ITEA software R&D call: project outlines due 2 November

ITEA software R&D call: project outlines due 2 November

20 October 2026: The ITEA cluster of the Eureka network has an open call for international collaborative R&D in software innovation, and the first deadline, for project outlines, is 2 November 2026. Full project proposals follow on 11 February 2027. Funding is national: each country pays for its own winners under its own rules.

Not yet independently verified. The dates and amounts come from Bpifrance's page for French participants; partners in other countries are funded under their own national rules, which differ. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

Who can apply

A consortium needs at least two partners from two different countries, one an Eureka member and the other a member or associated country. Large groups, SMEs, research institutes, universities and user organisations can all take part. ITEA4 projects are about technical innovation applied to industry, with a market focus and strong commercial potential, and can run for up to three years.

How the French side is funded

Bpifrance, which handles French participation, offers two routes. If the combined budget of all French participants is above €4 million, they apply to the i-Démo programme. Below that, French SMEs and mid-caps with up to 2,000 employees can ask their Bpifrance regional office for an innovation grant or an unsecured loan of €50,000 to €3 million. Eligible costs are industrial research and experimental development; industrialisation and commercialisation are not covered.

French applicants must first contact their Bpifrance innovation account manager, copying international.innoproject@bpifrance.fr, to check eligibility, and their foreign partners must contact their own funding bodies before submitting. Bpifrance can help find partners through the Enterprise Europe Network.

The two-step timetable

• 2 November 2026: project outline, a short description of objectives, innovation, intended commercial impact and the consortium.
• 11 February 2027: full project proposal for outlines that are evaluated positively, taking the jury's feedback into account; the French national funding application is filed on Bpifrance en Ligne at the same time.

Bpifrance's page lists several other Eureka and bilateral calls with French deadlines this autumn, including CELTIC-NEXT for ICT on 26 October, Eurogia on 29 October, France-Taiwan innovation partnerships on 30 October and France-Germany (ZIM) on 18 November. For a software company that already has a foreign partner, the ITEA outline is short enough to prepare in the two weeks left.

Sources

• Bpifrance: Appel à projets du cluster Eureka ITEA (read 2026-10-20), 20 October 2026