Europe opens its €10 billion AI Gigafactories tender as the €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund goes live

10 August 2026 · Strategic Funding Partners

Published 10 August 2026 · SFP Pulse · Weekly Research

> EuroHPC opens the AI Gigafactories tender with up to €10 billion behind it, the €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund goes live, and Japan joins Pillar II.

August is usually the quiet month, and yet this fortnight has produced the largest compute procurement Europe has ever run, a €5 billion equity fund going live, and a new full member of Horizon Europe Pillar II. The through line is scale and partnership: the AI Gigafactories tender is built for consortia and special purpose vehicles rather than single applicants, and Japan's association widens the pool of partners available for the autumn Cluster deadlines. The partner mix is becoming as decisive as the technical idea, which is exactly where Proposal Builder Plus earns its keep on consortium building. Below you will find the calls you can act on now, the guidance changes that affect how you submit, and the deadlines worth clearing space for.

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EuroHPC opens the AI Gigafactories call for tenders

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is the EU body that pools European and national money to build and operate Europe's supercomputing and AI compute capacity. On 30 July 2026 it published call for tenders EUROHPC-2026-CEI-AIGF-01 to establish up to seven AI Gigafactories across the Union. Up to €10 billion in EU and national funding sits behind the initiative, and the Commission expects it to unlock at least €20 billion in additional private investment. Facilities may sit in one Member State, spread across several sites, or operate as cross border distributed computing facilities.

Applications are open to consortia or special purpose vehicles combining companies, public entities, investors and other partners. The deadline is 12 November 2026 at 16:00 Luxembourg time, with a separate 4 November cut off for questions about the call. Award decisions are expected in early 2027 and selected facilities should be operational within about 18 months of contract signature.

This is procurement rather than a grant, and the entry ticket is high. For most organisations the realistic route is as a partner inside a special purpose vehicle or consortium, or as a supplier into the hardware, energy, construction and services chain around it. The Commission has signed letters of intent with AMD, NVIDIA and Qualcomm on hardware access, and part of the procurement may be directed at European start ups and scale ups. Energy utilities, data centre developers, construction and engineering firms, cooling and grid specialists, and AI software and services providers should all be reading the tender specifications now. Readers who cannot bid into a multi billion euro tender will find a much closer fit in the energy sector AI data sharing call listed under Calls Opening This Week.

> 💻 Programme: EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, reference EUROHPC-2026-CEI-AIGF-01 Budget: Up to €10 billion in EU and national funding, with at least €20 billion in expected private investment alongside it Deadline: Thursday 12 November 2026 at 16:00 Luxembourg time, questions by 4 November 2026 Scope: Up to seven AI Gigafactories, single site, multi site or cross border Next: Award decisions expected in early 2027, facilities operational around 18 months after signature

> Source: EuroHPC Joint Undertaking

Scaleup Europe Fund goes live as EIC STEP Scale Up puts six companies forward

The Scaleup Europe Fund is a late stage equity vehicle sitting inside the EIC Fund structure, created to keep European deep tech companies growing in Europe rather than raising abroad. The final legal steps to establish it were taken in early August 2026, with the first closing to follow. The fund has a target size of €5 billion, is managed by EQT following an open competitive process and operating with full autonomy on market terms, and counts the Commission as a founding investor with €1 billion committed. The Commission is not alone in that first closing: the founding investor group also includes Novo Holdings, Denmark's export and investment fund EIFO, CriteriaCaixa, Santander's Mouro Capital, the Intesa Sanpaolo and Compagnia di San Paolo group, and APG Asset Management on behalf of Dutch pension money, which is a useful signal that private and national capital is willing to sit alongside EU money at this stage. First investments are expected within weeks.

Alongside it, the EIC announced on 28 July that six companies are being put forward for EIC Fund investment decisions under STEP Scale Up, subject to due diligence. Twenty four proposals were submitted, 17 reached interview and six met all eligibility and evaluation criteria. A further six passed the quality threshold but could not be funded within the available budget and receive the STEP Seal. If negotiations succeed the six may share a combined €97 million, at €10 million to €30 million each, across sovereign computing, AI infrastructure, laser communications, battery materials and low carbon construction.

