Open Call 2

Open Call #2

€200k in funding AI and Data-driven solutions. AID4SME second Open Call round is now open and waiting for you!

Attractive funding for your next product & service development

  • Up to 200k € funding per project for SMEs and start-ups
  • Focus on AI and Data driven solutions for:
  • Data Collection
  • Creation of insights
  • Decision support
  • Automation
  • Comprehensive insights into industrial needs
Apply Now

Read the Guidelines for Applicants first.

Deadlines

15 May 2026

Opening

15 July 2026

Submission deadline (17:00 CEST)

What we offer

  • Up to 12 projects tailored to real-world innovation challenges will be funded with a maximum of €200,000 each
  • Selected applicants will have up to 14 months to deploy their innovative solutions
  • Selected applicants will receive additional support for maximising impact and growth (training sessions, coaching, mentoring)
  • Become part of the AID4SME Community of Practice and benefit from the opportunities and the wide network of professionals in the field

Benefits for SMEs/start-ups

  • Funding for innovative companies to pilot their solutions
  • Access to early customers
  • Helping SMEs/start-ups overcome market entry barriers
  • Domain knowledge and expert advice to scale up

Open Call Challenges

Combined AI and Data solutions for DATA COLLECTION

1.1 - Augmented sensing solution
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The selected third party is expected to contribute to (one of) the following points (in applying to this challenge, please specify which point you would like to focus on):

  • Collaboration with Arçelik to develop an augmented sensing solution for its refrigerator production facility. The solution will enable accurate monitoring of forces, stresses, or other relevant physical quantities during plastic mold changes in the refrigerator production line. It will provide real-time feedback and predictive insights to reduce manual intervention and iterative adjustments during mold changes, minimize polyurethane waste, and reduce facility downtime. 
  • Collaboration with KU Leuven to develop and test augmented sensing solutions, specifically for mecha(tro)nic system level dynamics, and model-based augmented sensing in electro-thermo-mechanical applications in the manufacturing industry. The focus will be on the technological development of the augmented sensing solution (e.g., targeting force, stress, and torque estimation), with the availability of several industrially relevant laboratory setups and measurement equipment.

Combined AI and Data solutions for creation of INSIGHTS

2.1 - Product-production Digital Twins
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The selected third party is expected to contribute to (one of) the following points (in applying to this challenge, please specify which point you would like to focus on):

  • Collaboration with Arçelik to develop a product-production digital twin solution to optimise material mixing ratios based on real-time measurement of visual and mechanical properties of the different plastic source materials (virgin and recycled plastic)
  • Collaboration with Arçelik to combine augmented sensing (cf. challenge 1.1) with a product-production digital twin solution to optimise End-of-Life product refurbishment processes by assessing the health and predicting the remaining lifespan of components
  • Collaboration with KU Leuven to link the manufacturing process to product quality in mecha(tro)nic applications. The focus will be on the technological development of a dedicated product-production simulation framework for injection moulding manufacturing processes, with the availability of a fully equipped injection moulding laboratory facility.
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The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Product-production digital twin solution to optimise material mixing ratios based on real-time measurement of visual and mechanical properties of the different plastic source materials.

See full description

The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Develop an optimization algorithm for optimal sizing of a microgrid components using a microgrid Digital Twin

  • Develop a microgrid grid energy control algorithms using predictions of energy needs and production

  • Implement and test the developed solutions in a digital environment with real world data and for different scenarios

Combined AI and Data solutions for DECISION SUPPORT

3.2 – Automated machine selection for parts production
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The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Develop a solution that uses historical demand patterns and future demands to build more robust, flexible, and data-driven planning strategies.

  • The tool developed through this challenge will analyze customer demand trends over time to uncover patterns and enable the grouping and classification of customers based on their demand characteristics.

See full description
See full description

Combined AI and Data solutions for AUTOMATION

4.1- Smart energy management of unplanned machine downtime
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The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Develop a smart energy management strategy and algorithm based on the energy consumption models of the machine modes

  • Develop a module for monitoring and management of high energy intensive machines

  • Demonstration of the prototype on the industrial setup

See full description

The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Battery Assessment: Evaluation of battery performance, capacity, and overall condition.

  • Safety Measures for Battery Handling: Protocols and best practices to ensure safe handling, storage, and transportation of batteries.

