EIT Catalyse NEB call offers €22,000 to 20 startups until 15 January

EIT Catalyse NEB call offers €22,000 to 20 startups until 15 January

29 October 2026: The European Institute of Innovation and Technology has opened the 2027 call of Catalyse NEB, its New European Bauhaus accelerator, which will pick 20 startups and give each a €22,000 grant plus business and design support. Applications opened at 14:00 CET on the day of the announcement and close at 17:00 CET on 15 January 2027.

Who can apply

The bar is specific, and most of it is about stage and ownership rather than sector. An applicant must:

• be a for-profit startup incorporated after 1 January 2022 in an EU member state, a linked overseas country or territory, or a country associated to Horizon Europe Pillar 3;
• hold a Participant Identification Code (PIC) when it applies;
• have earned at least €15,000 in revenue in 2026, or raised at least €40,000, or have taken part in Ignite NEB;
• be at pre-seed or seed stage, exceptionally Series A, with no more than €1 million raised in total;
• have a technology or business readiness level of at least 4, or have taken part in Ignite NEB;
• be more than 50% owned by its founders;
• meet at least the first ambition level for each of the three New European Bauhaus values (sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion) as set out in the NEB Compass;
• address at least one strategic focus area of a participating EIT knowledge and innovation community.

Both partners and non-partners of the EIT communities may apply.

What the programme is for

The New European Bauhaus is the EU's initiative to make places and ways of living more sustainable, inclusive and attractive, and Catalyse NEB backs startups meeting community needs in climate, food or urban mobility. Besides the grant, the programme offers one-to-one business and design mentoring, workshops on business development, communications and the NEB values, networking online and in person, and visibility during the programme.

A software or data company fits when its product serves one of those three areas, for example tools for mobility planning, food supply or building energy, and when it can show how the product meets the NEB values, which the call weighs alongside the business case.

Preparing an application

Applicants complete the online form, choose at least one strategic focus area and attach proof of revenue or investment (Ignite NEB alumni are exempt). The Participant Identification Code is the step that most often takes time: it is issued through the EU's Funding and Tenders portal and has to exist before the application is submitted. Questions go to the programme by email at neb@eitcommunity.eu.

The EIT's urban mobility community has its own open call with a cut-off on 28 January 2027.

Sources

• EIT: Catalyse NEB 2027 Open Call, 29 October 2026