The European Commission is awarding €32m to accelerate the movement of innovative ideas to the market.

The funds will be divided between 15 projects involving 70 partners across 19 countries, each receiving around €2m under the fifth round of the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) scheme under Horizon 2020.

Carlos Moedas, commissioner for research, science and innovation, said: “Supporting innovation as a source of growth and job creation is at the core of Horizon 2020. Today we are giving top innovative businesses a head start in the race to market by providing faster access to €32 million in EU funding.”

The projects aim for applications in diverse sectors from transport and defence, to food production, health and sustainable energy. The development of composite material technology for aircraft, electrode lead technology for cardiac diseases, vineyard robots, sustainable pre-fabricated glass facades and a treatment for peripheral arterial disease are among the foci of the projects.

The FTI promotes innovative activities already near to market access, supports already tested, innovative concepts, and validates business models, standard setting and pre-normative research.

Launched in January 2015, the FTI’S fifth round of the scheme attracted 280 project proposals, involving 1,194 participants by its 1 June 2016 deadline. The total number of proposals received since January 2015 is now in excess of 1,400, of which 77 have been selected to receive more than €166m.

Almost half of the project participants (44% for this period) are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

FTI runs throughout 2015-2016 as a pilot initiative under Horizon 2020. With a budget of €200m, it is open to all and supports topics under the Societal Challenges and Industrial Leadership pillars.