Open Horizons Open Call #3
Open Horizons, a Horizon Europe funded initiative designed to elevate women-led deep tech startups, has officially opened its third and last Open Call. It offers up to €55,000 in equity-free funding, strategic mentoring, and the chance to co-develop pilot projects with leading European corporates. Applications are open from 02 March 2026 to 19 May 2026.
About Open Horizons
Open Horizons is designed to facilitate the growth and internationalisation of startups by providing direct financial support and access to a robust acceleration programme. The initiative seeks to enable founders to scale their ventures, attract investment, and contribute to regional and sectoral innovation.
The purpose of Open Horizons Open Calls is to identify and select promising women-led, digital, and deep-tech startups in Europe, specifically at the early stages, offering them a unique opportunity to participate in a tailored open innovation programme. Designed to upscale the capabilities of innovative startups, the programme provides structured pathways to access significant investment and growth opportunities. The overarching goal of OC#3 is to support the development and enhance the investment potential of these startups, helping them scale their solutions and create long-term impact within the deep-tech ecosystem.
As part of this initiative, a curated set of real, market-driven challenges provided by leading corporates have been identified. These challenges represent concrete technological problems that require innovative, deep-tech solutions—offering startups a unique opportunity to test, validate, and potentially co-develop their technologies with real-world applications and demand. Startups applying to this call will be invited to select one of the published challenges that aligns with their solution and propose how they can address it.
Why Apply to Open Horizons Open Call #3?
Despite progress in supporting women innovators, significant gaps remain. Independent analyses from the European Investment Bank show that women continue to face disproportionately high barriers in securing both funding and corporate partnerships.
Against this backdrop, Open Horizons stands out as a necessary initiative. It directly connects women-led deep tech and digital teams with corporate partners under a structured, risk-mitigating, and equity-free model.
The purpose of Open Horizons OC#3 is to actively involve women-led digital or deep- tech early-stage startups in Europe. This call seeks to identify and choose promising startups to participate in the programme. Through an open innovation process, startups will develop a project to solve an innovation challenge proposed by a corporation. The overarching goal is to offer support that nurtures the development and investment potential of these startups, with the ultimate of cultivating them into leading women figures in deep tech innovation within Europe.
The primary objective is to enhance the development and investment capacity of these startups, with the overarching aim of positioning them as leading women figures in advanced technological innovation across Europe.
This call offers a total of €475,000, up to €55,000 per beneficiary, to support the growth and development of startups. In addition, it includes a comprehensive acceleration programme that provides robust support through business mentoring, tailored assistance, access to a wide network of key stakeholders, expert knowledge, and promotional opportunities.
Who Can Apply?
Open Horizons focuses on supporting women-led, digital and deep-tech startups in Europe, specifically in the early stages. This section outlines specific criteria and conditions, establishing eligibility for potential beneficiaries.
Here are the key definitions that guide the selection of beneficiaries:
1. Established country: the applicant must be established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
- Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
- Horizon Europe Associated Countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
2. SME:
Under Horizon Europe, a startup is understood as a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the early stages of its life cycle. This includes newly established companies, particularly those created as spin-offs from university research activities, that aim to deliver innovative solutions and develop scalable business models. Such entities must be autonomous within the meaning of Article 3 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
Therefore, startups must meet the criteria of an SME as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, namely:
- Employing fewer than 250 persons (measured in Annual Work Units – AWU);
- Having an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.
- Be autonomous within the meaning of Article 3 of the Annex to the above-mentioned recommendation
3. Early-stage startup:
Early-stage refers to the phase of a startup’s development, generally preceding the rapid growth phase. The following requirements must be met:
The legal entity must have been established at least six months before the submission of the application and must not have been established and operating for more than six years, counting backwards from the submission date of the application and;
4. Startups must have raised €1M or less in equity
5. Presence of women:
The startup must be founded or co-founded by a woman. The founder or co-founder of the company must also currently hold a top management position (CEO, CTO, CSO or equivalent) within the same company. It will also be required that women hold at least 25% of the shares in the CAP table (capitalisation table) of the company.
