The deadline is fast approaching for agrifood innovators to apply for funding from EIT Food, the world’s largest food innovation community. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

The EIT Food Open Innovation Call for Proposals 2023 will provide up to €20 million in total funding for collaborative food innovation projects aiming to accelerate innovation to create positive change in the food system. Submissions are open now until 13 April 2023.

The proposed innovative solutions are expected to result in commercially viable products and services by the end of 2024 and beyond, and work towards achieving impact towards the following missions:

Healthier lives through food
A net zero food system
A fully transparent, fair and resilient food system

The funding will be used to get new products to market and introduce new and improved commercial processes and services, for the benefit of European citizens.

The EIT Food Open Innovation Call 2023 is open to all eligible European organisations, including current members of the EIT Food partnership as well as external actors in the agrifood space, such as industry, businesses, SMEs, universities, and startups. UK projects are also eligible for recovery of project costs for 2023 through the UK Government’s Guarantee Scheme.

Eligible consortia will need to demonstrate their ability to fund 30% of project costs from other sources, with EIT Food then reimbursing up to 70% of project costs.

Lorena Savani, Interim Director of Innovation at EIT Food, said: “The EIT Food Open Innovation Call 2023 offers the chance for Europe’s brightest agrifood innovators to access the funding needed to create bold new innovations to bring about positive change across the food sector. From developing alternative protein sources to preventing food waste, we want to hear from organisations working on new products, technologies or business practices that will help secure a fairer, more transparent and resilient food system for all.”

The Open Innovation Call 2023 follows six years of EIT Food funding in the area of agrifood innovation, that have resulted in a wealth of impactful innovations which are making a real contribution to the agrifood industry. The open funding call reflects EIT Food’s commitment to inclusive systems innovation.