At the end of Horizon 2020, new forms of providing financial support to third parties were experimented with. Cascade funding was the outcome. These eliminate the typical administrative burden (for the Commission/Agencies) associated with proposals and tenders.
Cascade funding, also known as Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP), is a Commission mechanism to distribute public funding so as to assist beneficiaries (ex. Start-ups, scale-ups, SME and/or mid-caps) in the uptake or development of digital innovation. It is attractive for companies since it simplifies the application and assessment process for applying for European public funds through projects already funded and in operation.
During an ongoing project, the project consortium may decide what it needs to cover a type of scientific or technical need which cannot be solved by the consortium itself. Thus, Open Calls are launched for potential beneficiary groups. This results in new partners joining the consortium so as to carry out tasks within the project with a predetermined budget.
The topics targeted by cascade calls are varied, generally with a focus on digital issues. There are also open calls on Industry 4.0, Big Data, Robotics, Photonics, Future Internet / Next Generation internet, Internet of Things and more.
How do you access cascade funding calls?
1. Funding and Tenders Portal
When you access the Funding and Tenders portal, you can easily find open and closed cascade funding calls by using the filters.
2. Competitive calls and calls for third parties
An alternative way of finding cascade calls is to search “competitive calls and calls for third parties”, where you will find all the available and closed calls.
3. FundingBox
4. F6S Innovation
5. Sploro
Tip: It is helpful to sign up to the newsletters of the portals listed above in order to stay up to date with the latest cascade funding calls.
Sploro will be hosting an information session on Cascade funding Opportunities in Agri-Food on Thursday 13th July 2023. Register here!
