CALENDAR
Opening: 1 September 2025
Closing: 14 November 205 at 17:00 CET
BUDGET
€1.8M
Up to €60,000 per SME
CATEGORY
Cascade Funding
IMPLEMENTION PERIOD
From the signing of the contract up to a maximum of 12 months
The Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) initiative within the project aims to overcome the financial and technical barriers faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting biofertilizers and implementing circular and sustainable agri-food practices. Coordinated by CLUST-ER, the FSTP provides cascade financing to 30 SMEs from Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Hungary. Each SME receives a financial voucher of €60,000 to develop feasibility studies, investment plans and commercialization strategies, complemented by comprehensive technical and advisory support. This support includes access to mentors, expert networks, pilot testing infrastructures and decision-making support systems, enabling SMEs to effectively innovate and scale up their sustainable agriculture solutions. The ultimate goal is to improve the inter-regional value chain of biofertilizers and promote a resilient circular bioeconomy in the European agricultural sector.
This call will be divided into two application lines:
Line 1 - Tools and services to support the deployment of biofertilizers to support the investment cases (CI) of the project (see Annex B of the "Guide for applicants").
Line 2 - Open innovation and scaling up of new innovative biofertilizers. This line aims to scale up innovative biofertilizer initiatives (TRL 6-8). The activities in this line are designed to finalize the product and solution portfolio.
The cascade funding call for the I3-4-BIOFERTILIZERS project aims to support innovative initiatives by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from various regions in accordance with the FSTP rules within the framework of the I3 funding programme. The call is looking for qualified SMEs according to the European Union definition.
Geographical diversity is a key aspect of the I3-4-BIOFERTILIZERS. The applicant SMEs must be legally established in one of the eligible regions of the I3-4-BIOFERTILIZERS open call (see Table 1 - Eligible regions, in the "Guide for applicants")
All applications must be submitted by 14 November 2025, 17:00 CET, to the following email address: info@i3-4-biofertilizers.eu with the following subject: "Application to the I3-4-BIOFERTILIZERS Funding Scheme".
The application form must be a maximum of 15 pages.
Call period: 1 September 2025 – 14 November 2025, 17:00 CET.
The Open Call Guidelines, with instructions on the application and evaluation phases, and the application form can be downloaded below.
Submission method: All applications must be submitted by email. Please follow the submission procedure and requirements described in the Open Call Guidelines.
Evaluation period: 17 November 2025 – mid-February 2026. Applications will be assessed for eligibility and only eligible proposals will be evaluated according to the criteria published in the call text. Eligibility is limited to the specific regions indicated in the call.
Applicants will be notified of the results of the evaluation at the end of the evaluation period.
Language: All applications must be submitted in English.
For any queries during the proposal submission period, please contact: info@i3-4-biofertilizers.eu
