The European Commission has launched the Boosting Creative Startups for Disruptive Innovation call for proposals under Horizon Europe (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-02), targeting support for creative startups and scaleups across Europe's cultural and creative industries.
Creative startups are recognised as early adopters of new technologies, key drivers of cross-sector innovation, and important contributors to local economies and yet many still struggle to grow and scale. This call seeks novel, effective approaches that go beyond existing initiatives, with the aim of helping creative startups bring bold ideas to market.
Funded projects will be expected to develop and test their approaches through at least three real-world pilot trials, building on existing research, networks, and initiatives at both European and national levels. Projects should plan for a minimum duration of four years.
Funding
The total budget for this call is €12,000,000, with individual projects eligible for between €5,000,000 and €6,000,000.
The financing rate is either 70% or 100%, depending on the type of applicant.
Categories
All funded projects must contribute to the following outcomes:
Generate and share deeper insights into what drives the growth of creative startups, particularly those capable of disruptive or cross-sector innovation, ensuring this knowledge reaches policymakers, investors, and enterprise support bodies
Produce practical, tested methods that industry players, funders, and decision-makers can apply to better support creative startup growth
Surface real examples of creative startups that have scaled or disrupted their sector, helping raise the profile and visibility of Europe's creative startup ecosystem
Beyond these knowledge outcomes, projects must demonstrate real-world results, either by helping at least one creative startup grow into a scaleup, or by supporting a startup or scaleup in successfully bringing a disruptive innovation to market.
Eligibility
This call is open to any legal entity worldwide, including organisations, research institutions, companies, and other bodies.
To participate, applicants must register in the Participant Register, obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC), and complete all required validation procedures before the grant agreement is signed.
Application information
Deadline: 23 September 2026
For more information and to apply, click here.
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