INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call for Independent Innovators (IIs)

Description

The implementation of INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call for Independent Innovators (II) sub-projects will last for 4 months and it will be divided into 2 phases: 1) Phase 1: Plan – M01, report: D1 (50% of the funding will be released upon acceptance), 2) Phase 2: Implement - M02-M04, report: D2 (50% of the funding will be released upon acceptance). Each of the 2 phases will be completed with submission of deliverable, which summarized the work done during that phase. The review process will be followed each phase of the implementation. Once the deliverable is received, it will be assessed by the INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call Selection Board members. A request for the deliverable’s update may occur with specific requirements for what should be modified. Based on the results of the review and acceptance of respected deliverables, payment will be made towards the subgrantees in the previously explained modalities.

Beneficiary & submission

SUBMISSION: In Open Call for Independent Innovators (II), INCiTiS-FOOD project will select 24 winners. Independent Innovators (IIs), who can only be start-up entrepreneurs and SMEs residing in one of the eight cities and towns within the six INCiTiS-FOOD countries hosting a LL, are eligible to apply. Each location will have 3 selected winners. All Open Call winners must meet the eligibility criteria outlined in Section 3 of the Applicants’ Guide. At the time of application, all applicants must submit the following: Declaration of Honour (either for legal entities or natural persons) and Declaration of Conducting Business (either for legal entities or natural persons), along with the proposal pitch. During the contracting phase, winners of the INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call for Independent Innovators (II) must also provide: Bank account information and signed copies of the Sub-grant Agreement for INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call winners (indicative model given, for informative purposes only), which will be given to them upon being declared a winning applicant. All applications for INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call for Independent Innovators (II) must be done in English, since the submissions done in other languages will be considered ineligible and will not be evaluated. Independent Innovators who do not have an established sole proprietorship (i.e. VAT number) will have to establish one, in accordance with respective national regulations, prior to signing their subgrantee agreement. During the application period, they will submit a letter of commitment to establishing a sole proprietorship, should they be declared the winner of the Open Call. Start-ups qualify under the SME definition (see: EUR-Lex - 32003H0361 - EN; Art. 2) and are therefore eligible to apply individually. The entry point for submitting all proposals for INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call 2 is the INCiTiS-FOOD website https://incitis-food.eu/ , where the direct link to the application form will be inserted. Applications received through any other channel will be automatically discarded. All the documents needed for the application (INCiTiS-FOOD Open Call Kit) could be found on the INCiTiS-FOOD website, on the section dedicated to the 2nd Open Call. EVALUATION: Once the Open Call has been closed (February 9th, 2026, 17:00 CET/Brussels time), an eligibility check process will be carried out in order to discard non-eligible applications. The eligibility check will be carried out by Selection Board of each Living Lab, chaired by INCiTiS-FOOD partner managing the Open Call, Foodscale Hub, during February 2026. Only the eligible applications will proceed to the evaluation. Remote evaluation will be carried out by the Selection Board (Coordinator, Open Call Manager, LL leader of the respective city/town), assigned by their expertise to a specific Independent Innovator will score and comment each proposal: Alignment (maximum score 5 points): Alignment with INCiTiS-FOOD scope and design; Impact (maximum score 5 points): Solution output; community engagement (with special consideration given to women and young adults). Implementation (maximum score 5 points): knowledge and business experience of the applicant. The top 12 applicants selected during the remote evaluation will be invited to the pitching events. The pitching events aim to deeply understand applicants’ concepts and the feasibility of future integration of the proposed solution. At the events, the Selection Board will evaluate the following criteria: Concept (40%) [1-5; min. 3] – confirmation of feasibility and novelty of the proposed solution. Integration level (60%) [1-5; min. 3] – the feasibility of the proposed solution’s integration into existing LLs. After the pitching event, a ranking list will be developed. The selected applicants will be the top 3 ranked applications. Based on the ranking place, the sum of the grant varies: best ranked will receive 3,500€, second ranked 2,500€, and the third ranked 1,500€.

Further information

To reinforce multi-actor collaborations on main food system challenges and boost the overall impact of INCiTiS-FOOD, 2 Open Calls as part of the Cascade Fund and the FSTP mechanism will be launched. The budget dedicated to the Cascade Fund is 1,000,000€ in total. For better urban and peri-urban food systems across Africa, the Open Calls aim to provide: grants to 8 Local Innovation Hubs (consisting of 2-3 legal entities, 16-24 in total), can be located also outside the INCiTiS-FOOD countries – total dedicated sum 940,000€. (currently in the sub-projects' implementation phase) grants to 24 independent innovators from 8 cities and towns that are hosting INCiTiS-FOOD Living Labs (3 winners per LL) – 60,000€.