6. Deep-tech / Digital startups: To be eligible for the Open Horizons project, startups must clearly fall into one of the following categories: Deep-tech or Digital.
Digital and deep-tech startups are innovation-driven companies that build their value around technology, but differ in the nature of that technology. Deep-tech startups develop breakthrough solutions rooted in scientific research and advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, life sciences, advanced materials, clean tech, and next-generation computing. Their work pushes the boundaries of what current technologies can achieve and aims to deliver impactful, science-based solutions to complex societal challenges.
Digital startups, on the other hand, create innovative products and services by leveraging existing digital tools—such as software, mobile apps, cloud platforms, and data analytics—to transform processes, user experience, and business models across sectors like fintech, edtech, digital health, or e-commerce. While both contribute to the digital economy, only startups developing novel scientific or technological breakthroughs are considered deep-tech.
How to Apply to Open Horizons Open Call #3
All proposals must be submitted via the Cascade funding platform operated by SPLORO (tinyurl.com/open-horizons-oc3), which will be the entry point for submission and participation in the open call.
Important dates
- 1st Info Day: Wednesday 18 March, 2026, 10:00 CET (Brussels time)
- 2nd Info Day: 16 April 2026, 16:00 CEST (Brussels time)
- Submission Deadline: 19 May 2026, at 17:00H* CEST (Brussels time)
- Remote Interviews: end of April 2026
- Acceleration Program: beginning of September 2026 – February 2027
Proposal Requirements for Open Horizons Open Call #3
Eligibility criteria:
- All documents and application forms must be properly completed and in English, and all necessary documents must be uploaded.
- The startup operates within the digital and/or ‘deep-tech’ sector and is clearly linked to the strategic digital technologies and deep-tech domains listed in the call.
- The startup is founded or co-founded by women holding a top management position (CEO, CTO or equivalent) in the company at the time of submission.
- Women should own at least 25% of the shares of the company at the time of submission.
- The startup exists as a legal entity.
- The company is established in an eligible country or region. At the time of submission, the company must have been registered for a minimum of 6 months and have been in operation for less than 6 years.
- The startup must meet the criteria of an SME as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, namely:
- Employing fewer than 250 persons (measured in Annual Work Units – AWU);
- Having an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.
- Be autonomous as per Article 3 of the Annex of the EC Recommendation
- The company must not have raised over 1M EUR in equity by the submission date.
- The proposal is unique and has not already been partially or fully funded by any other initiative (to avoid double funding).
- Startups must not have any conflict of interest with any of the consortium partners.
Automatic red flags check
This step involves an automated filtering process to assess whether startups align with the programme’s objectives. Four key indicators, or “red flags,” will be evaluated:
- Whether the startup has the capacity to survive without grants.
- Whether the company demonstrates a strong orientation towards growth.
- Whether the startup has an interest in scaling and attracting investors.
- Whether the startup is genuinely deep-tech-focused.
Only those applications that pass this automatic filtering will proceed to the next phase. The number of filtered applications will be limited to a maximum of 50 to ensure a manageable evaluation process.
In order to avoid fit-for-purpose proposals, the red-flags will be published only at the end of the project.
Evaluation and Selection Process for Open Horizons Open Call #3
The evaluation of Open Horizons proposals is based on a six-step approach:
- Eligibility check,
- Automatic red flags,
- Remote evaluation,
- Normalisation of results and
- Interviews of pre-selected applicants
Remote Evaluation
Two independent external evaluators (technical and business profiles) will assess each proposal against three criteria: Excellence, Implementation, and Impact, following EC standards and conflict-of-interest rules.
