Consortia must comprise at least two organisations from different countries, representing at least two sides of the Knowledge Triangle (industry, research, education). A commercialising company must lead the project, e.g. SME, large industry player, etc. that possesses the business capabilities and legal rights to take the innovation to market and scale.

If the Commercialising Entity is a micro or small enterprise, it must have 4 full-time-equivalent employees (FTEs) including a full-time CEO. The Commercialising Entity must demonstrate a minimum level of financial traction prior to application, having raised at least EUR 250,000 in the past 3 years from external funding (equity or other dilutive sources).

Individuals cannot apply for funding under this call.

In accordance with the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, to be eligible for funding, the applicant must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
• countries associated to Horizon Europe (this includes the UK)
• or certain low– and middle–income countries.

UK entities are eligible to directly receive EIT funding, if selected as a part of a granted project consortium, and will be treated as all other participants from Horizon Europe participating and associated countries.

There are no restrictions on the number of projects an entity can apply with, though each project must be a separate application.

Projects will run for a maximum of 20 months, starting on May 1 2027, and ending no later than 31 December 2028.

Projects that are already running clinical trials or gathering results are not eligible for this call. The Innovation Validation call is aimed at funding the clinical validation studies to facilitate market access. Projects already in clinical trials are considered too mature for this call.

Projects can request up to 850,000 EUR in total funding, and at least 400,000 EUR and no more than 500,000 EUR must be allocated to the entity commercializing the technology in the project.

EIT Health will fund a maximum of 50% of the project’s total costs, up to the maximum EIT Health funding described above. The consortium must secure the remaining 50% (or more) co-funding from other sources.

Co–funding can come from different sources, private funding, own resources and other grants. However, where other EU grants are being used for co–funding, applicants must ensure that they do not breach EU double funding rules. The EU double funding rule prohibits the use of different EU funds being used for the same costs.

The Innovation Validation Call invites organisations from across the Knowledge Triangle (Industry, Education and Research) to submit applications for funding for collaborative projects focused on patient-centric digital health solutions starting at Innovation Maturity Level (IML) 6 – Solution Validation. These innovations are typically at the stage of running pivotal clinical trials and generating real-world evidence that will be instrumental for the market authorisation (e.g. obtaining the CE mark or equivalent) and building commercial readiness of the solution.

Solutions must go beyond the state-of-the-art and leverage digital and AI technology to address a critical, unmet healthcare need. They should deliver tangible health outcomes to patients across one or more stages of the patient care pathway, whether through screening, diagnosis, treatment and/or monitoring. Solutions must meet the definition of a Digital medical devices or in-vitro diagnostics device as defined in the European regulations MDR 2017/745 and IVDR 2017/746.

The following types of innovations are out of scope:

• A non-medical device or application.
• A product primarily designed for wellness or lifestyle purposes that can be used without medical oversight.
• A solution that does not directly address medical conditions or treatments.
• A healthcare management software that does not directly impact patient diagnosis, treatment, or care.

The funded innovation must be premised on a viable existing or future business model, backed by robust Intellectual Property Rights and a legally registered, for-profit entity (e.g. a micro, small, medium or large enterprise) acting as the Activity Leader of the project and with the proper capabilities, governance model, partnership agreements and incentives in place to market and scale the solution.

Call information session: 28 October at 12.00 CET – Register here
Open Q&A session: 1 December at 15.00 CET – Register here

If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Health team or Global team.