Read together these are one shift rather than two: later stage European capital is visibly moving, with a concrete selection result on one side and €5 billion of equity going live behind it. The practical difference matters. There is no competitive call to apply to for the Scaleup Europe Fund, so growth stage deep tech companies should engage through the EQT and EIC Fund route. STEP Scale Up is the door that is actually open, it is continuously open with 2026 batching dates on 9 September and 25 November, and the six selected companies give a useful benchmark for the strategic relevance and investment readiness expected.

> 🚀 Programme: EIC Fund, Scaleup Europe Fund and EIC STEP Scale Up Budget: €5 billion target fund size, €1 billion committed by the Commission, plus up to €97 million across six STEP Scale Up companies Deadline: No call for the fund itself, STEP Scale Up is continuously open with batching dates on 9 September and 25 November 2026 Focus: Late stage deep tech, sovereign computing, AI infrastructure, laser communications, battery materials, low carbon construction

> Sources: European Innovation Council, Scaleup Europe Fund and European Innovation Council, STEP Scale Up selection

COST Open Call 2026 opens for up to 80 new research networks

COST funds open, bottom up research networks known as Actions. It does not fund the research itself, it funds the collaboration around it: meetings, short term scientific missions, training schools and virtual collaboration. The COST Open Call 2026 opened in e-COST on 31 July 2026 at 12:00 CEST and closes on 28 October 2026 at 12:00 CET.

Up to 80 new Actions will be funded in this round, up from 70 previously, which improves the success rate for a call that is already one of the more accessible in the landscape. Funding runs to roughly €150,000 in the first year and €180,000 for each of the following three years across a four year Action. At least 40% of proposers must now be young researchers and innovators. Results are expected in May 2027.

This is the lowest barrier collaborative instrument in the Horizon Europe landscape and a sensible route for organisations that are not yet ready to lead a full research and innovation action. It is also a legitimate way to build the network that later supports a Pillar II proposal. Universities, research institutes, early career researchers, SMEs with a research interest and public bodies looking to enter European collaboration should treat this as the entry point.

> 🤝 Programme: COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology Budget: Around €150,000 in year one and €180,000 in each of years two to four, per Action Deadline: Wednesday 28 October 2026 at 12:00 CET Scope: Up to 80 new COST Actions, minimum 40% young researchers and innovators among proposers Next: Results expected in May 2027

> Source: COST

Water4All and the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership line up September calls

Two Horizon Europe co-funded partnerships have pre-announced joint transnational calls opening next month, and they are best read as one block rather than separately. The Water4All 2026 Joint Transnational Call on Sustainable Water Management, excluding extreme events and circularity, opens on 8 September 2026 with a pre-proposal deadline of 10 November 2026 at 15:00 CET. Funding organisations from 30 countries are involved and pre-proposal selection is expected in early February 2027. The four topics cover integrated monitoring and assessment, nature based approaches at hydrological and hydrogeological system scale, smart and adaptive water infrastructures, and resilient water systems through governance and policy coherence.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership plans to launch its fourth joint transnational call on 14 September 2026 at 15:00 CEST, with a provisional pre-proposal deadline of 16 November 2026. It pools around €37 million from 35 funding organisations across 28 countries, with EU support. Its four priorities cover sustainable and strategically autonomous blue economy sectors, digital and ecosystem based management of sea uses, sustainable blue bioresources, and resilient coastal communities.

Both open in September, both use a two stage pre-proposal route with a November cut off, and in both cases eligibility is set by the national funders rather than the Commission. That is the part applicants underestimate. Check your national funder's annex and confirm that your funder is participating now, not when the call opens. Blue Economy proposals are expected to involve partners requesting funding from at least three participating funding organisations in three different countries, and a Water4All partner search tool is already live. Water utilities, marine and coastal research institutes, environmental agencies, regional authorities and technology providers in monitoring, sensing and water infrastructure should be forming partnerships this month.

