Open calls

Your startup. Funded. Piloted. Ready to scale.

Open Horizons will run three open calls from 2025 to 2027. Each one is an opportunity for women-led deeptech and digital startups to:

  1. access funding,
  2. co-create pilot projects with major European corporates,
  3. scale their solutions with real-world backing.

What you get

€1.2 million of total funding distributed across 39 women-led startups:

  • Up to €55,000 equity-free funding.
  • Direct collaboration with a European corporate.
  • Tailored mentoring from experts and business coaches.
  • Visibility across the European innovation ecosystem.
  • Access to future investors and commercial pathways.
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How it works

1. Apply

Apply through our application portal and join a powerful network of women-led innovation.

We are looking for bold teams solving real-world corporate challenges with deeptech or digital innovation. Eligible applicants must:

  • Be based in the EU or Horizon Europe–associated countries
  • Operate in deeptech or digital sectors (AI, IoT, Greentech, Blockchain, etc.)
  • Have at least one woman in a founding role or C-level position (CEO, CTO, CSO) holding at least 25% ownership
  • Be early-stage, with less than €1M raised before applying

Across three Open Calls, 39 startups will be selected to receive €10,000 each to join the inception phase and will receive up to €45,000 for the piloting phase.

2. Get Selected

Applicants will go through a structured five-step selection process designed for fairness, quality, and corporate alignment:

  1. Eligibility check
  2. Red-flag filtering – screens startups for growth readiness and deeptech alignment
  3. Expert remote review – up to 50 proposals are scored by external evaluators
  4. Score calibration – ensures fairness across evaluators
  5. Final interviews – top candidates pitch to corporate partners and the consortium


This process results in the selection of inception-stage participants.

3. Inception phase

Selected startups enter a 1-month inception stage with funding of €10,000, during which they:

  • Receive training from INNOVX on business model design (BMC) and pilot planning
  • Meet with corporate partners to co-design a potential pilot
  • Deliver two key outputs: Business Model Canvas and Pilot Plan
  • Pitch their pilot plans to their matched corporate


Based on this stage, corporates decide which startups move forward to full pilot implementation.

4. Piloting phase

Startups approved for piloting will receive up to €45,000 in three instalments over 5 months:

  • €20,000 at mid-term based on KPI review
  • €20,000 at final review
  • €5,000 upon participation in Demo Day


During this phase, startups:

  • Join advanced training and coaching by INNOVX
  • Launch a real-world pilot with their corporate partner
  • Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as integration, customer feedback, and Return on Investiment (ROI)
  • Gain EU-wide visibility and investor exposure through a final Demo Day

Across the three cohorts, 18 startups will be selected for piloting.

Open calls timeline and registration

Pre register for the open call to access up to €55,000 in equity-free funding now:

PRE-REGISTRATION FORM
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