1. Excellence
Evaluators assess:
a). Alignment with the selected corporate challenge
b). Degree of innovation and feasibility
c). Technical approach and expected impact
d). Use of Open Science practices
2. Implementation
Evaluators assess:
a). Team expertise and commitment
b). Clarity and logic of the activity plan
c). Quality and coherence of the Gantt chart for the 6-month period
d). Risk identification and mitigation measures
3. Impact
Evaluators assess:
a). Relevance, innovation potential, and ability to address a deep-tech challenge
b). Market readiness and feasibility of deployment
c). Contribution to green, digital, or social transitions
d). IPR strategy and alignment with the business plan
Evaluators will score each proposal from 0 to 5 for each criterion. To be considered for funding, proposals must score ≥3 in each criterion and ≥10 overall.
Additional Support Beyond Funding (Follow-on activities)
The programme follows a structured, results-driven, two-phase approach. In the initial development phase, selected startups work on tailored solutions to corporate-defined challenges, refining their technology to align with real industry needs. This phase provides financial support, mentorship, and expert guidance to ensure feasibility and market readiness. The programme then moves into a five-month piloting phase, where startups execute the agreed-upon pilot project in collaboration with their corporate partner. Throughout this period, participants benefit from continuous mentorship, industry networking, and exposure to potential investors, strengthening their position in the market.
Following the completion of the pilot, startups enter a crucial phase focused on scaling their solutions and unlocking further commercial and investment opportunities. This stage is designed to strengthen the startup’s visibility and position within the market:
Corporate Venture Capital Engagement: Startups will benefit from structured introductions to Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arms of the collaborating corporates. The aim is to facilitate follow-on funding or the formation of strategic partnerships, with a particular focus on aligning startup innovations with the corporations’ investment strategies and sustainability objectives.
Commercial Opportunity Exploration: Startups will have access to meetings with potential customers within and beyond the initial corporate teams, led by INNOVX and MIGROS. This includes facilitated introductions to new industry contacts, enabling the exploration of additional use cases and entry into new markets.
Joint Ventures Approach: Where applicable, INNOVX will support the initiation of joint venture discussions between corporates and startups, aiming to scale the solution and amplify its impact in the market through shared value creation and long-term collaboration.
Final Thoughts on Open Horizons Open Call #3
Only 2.1% of Venture Capital funding goes to women-led startups. OPEN HORIZONS is here to flip that stat. Its mission is to scale women-led digital and deep-tech startups by connecting them with corporations through paid pilots and follow-on agreements, empowering women entrepreneurs, bridging gender gaps in innovation, and fostering collaboration to drive cutting-edge solutions. Join Europe’s most ambitious programme for funding women-led deep tech and digital ventures and get a chance to receive up to €55,000 equity-free funding & support in corporate engagement, investment readiness, and scaling opportunities.
Attend the next Info Day on April 16th here.
More Information
Open Horizons, funded by the European Union through its Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme, connects leading corporations with high-potential, women-led digital and deep-tech startups through an open innovation process. Despite the sector’s rapid growth, women entrepreneurs continue to face systemic barriers that limit their ability to scale. These challenges include restricted access to funding, scarce industrial partnerships, and difficulty validating their solutions in real-world settings. Many women-led digital and deep-tech startups struggle to secure their first corporate clients, a crucial step for establishing credibility and unlocking further investment opportunities. By facilitating direct collaboration, Open Horizons enables corporates to act as first customers, helping startups gain market traction while offering businesses early access to cutting-edge innovations.
Open Horizons is a 26-month project which started on February 1st, 2025, and is designed to accelerate the growth of women-led deep-tech companies by facilitating collaboration and providing substantial financial backing. The project will provide €1.2 million in funding for startups.
By fostering corporate-startup collaboration, Open Horizons not only accelerates the growth of women-led businesses but also strengthens corporate open innovation strategies. This model allows businesses to integrate breakthrough technologies into their processes while supporting the next generation of female entrepreneurs. The initiative ultimately contributes to a more inclusive, diverse, and dynamic deep-tech ecosystem, ensuring that the talent and ingenuity of women entrepreneurs drive the future of innovation.
PEDAL, SPLORO, INNOVX, and MIGROS, together with associated corporates, will run this initiative, creating a unique framework where businesses and startups collaborate to foster open innovation, drive industry transformation, and promote gender diversity in deep-tech entrepreneurship.
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