> 🌊 Programme: Water4All Partnership and Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, both Horizon Europe co-funded Budget: Around €37 million for the Blue Economy call, Water4All budget set by participating national funders Deadline: Water4All pre-proposals Tuesday 10 November 2026 at 15:00 CET, Blue Economy pre-proposals provisionally 16 November 2026 Opens: Tuesday 8 September 2026 for Water4All, Monday 14 September 2026 for the Blue Economy call Next: Water4All informative webinar on 17 September 2026, see Upcoming Events

> Source: Water4All Partnership and Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership

Japan formally associates to Horizon Europe Pillar II

Association is the status that lets entities from a non EU country participate in Horizon Europe on the same terms as those from Member States. The agreement associating Japan was signed in Brussels on 30 July 2026 and covers Pillar II, the €52.4 billion part of the programme that funds collaborative research on climate, health, energy, digital and industrial competitiveness.

Japanese universities, research organisations and companies can now participate fully, including coordinating consortia and receiving EU funding, and Japan will contribute financially to the programme budget. Transitional arrangements had already allowed Japanese applicants to apply and be evaluated since January 2026, so this formalises a route that has been partly open for months.

The practical effect lands on consortium design. Japan brings deep industrial research capacity in advanced materials, electronics, mobility, energy and data driven science, which is precisely the profile that strengthens an impact and exploitation case in Cluster 4, Cluster 5 and Cluster 6 proposals. Anyone building a consortium for the autumn deadlines should at least test whether a Japanese partner improves the bid before defaulting to the usual European map.

> 🌏 Programme: Horizon Europe Pillar II, Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness Budget: €52.4 billion Pillar II budget, with Japan contributing financially to the programme Signed: 30 July 2026 in Brussels, with transitional participation in place since January 2026 Focus: Climate, health, energy, digital and industrial competitiveness

> Source: European Commission

Lump sum coordinators must use the online Part A budget table

Lump sum funding replaces actual cost reporting with a fixed amount tied to completed work packages, and the detailed work package budget is the heart of the proposal. HaDEA and UKRO continue to flag that selected 2026 lump sum topics are trialling an online Part A budget table in place of the separate Excel table coordinators have used until now.

This is a submission mechanics change rather than a policy one, but it is the kind that costs a team a day it does not have in the final week. Coordinators on affected topics must complete the budget in Part A of the application form. Check the specific topic conditions before you build the budget, not after.

One related planning point. Intermediate drafts of the Horizon Europe 2026 to 2027 work programme amendments are circulating through the Comitology Register ahead of formal adoption scheduled for autumn 2026. Topics, budgets, eligibility and evaluation conditions may still change across several clusters, so do not build a 2027 pipeline on draft topic text.

> 📋 Programme: Horizon Europe lump sum topics, 2026 calls Change: Online Part A budget table replaces the separate Excel table on selected topics Who is affected: Coordinators preparing lump sum proposals on trialling topics Also watch: Work programme amendments for 2026 and 2027, formal adoption expected in autumn 2026

> Source: EU Funding and Tenders Portal

In brief

Three further developments worth a note:

Charter of Access for industrial users, adopted 28 July 2026, sets voluntary principles to make company access to laboratories, pilot lines and large scientific instruments faster and clearer. If your work plan depends on testing or validation capacity, check whether the target infrastructure has endorsed it before you write the access arrangements in. A Commission session on industrial access runs on 22 September 2026.

Cyber Resilience Act guidance, published 27 July 2026, covers remote data processing, open source software, substantial modification, support periods and reporting duties. Teams developing connected products, firmware or software should use it to test product scope and lifecycle obligations before budgets are fixed, because compliance effort that is not costed at proposal stage surfaces at reporting stage.

Three consultations are open. The EU Blueprint on intellectual property licensing and spinoff creation closes 16 August 2026, the draft terms for the IF26 Hydrogen Auction close 24 August 2026, and the consultation on Joint Undertakings, Article 185 initiatives and European Partnerships for the 2028 to 2034 period closes 16 October 2026. The last of these is where the structure of future calls is decided, well before any topic text exists.

