Where European founders cut through EU complexity. EU Startups Funding, grants & programmes. Real insights from a community that's navigating them. ๐ช๐บ
Dutch biotech @LeydenLabs raised โฌ40M after selection for EIC STEP Scale Up. Investors include the EIC Fund, Invest-NL, and the Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund. Their intranasal antibody nasal spray for flu and coronaviruses is already in clinical trials.
You can apply to the EIC Accelerator as a non-EU founder. Submit a short proposal from outside the EU now. What you cannot do is submit the full proposal without an EU legal entity. Get the entity registered before your GO arrives, not after.
๐ต๐น Portugal constrรณi campeรตes globais a partir de Lisboa e Porto. @feedzai - deteรงรฃo de fraude por IA, unicรณrnio. @outsystems - low-code lรญder mundial. @swordhealth - fisioterapia digital, unicรณrnio. @talkdesk - contact center em cloud, valorizaรงรฃo de $10B.
WBSO in the Netherlands is not retroactive. You must apply to RVO before you start each activity, up to 4 applications per year. The 2026 budget of โฌ1.817 billion runs on a first-come basis.
HR Duo (Ireland) closed โฌ1.6M in June 2026 with Enterprise Ireland co-investing alongside Puma Growth Partners. Seed investors backed the company for the third consecutive time.
Omnibus I introduced a 'value chain cap': companies with under 1,000 employees can legally refuse sustainability data requests from larger reporting entities that go beyond the voluntary SME standard. Your enterprise clients can no longer dump unlimited ESG questionnaires on you.
The Enterprise Europe Network is free and genuinely underused. Over 600 member organisations in 60+ countries offer partner search, IP support, and EU funding navigation at zero cost.
Munich's encosa raised โฌ25M seed in under two years, with all pre-seed investors reinvesting in the round. Bayern Kapital was among the backers. In Europe's tighter 2026 market, investor re-ups carry more signal than the lead name.
The AI Act Digital Omnibus agreement (May 2026) targets a 25% cut in admin burden overall and 35% for SMEs. High-risk system deadlines got breathing room. But Article 50 transparency rules are unchanged at 2 August 2026.
Eurostars Call 11 opens 9 July and closes 10 September 2026. Average project budget is โฌ1.5M. You need at least two partners from two Eurostars countries, with an SME leading.
Intu Diagnostics, a Fraunhofer spinout in Leipzig, closed a โฌ1.1M bridge round in June 2026 backed by BSV Ventures and the Saxonian Development Bank (SAB). Regional development banks are underused co-investors.
Every EU member state must launch at least one AI regulatory sandbox by 2 August 2026. The law requires priority access for SMEs and startups, including cross-border applicants. You can join a sandbox in any EU country, not just your own.
Netherlands WBSO 2026: startups get 50% back on the first โฌ391,020 of R&D labour costs. You apply in advance via RVO - it is not retroactive. The budget is โฌ1.817 billion, first-come first-served.
France's CIR still returns 30% on eligible R&D spend up to โฌ100M. But LFI 2025 removed young-doctor bonuses and cut overhead from 43% to 40%. If you modelled your CIR on 2024 rules, recalculate before you file. The rate held; the base shrank.
Berlin's Seqana stacked ESA grant funding under a VC round and a Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank startup loan to close โฌ3.2M in June 2026. Non-dilutive public money as a layer beneath your VC raise is the move, not an alternative to one.