services, AI Virtual Assistants, AI Research & Development, AI Recommendation System, Meta AI, AI Deployment, AI Fraud Detection or AI Ethics, developing solutions for sustainability.
What: Accelerator programme with € 60k in funding.
Applications: Application via the F6S link.

COSMIC: AI & Data for Green Transition
Deadline: October 27, 2025
Perfect for: GreenTech startups and SMEs leveraging AI and data-driven innovations for energy efficiency and resource optimization. Solutions should address challenges like carbon footprint integration, community engagement, waste classification, or smart energy management.
What: 10-month equity-free acceleration program offering up to €150k, plus mentoring, solution development support, pilot site integration, and business scaling assistance to co-develop AI-powered services and technologies
Application: Solo or small team applications welcome – start preparing your pitch for the jury early.

Waste-to-Value Devices: Circular Production
Deadline: October 29, 2025
Perfect for: Startups developing circular production of renewable fuels and chemicals from waste
What: €2-8M for demonstration projects with commercial potential
Application: Consortium required

🏥 Health & Life Sciences

Inkjet-bioAM Open Call
Deadline: September 15, 2025
Perfect for: Startups and SMEs focused on bio-additive manufacturing, particularly those utilizing inkjet technologies.
What: This call supports co-creation projects to develop and implement solutions, focusing on quality, innovation, and contribution to the value chain medical and pharmaceutical products.

Infections and Non-Communicable Disease Connection
Deadline: September 16, 2025
Perfect for: Digital health solutions linking infectious disease data
What: €2-4M for population health analytics platforms
Application: Access to large-scale health datasets strengthens proposal

AI-Powered Pharmacovigilance Signal Detection
Deadline: October 9, 2025
Perfect for: AI startups improving drug safety monitoring and adverse event detection
What: €1-2M for regulatory-ready solutions with pharma industry validation
Application: Experience with pharmaceutical regulatory requirements essential

AI-Powered Medical Diagnosis for Cancer
Deadline: October 29, 2025
Perfect for: HealthTech startups using GenAI for cancer diagnosis and treatment
What: €3-6M for clinical validation and market entry
Application: Strong clinical partnerships and regulatory pathway required

🤖 Digitalization & AI

CyberSecDome Open Call - Round 2
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Perfect for: Cybersecurity startups and SMEs with innovative solutions in areas like threat intelligence, network security, or data protection. Their prototypes need to be already validated in a simulated or industrially relevant environment.
What: Beyond €150k equity-free funding, the program offers technical support, validation in real-world environments, and access to a network of cybersecurity experts and potential clients for 6 months.
Application: This is the second round, so review the winners from the first round to understand what they are looking for. Apply through the project's submission portal.

Challenge-Driven GenAI4EU Booster
Deadline: October 2, 2025
Perfect for: GenAI startups solving real-world challenges in healthcare, energy, manufacturing
What: €1.5-3M funding for innovative AI solutions with European impact
Application: Must demonstrate beyond state-of-the-art capabilities and trustworthy AI principles.

🏭 Manufacturing & Robotics

AID4SME Open Call 1
Deadline: September 11, 2025
Perfect for: Tech SMEs and startups developing innovative AI-driven solutions for the manufacturing or industrial sectors.
What: Equity-free funding to develop, test, and validate new AI applications. This is a cascade funding project looking to support small-scale experiments to integrate AI into industrial processes, making them smarter and more efficient.
Application: Focus on the novelty of your AI solution and its business impact.

Advanced Manufacturing for Net-Zero Industry
Deadline: September 23, 2025
Perfect for: Industry 4.0 solutions enabling carbon-neutral manufacturing processes
What: €1-3M for pilot implementations with measurable environmental impact
Application: Manufacturing facility access and sustainability metrics required

WASABI: Open Call for Experiments 2
Deadline: October 9, 2025
Perfect for: SMEs in any manufacturing sector focused on developing and implementing AI-based assistance for their processes or products. This includes solutions for human-machine interfaces, agile onboarding of new employees, conversational AI for data access, and conversation-guided maintenance operations.
What: Funding for approximately 10 application experiments aimed at advancing digital assistance solutions.
Applications: Proposals will be evaluated based on technical excellence, impact, and implementation.

Autonomous Construction Robot Collectives
Deadline: October 29, 2025
Perfect for: Robotics startups developing collaborative construction automation systems
What: €2-5M for field demonstrations in real construction environments
Application: Construction industry partnerships and safety certifications critical

🤝 Social Impact

Combating Racism and Intolerance (CERV)
Deadline: October 23, 2025
Perfect for: Social tech startups developing solutions for discrimination monitoring and prevention
What: €200k-1M for innovative anti-discrimination technologies and platforms
Application: Strong community partnerships and impact measurement framework required.

⚡ Creativity & Arts

European mini-slate development
Deadline: September 17, 2025, 17:00
Perfect for: Geothermal technology startups with innovative drilling or extraction methods
What: €3-7M for full-scale geothermal system demonstrations
Application: Geological expertise and environmental impact assessments required

🚎 Mobility

Urban Mobility Explained (UMX) Open Call 
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Perfect for: Startups using data, AI, or IoT to solve urban mobility challenges, such as traffic congestion, last-mile delivery, or public transport efficiency.
What: This program provides funding, mentoring, and access to city-level data to help you develop and pilot your solution. It's a chance to work directly with city partners to validate your product and demonstrate its impact.
Applications: The call has a multi-cut-off deadline, but applying for the September 30 cut-off is your next chance.

🤿 DeepTech without Thematic Restrictions

Hop-on facility 
Deadline: September 4, 2025
Perfect for: High-potential startups from "Widening" countries (including eastern German states) looking to join a top-tier, already-funded EU research project.
What: A unique opportunity to get integrated into an ongoing Horizon Europe or EIC Pathfinder project. You don't start from scratch; you "hop on" to an existing consortium, bringing your expertise and gaining immense visibility, network access, and funding.
Applications: Identify an eligible ongoing project that aligns with your technology. You must secure the agreement of the existing consortium before applying. The proposal must demonstrate the clear added value you bring to the project

EIC Transition Open 
Deadline: September 17, 2025
Perfect for: DeepTech startups with validated research results from a prior EU-funded project (e.g., EIC Pathfinder, ERC Proof of Concept) ready to build a demonstrator and business case.
What: This is the bridge from lab to investment readiness. EIC Transition funds the maturation and validation of your novel technology. It's not just about tech; you'll also develop a solid business case and model to prepare for commercialisation.
Applications: You must build on the results of a previous eligible research project.

🗓️ Event Picks

Applying for CERV Project Funding
Date/Time: September 4, 2025, 13:00 - 16:30 CEST
Perfect for: Social impact organisations with limited experience in EU funding, interested in the current anti-discrimination CERV calls, described above.

I3-4-SEAWEED Open Call Q&A Webinar #2 22
Date/Time: October 8, 2025, 11:00 CEST
Perfect for: Startups interested in seaweed-based solutions and the I3-4-SEAWEED Open Call, with a deadline on October 22, 2025

After 100+ conversations with our community, we’ve come to a realization: finding grants is not the whole problem. The real challenge? Gettting the right expertise to win the grant – when and in the industry you need it.

At GrantHive, you can connect with specialized pre-vetted funding experts and use collaborative tools like smart grant alerts & a huge grant database.

🚀 Early access coming soon!!!

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Here's to your next funding breakthrough,

Your GrantHive team

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