Are you building a creative-tech venture with real market traction? EIT Culture & Creativity has a new €8.6M funding and growth opportunity designed to help Europe’s most promising creative-tech ventures become investment-ready, attract capital and scale internationally.
- Shape Acceleration → From early traction to investment readiness.
Up to €200,000 for ventures building the foundations for growth.
- Scale post-acceleration → From proven traction to international scale.
Up to €500,000 for ventures preparing for major growth and future funding rounds. - PLUS:
- 🔵A 6-month acceleration journey, Kick-off + Demo Day,
- 🟢 Goal-oriented sprints & workshops,
- 🔵 A designated coach + expert trainers,
- 🟢 Investor and corporate matchmaking,
- 🔵 Access to exclusive tech partnerships to enable growth,
- 🟢 Inclusion in 100-to-Watch, EIT Culture & Creativity’s curated portfolio of high-potential creative-tech ventures.
Deadline for application: 12. October 2026 at 17:00 CET
Who is eligible to apply: legal entities established in EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated countries
Funding: 100% of the total eligible project costs (Actual cost model)
Topics for 2027 Cohort (start in January 2027): Fashion, Architecture, Audio-visual media
(*additional cohorts covering additional topics will be announced later)
This call supports ventures at different stages of maturity:
1.) START-UPS that have validated a market need through early traction (pilot customers or initial revenues)
– Financial support: up to 100.000€
– for ventures that are ready to strengthen product- market fit, refine their business model and prepare for future investment.
– Top ranked ventures may receive up to an additional 100.000€ following the Shape Acceleration Programme Demo Day.
2.) START-UPS and SCALE-UPS that have demonstrated product-market fit, recurring revenues and international scaling potential
– Financial support: up to 200.000€ OR up to 500.000€ if headquartered in an EIT RIS country.
– for ventures that are actively raising capital or have recently secured investment and are ready to accelerate international expansion.
– Applicants must either be actively fundraising with a lead investor and signed term sheet(s) worth at least 200.000€ or have secured at least 200.000€ from qualified investor(s) within the last 18 months.
Link to the open call: https://eit-culture-creativity.eu/your-opportunities/calls-funding/financial-support-startups-and-scaleups-shape-acceleration-scale