  • Battery Defect Detection: Identification of manufacturing or operational defects in batteries using diagnostic tools and inspection methods.

  • Battery Health Monitoring: Assessment of battery state-of-health (SoH) using sensors and diagnostic data (e.g., temperature, voltage, internal resistance).

  • Battery Charging and Discharging Methods: Procedures and technologies for safe and efficient charging and discharging of batteries.

  • Decision-Making for Second Life, Reuse, or Recycling: Criteria and processes for determining whether a battery should be reused, repurposed for second-life applications, or sent for recycling.

See full description

The selected third party is expected to contribute by providing:

  • Develop a co-bot-assisted gasket installation solution

  • Integrate AI-based perception and control systems to allow the co-bot to adapt to different gasket shapes and models.

  • Ensure compliance with safety and ergonomic standards, by reducing physical strain on human workers and improving workplace safety with co-bot working.

  • Demonstrate human-robot collaboration capabilities, where the co-bot supports rather than replaces the human operator, ensuring intuitive interaction and task sharing.

How to apply

Get informed

Read the Guidelines for Applicants

Register

Access F6S platform

Submit

Submit your application via F6S platform

Who can apply

  • Single legal entities or consortia of up to two, though only SMEs and Start-ups are eligible for financial support.
  • SMEs and Start-ups may apply alone or lead a consortium, with a limit of one application per entity.
  • The following organisations may apply as a second partner (Industry and Integrators share the one-application limit, while Research/Non-profits are exempt):
  • Industry organisations providing the SMEs / Start-ups use-cases and high-TRL playgrounds for solution testing and validation
  • Integrators / engineering services providers that support the SMEs / Start-Ups in integration of the solutions
  • Research institutions, research infrastructures, non-profit organisations and charitable (scientific) foundations and public research centers

Open Call Documentation Kit

Download Documentation Kit
Apply Now

NOTE: Please read carefully the Guidelines for Applicants.

Open Call Evaluation Criteria

Each criteria has a different weight, presented below:

1

Novelty/ Innovation (30%)

2

Impact (30%)

3

Project planning (20%)

4

Expertise (20%)

Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AID4SME project?

AID4SME is a European project under the Horizon Europe Programme (HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITALEMERGING-01) – Grant Agreement no. 101189562. The 36-month project kicked-off in December 2024 and counts 16 partners from multiple sectors and European countries. 

AID4SME aims to facilitate Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in developing combined Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data solutions for large scale resource optimisation challenges for industries that have significant impact on the objectives of the Green Deal.

The Open Call is the competitive process by which eligible applicants apply to have access to the AID4SME programme.

The programme will select up to 12 innovative applications, each addressing one of the challenges/topics, providing a maximum contribution of EUR 200 000.00, to be paid in form of lump sums at the end of periods 1, 2 and 3 (30% + 40% + 30%).

The indicative budget for AID4SME – Open Call #2 is EUR 2 350 000.00.

The deadline for the AID4SME Open Call #2 is Wednesday, 15 July 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. 

The maximum contribution a project may request is EUR 200 000.00. This amount must represent 70% (funding rate) of the total project costs.

Yes, Start-ups, and Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working on related technologies of the AID4SME Open Call #2 are eligible within this call. They may apply as a single entity project or within a consortium of up to 2 entities.

Yes, eligible applicants may apply to the AID4SME Open Call #2 as a single entity or within a consortium of up to 2 entities.

Yes, other entities may be part of a consortium led by a SME and/or startup, however without requesting financial support, such as:

  • Industry organisations providing the SMEs / Start-ups use-cases and high-TRL playgrounds for solution testing and validation;
  • Integrators/ engineering services that support the SMEs / Start-ups in integration of the solutions;
  • Research institutions, research infrastructures, non-profit organisations and charitable (scientific) foundations and public research centres.

No. Only SMEs & Startups may apply for financial support within the AID4SME Open Call #2. The AID4SME is mandated to only provide financial support to this type of organisation.

No. Only Horizon Europe associated countries are eligible (those that have signed an agreement producing legal effects with the EU as identified in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide) according to the updated list published by the EC. 

For the AID4SME project, the reference version is v3.1 (11-07-2024). At the time of signing the AID4SME GA (November 2024), the United Kingdom and Switzerland had not yet signed an association agreement producing legal effects.