Featured Calls

These are the most popular calls on Discovery this week. Get in touch if you'd like to find out whether you could be a fit. Interested in pursuing any of these calls? Request a free concept note to find out how your organisation fits and what a winning proposal could look like.

Deadlines in this section run from 3 September to 8 October. That is enough runway for a competitive bid where a partner base already exists, and not enough for a standing start, so anything here that fits is worth beginning this week.

Digital & Industry

> 🛰️ HORIZON-CL4-2026-SPACE-03-32: Preparing demonstration missions for Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions (Space Partnership) Budget: €26 million total, around four grants of €5 million to €10 million | Deadline: 3 September 2026 Programme: Horizon Europe, Innovation Actions | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Space, Earth observation, satellite telecommunications, digital services Summary: Prepares demonstration missions that turn Earth observation and satellite communication capability into operational downstream solutions. Fit signal: Space systems integrators, satellite operators, downstream data and analytics companies, research organisations and public agencies using Earth observation data.

> 🌐 DIGITAL-2026-BESTUSE-10-NETWORKSICS: Ensuring comprehensive geographical coverage of the Network of Safer Internet Centres Budget: €24.4 million total, around 15 grants of roughly €1.6 million, with per country allocations to be confirmed in the official call document | Deadline: 1 October 2026 Programme: Digital Europe Programme | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Online safety, digital literacy, child protection, awareness raising Summary: Funds national Safer Internet Centres to close geographical gaps in the European network. Fit signal: NGOs, helpline and hotline operators, child protection bodies, education organisations and public authorities working on online safety.

> 🖥️ DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GFP: AI compute evaluation and deployment platform for EU infrastructure Budget: €70 million total for a single project, with an expected EU contribution of €50 million to €70 million | Deadline: 23 September 2026 Programme: Digital Europe Programme, Chips Joint Undertaking | Status: Open Thematic Areas: AI compute, semiconductors and microelectronics, digital infrastructure, high performance computing Summary: Funds a platform to evaluate and deploy AI compute capability across EU infrastructure, the closest grant funded counterpart to this week's AI Gigafactories tender. Fit signal: Large consortia only. Supercomputing centres, semiconductor and hardware vendors, cloud and edge infrastructure operators, and research organisations with proven large scale AI compute deployment experience.

Climate & Energy

> 🚊 HORIZON-MISS-2026-04-CIT-01: Energy efficient urban and sub-urban public transport, complemented by shared mobility Budget: €20 million total, around two grants of approximately €10 million each | Deadline: 8 October 2026 Programme: Horizon Europe, EU Missions, Innovation Actions | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Urban mobility, public transport, energy efficiency, shared mobility, climate neutral cities Summary: Funds energy efficient public transport in urban and sub-urban areas, combined with shared mobility services that close the gaps in the network. Fit signal: Cities and transport authorities, public transport operators, shared mobility providers, vehicle and charging technology suppliers, and urban mobility research groups.

> 🌍 LIFE-2026-SAP-CLIMA-CCM: Climate Change Mitigation Budget: €28 million envelope, with no expected number of projects or per grant contribution recorded, so check the official LIFE call document for the award structure | Deadline: 22 September 2026 Programme: LIFE Programme, project grants | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Climate mitigation, emissions reduction, land use, industry and energy decarbonisation Summary: Supports practical projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions and help deliver EU climate targets on the ground. Fit signal: Local and regional authorities, SMEs, NGOs, industry associations and research bodies with deployable mitigation solutions rather than early stage research.

Food & Environment

> 🐝 HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01: Understanding and tackling the decline of insects Budget: €13 million total, around two grants of approximately €6.5 million each | Deadline: 17 September 2026 Programme: Horizon Europe, Research and Innovation Actions | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Biodiversity, pollinators, agriculture, ecosystem monitoring Summary: Funds work to understand the drivers of insect decline and to develop measures that reverse it. Fit signal: Ecology and entomology research groups, agricultural research institutes, environmental agencies, land managers and monitoring technology providers.

