SME-led international collaboration
Smaller, faster and easier to reach than Horizon, with two sets of rules.
Part of the Eureka network, Eurostars funds R&D projects led by innovative SMEs working with partners in other countries. Shorter cycles and a lighter process than a Horizon consortium, which makes it a realistic first international award.
Eurostars at a glance
- Lead applicant
- An R&D-performing SME
- Partners
- At least two participating countries
- Evaluation
- Central, then national funding decisions
- Paid by
- Your own national funding body
- Cycle
- Shorter than a Horizon collaborative project
What applicants get wrong
Central evaluation, national money, so two rulebooks apply
A project is ranked centrally but funded by each participant’s own national body, on that country’s eligibility rules, rates and timing. A consortium can pass evaluation and still stall because one partner’s national agency will not fund their part. Check each partner’s national conditions alongside the central call, not afterwards.
Who it is for
Formal eligibility is set by the call text and changes between rounds. This is the shape of a typical applicant.
- R&D-performing SMEs
- Companies with a partner in another country
- Projects with a route to market in a few years
- Organisations not ready to lead a Horizon consortium
This funds part of the project, not all of it
Work out what you would need to fund yourself, and what typically covers the gap.
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Find out whether you qualify for Eurostars
Upload a project description and the platform assesses it against this programme's published criteria, and against everything else open to you.