No. The AID4SME Open Call #2 accepts a maximum of 1 application per eligible entity. The limit applies whether the entity applies alone or in a consortium. However, research institutions, research infrastructures, non-profit organisations and charitable (scientific) foundations and public research centres may integrate more than 1 proposal.

In case an entity submits more than 1 application, only the application submitted last will be eligible. This also applies to entities that have submitted more than 1 application, however, addressing different challenges.

The AID4SME Open Call #2 invites potential applicants to submit proposals that addresses 1 of the 10 challenges within the following 4 domains:

  • Domain 1: Combined AI and Data solutions for Data Collection
  • Domain 2: Combined AI and Data solutions for creation of Insights
  • Domain 3: Combined AI and Data solutions for Decision Support
  • Domain 4: Combined AI and Data solutions for Automation

The full list of challenges is:

  • C1.1 Augmented sensing solution
  • C2.1 Product-production Digital Twins
  • C2.2 Automated monitoring hygiene inspection for refurbishment
  • C2.3 Energy system Digital Twin decision support tool
  • C3.2 Automated machine selection for parts production
  • C3.3 Battery production digitalwork instructions & skill capturing
  • C3.4 Automated warehouse and internal logistics management
  • C4.1 Smart energy management of unplanned machine downtime
  • C4.3 Semi-automated EV battery disassembly for recycling
  • C4.4 Co-bot refrigerator door assembly solutions

Each application must address only one of the AID4SME Open Call #2 challenges. Please note that multiple applications are not allowed, unless in specific circumstances as defined,  in accordance with article 4.1.4. Multiple submissions of the Guidelines for Applicants.

The type of costs that may be reported include personnel costs, purchase costs (travel and subsistence, equipment – depreciation cost only -, and other direct costs), and indirect costs (25% of personnel and purchase costs).

No, subcontracting is not allowed.

The AID4SME Programme #2 will have a duration of 14 months, starting on 01 November 2026*. During this period, the selected project must complete four sprints:

  • Stage 1 – Plan in M1: beneficiaries will discuss and fine-tune the project’s action plan for next stages with mentors and playground owners according to the selected challenge.
  • Stage 2 – Development from M2 to M8: beneficiaries will develop the innovative solutions and proceed with integrations at playground owners’ sites.
  • Stage 3 – Testing & Validation from M9 to M10: beneficiaries will test, validate and demonstrate the solution.
  • Stage 4 – Solution Assessment & Business Plan from M11 to M14: beneficiaries will assess and develop a business plan and an exploitation roadmap.

* indicative

Each selected project will have at their disposal the following services, infra-structures and mentors from the AID4SME consortium:

  • Technical support with expertise in the technologies, engineering integration, testing and validation, and by access to public reusable results
  • Technical support with access to the independent testing and validation facilities, so-called low- TRL playgrounds, of the project’s scientific partners with specialisations in AI & data technologies for 1) data collection, 2) creation of insights, 3) decision support, and 4) automation.
  • Technical and business support from large industry partners that will provide real-life use-cases and will open up their experimental facilities and/or production facilities, so-called high-TRL playgrounds, for testing and validation of the solutions. The industry partners cover the automotive, whitegoods, battery and energy sector.
  • An open platform that is flexible to bring in challenges from industries outside the consortium.
  • Business support and mentoring to develop business plans and a roadmap to exploitation of the SME solutions.
  • Business support with providing the SMEs and Start-ups and their solutions access to the project’s connected industry network and DIH networks to increase their market reach, maximise their business opportunities and grow to successful enterprises.

Yes, each selected project must include in the final list of deliverables of their proposal description the following three reports:

  • Intellectual Property Agreement established with playground owners at M4.
  • Test & Validation Report at M10
  • Business plan and exploitation roadmap at M14.