> 🌿 LIFE-2026-PLP-NAT-ENV: Projects on Legislative and Policy Priorities in Nature & Biodiversity and Circular Economy & Quality of Life Budget: €13.5 million envelope, with no expected number of projects or per grant range recorded, so confirm the award structure in the official call document | Deadline: 22 September 2026 Programme: LIFE Programme, project grants | Status: Open Thematic Areas: Nature restoration, biodiversity policy, circular economy, environmental governance Summary: Supports projects that help Member States implement specific EU nature, biodiversity and circular economy legislation. Fit signal: Public authorities, environmental NGOs, sector federations and research organisations working directly on implementing EU environmental law.

Calls Opening This Week

Stay ahead of new opportunities as they open. Sign up to Discovery for real-time alerts and curated recommendations.

No new calls opened in the database during the past week, which is normal for August. The five Cluster 5 energy calls below opened on Tuesday 4 August and have not been announced here before. All five close on 1 December 2026 and together carry around €131.5 million, which gives them a longer runway than anything in Calls to Prioritise Now.

HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-04 ⇢ De-risking renewable fuel technologies through transnational pre-commercial procurement of renewable fuel industrial value chains - opened Tuesday 4 August Budget: €40 million | Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026

HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-23 ⇢ Data sharing to support the training and development of AI foundation models in the energy sector - opened Tuesday 4 August Budget: €30 million | Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026

HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-14 ⇢ Improved system design for innovative PV applications (EUPI-PV Partnership) - opened Tuesday 4 August Budget: €30 million | Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026

HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-06 ⇢ Resource assessment for deep sedimentary and basement reservoirs - opened Tuesday 4 August Budget: €18 million | Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026

HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-05 ⇢ Demonstration of solid biofuel supply and conversion to high efficiency CHP from fully sustainable regional value chains - opened Tuesday 4 August Budget: €13.5 million | Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026

Calls to Prioritise Now

These deadlines are approaching, but there's still enough runway to prepare a competitive proposal. Proposal Builder gives you senior co-authoring and expert EU funding support through to submission.

ERC-2027-STG ⇢ ERC Starting Grant (€594.1M, around 373 grants) Wednesday 14 October 2026

HORIZON-EIC-2026-TRANSITIONOPEN ⇢ EIC Transition Open (€100M, around 40 grants) Wednesday 16 September 2026 A draft 2027 EIC work programme reported on 4 August indicates Transition would be restricted to single company beneficiaries, so this may be the last round open to multi partner consortia. Draft signal, not adopted policy.

HORIZON-CID-2026-01-02 ⇢ R&I in Support of the Clean Industrial Deal: Clean Technologies for Climate Action (€150M, eight indicative grants of €15M to €25M) Tuesday 15 September 2026

CEF-T-2026-COREGEN-RAIL-WORKS ⇢ Rail, studies, works or mixed (€350M within the wider 2026 CEF Transport package) Tuesday 6 October 2026

LIFE-2026-SAP-NAT-NATURE ⇢ Nature and Biodiversity (€166M, around 30 grants) Tuesday 22 September 2026

HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D2-03 ⇢ Integrated Production and Product Development for Next-Generation Lithium-based Batteries for Mobility (€100M, three indicative grants) Thursday 8 October 2026

HORIZON-WIDERA-2026-03-WIDENING-01 ⇢ Hop-On Facility (€30M, around 60 grants) Thursday 24 September 2026

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events relevant to EU funding and innovation.

EU CAP Network brokerage event, expression of interest deadline ⇢ Last day to register interest in the Cluster 6 and Mission Soil partnering event, closing at 23:59 CET Date: Friday 14 August 2026 | Location: Online

LIFE at SERE2026, European Conference on Ecological Restoration ⇢ LIFE programme presence at Europe's main ecological restoration conference, for nature, biodiversity and restoration practitioners Date: Monday 24 August – Friday 28 August 2026 | Location: Brest

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