Commission announces €90m open innovation funding

The European Commission has committed €90m towards Open and Disruptive Innovation (ODI) in the ICT sector over the coming year.

EU funding will be provided to 30 SMEs and start-ups from 886 proposals put forward. The EU chose these companies on the basis of their innovative potential. The funding is delivered under Horizon 2020. More winners of EU funding will be announced over the coming months.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President responsible for the Digital Agenda, said: “I always believed SMEs generate the kind of innovative ideas that bring growth and jobs, the ideas Europe needs today.

“This new instrument was created to precisely unleash this potential, to allow individual SMEs to access funding that can allow them to make their brilliant ideas a reality. I want to congratulate the first set of winners and invite more of Europe’s brilliant innovators to come ahead.”

SMEs from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the UK have been selected to receive €50,000 each in funding. This will be delivered over six months in order to make business ideas technically and commercially viable.

ODI is an ICT-dedicated funding scheme that aims to transform disruptive ideas into concrete, innovative solutions (products, services, models) and create new markets with a European and global impact.