Description

The Scaling Green Innovation with Industry: Growth Box Call is part of the GreenGrid Eurocluster initiative, funded under the Single Market Programme (SMP/COSME). The call supports European SMEs developing mature green and digital energy solutions that can be validated, demonstrated, and scaled in collaboration with industrial or operational “Challenge Owners”.

The programme focuses on accelerating the deployment of innovative technologies addressing:

• grid flexibility,
• renewable energy integration,
• digitalisation of energy systems,
• decarbonisation,
• and energy system resilience.

Selected SMEs work directly with Challenge Owners (e.g. TSOs, DSOs, industrial operators, public authorities, or other companies) to validate solutions in real operational environments.

Funding Amount

• Maximum grant per SME/project: €50,000 lump sum
• Total Growth Box budget: €1,000,000
• Funding rate:
  • EU contribution covers up to 80%
  • Mandatory minimum 20% private co-financing required from the SME beneficiary.
• Payment conditions:
  • 50% pre-financing upon signature and enrolment in the accelerator
  • 50% final payment after approval of results and KPIs.

Submission Deadlines

• Opening date: 7 May 2026
• Deadline: 7 July 2026 (17:00 Brussels time)

Project duration:

• Up to 6 months

Submission Conditions

Applicants must:

• be SMEs according to the EU definition,
• be legally established for at least one year,
• have at least one closed financial year,
• be established in an eligible country,
• propose a mature solution aligned with a predefined GreenGrid challenge,
• commit to participation in the GreenGrid Accelerator Programme (minimum 80% participation required).

Additional conditions:

• applications are submitted as a single SME beneficiary,
• projects must collaborate with a designated Challenge Owner,
• solutions must demonstrate operational feasibility and scalability,
• applications are evaluated based on:
  • technical maturity,
  • relevance to challenge,
  • collaboration quality,
  • measurable impact,
  • scalability potential,
  • implementation quality.

Eligible Types of Businesses

Primary eligible applicants:

• Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Start-ups (if SME-qualified)

Relevant sectors include:

• clean energy,
• cleantech,
• digital energy,
• smart grids,
• energy storage,
• ICT,
• industrial energy efficiency,
• sustainability technologies.

Challenge Owners may include:

• TSOs,
• DSOs,
• industrial companies,
• public authorities,
• other SMEs,
  but they do not receive funding under this scheme.

Eligible Countries

Applicants must be established in:

• EU Member States,
• countries participating in the Single Market Programme (SMP/COSME strand).