The AID4SME Open Call #2 remote evaluation and selection processes will be composed of the following phases:

  • Eligibility check to all submitted proposals within deadline to verify that eligibility criteria are met
  • In/out challenge scope check to assess if eligible proposals are aligned with the scope of the selected challenge
  • External expert evaluation based on the AID4SME Open Call #2 evaluation criteria. Each eligible and within the scope proposal will be evaluated by two external evaluators to the AID4SME consortium
  • Online interview to the top 3 proposals per challenge based on the overall score from the expert evaluation

Each eligible and within the scope application will be evaluated by two external evaluators based on the following criteria:

  • Criterion 1 – Novelty & Innovation (30% weighting)
  • Criterion 2 – Impact (30% weighting)
  • Criterion 3 – Implementation (20% weighting)
  • Criterion 4 – Team (20% weighting)

No. Different aspects of the innovative proposal will be assessed in each phase of the remote evaluation & selection stage of the AID4SME Open Call #2. While the external expert evaluation will focus on Novelty & Innovation, Impact, Implementation and Team aspects of the proposal, the online interview aims to understand the project concept and alignment to selected challenges, team skills, competence and expertise, and willingness to exploit the results. The three criteria under consideration are the following:

  • Criterion 1 – Project concept & Alignment (40% weighting)
  • Criterion 2 – Team (30% weighting)
  • Criterion 3 – Exploitation plan & IPR (30% weighting)

The AID4SME Open Call #2 will apply the following scoring system:

  • 0: Fail. The application fails to address the criterion under examination or cannot be judged due to missing or incomplete information.
  • 1: Very poor. The criterion is addressed in an unsatisfactory manner.
  • 2: Poor. There are serious inherent weaknesses.
  • 3: Good. While the application broadly addresses the criterion, there are significant weaknesses that would need correcting.
  • 4: Very Good. The application addresses the criterion well, although certain improvements are possible.
  • 5: Excellent. The application successfully addresses all relevant aspects of the criterion in question. Any shortcomings are minor.

Yes. The AID4SME Open Call #2 distributes the maximum contribution in a lump sum model. This means that lump sums are defined up-front and included in the Sub-grant Agreement (Annex 3 of the AID4SME Open Call #2 Documentation Pack). They will be paid upon completion of the activities in the sprints.

The AID4SME Open Call #2 has the following payment scheduled:

  • Period 1 at M1: Payment of 30% of the maximum contribution grant.
  • Period 2 at M8: Payment of 40% of the maximum contribution grant.
  • Period 3 at M14: Payment of 30% of the maximum contribution grant.


Note that 10% of the calculated amount within Period 1 is provided as compensation for the work performed during M1, whereas 90% represents a pre-financing payment. The pre-financing amount remains the property of the AID4SME consortium until the final payment.

As long as your company is a registered SME based in an eligible country, operates within the scope of the AID4SME initiative, and proposes a valid solution to the specific challenge, your application will be considered eligible and within scope.

No. To ensure a fair, transparent, and equal evaluation process for all applicants, preliminary discussions or direct introductory calls with challenge owners (or their consortium representatives) are strictly prohibited prior to the submission deadline. All available challenge details are provided equally to everyone in the official documentation pack.

There are no restrictions preventing projects from other sectors from participating. However, please keep in mind that proposals must demonstrate a high level of alignment with the defined challenges. If the applicant decides to propose a project focused on a different sector, the suggested KPIs and use case must be directly comparable with the specific KPIs and use case outlined in the challenge text.

The maximum contribution budget of €200,000 is per project (representing 70% of the total project costs), regardless of whether the proposal is submitted by a single organisation or by a consortium.

Yes. Under the reference version v3.1 (11-07-2024) of the Horizon Europe guidelines used by AID4SME, Canada is an associated country for Pillar II actions. This means Canadian Start-ups and SMEs are fully eligible to apply for and receive financial support.

Regarding the VAT requirement during the contracting phase:

  • Non-EU Applicants: The EU VAT number is mandatory only for EU-based entities. Applicants from associated countries outside the EU (such as Canada) must provide their official national registration equivalent.

There is no mandatory minimum target TRL defined for proposals utilizing the low-TRL scientific playgrounds (such as KU Leuven). However, applicants are expected to show a clear and ambitious technological advancement from their current baseline. Technological progression is heavily weighted during the expert evaluation phase under the Novelty/Innovation and Impact criteria.

Beneficiaries are expected to cover all costs necessary for the development and implementation of their own solution. These expenses will not be covered or subsidised by the AID4SME partners or the host lab.

Yes. Legal entities, including Start-ups and SMEs established in Egypt, are fully eligible to apply for and receive funding. Egypt is officially listed as an eligible associated country under the reference version v3.1 (11-07-2024) of the Horizon Europe guidelines used for the AID4SME project rules.

Each entity must submit one proposal that addresses one of the ten pre-defined challenges.

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