May was a month of movement across Sploro’s EU projects portfolio.
Some projects moved closer to their final milestones, others entered new phases, and one new initiative officially joined our ecosystem. Across cybersecurity, knowledge valorisation, startup support and women-led deep tech innovation, the month brought together events, open calls, consortium meetings and new opportunities for collaboration.
Here is what happened across PQ-REACT, PQ-NEXT, VALLEYS, Open Horizons, APPtake and Women TechEU.
20-21 May | Berlin
May started with PQ-REACT looking ahead to one of its final major milestones. With the project concluding in August, the consortium’s focus is now shifting towards sharing results, closing activities and contributing to the wider conversation on Europe’s quantum-safe future.
The month began with the joint webinar “From Sea to Cyberspace: Securing Europe in the Quantum Era”, co-organised by PQ-REACT and SMAUG_EU.
The session took place the 5th of May and it brought both projects together around a shared concern: how emerging quantum threats could affect critical maritime infrastructure. By connecting expertise from cybersecurity, post-quantum cryptography and the maritime sector, the webinar opened an important conversation on how Europe can prepare its most strategic infrastructures for a quantum-safe future.
PQ-REACT also announced its Final Event, “Beyond the Algorithm: The Road to Quantum-Safe Europe”, which will take place on 11 June 2026 in Bucharest.
As the project enters its final stage, Mikel Apesteguía and Marina Ortega will join researchers, practitioners and policymakers to discuss Europe’s transition towards post-quantum cryptography, share key project outcomes and reflect on the role of collaboration in building a more secure digital future.
From 20 to 21 May, the consortium gathered at Fraunhofer FOKUS in Berlin for its 9th and final General Assembly.
As the last consortium meeting of the project, it marked an important milestone for PQ-REACT. With all 12 partners present, the meeting focused on reviewing the work completed, aligning on the final steps and approaching project closure with the same collaborative spirit that has guided the consortium from the beginning.
This was our final General Assembly, and the energy in the room reflected just how far we’ve come as a consortium. Our focus now is on closing the last deliverables and making the Bucharest event a strong showcase of everything PQ-REACT and the SPQR Cluster have achieved for Europe’s post-quantum transition
PQ-REACT is a Horizon Europe project developing a post-quantum cryptography framework for energy-aware contexts. Learn more at pqreact.eu.
11-12 May | Gran Canaria
May was not only about ongoing projects. It also marked the beginning of a new one, with VALLEYS officially joining Sploro’s European innovation portfolio.
VALLEYS — Valorisation Alliance Linking Laboratories, Enterprises and societY Stakeholders is funded under Horizon Europe’s WIDERA programme and focuses on strengthening Europe’s knowledge transfer ecosystem.
The project will support the organisations that often sit between research and real-world impact, including TTOs, science parks, incubators and innovation agencies. Through AI-powered digital tools, training, mentoring, cross-border mobility and cascade funding, VALLEYS will help these intermediaries become more connected, professionalised and better equipped to bring research closer to market and society.
Coordinated by Atrineo, the consortium brings together six partners from Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Greece.
The project kicked off in person on 11 and 12 May in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, hosted by Atrineo Iberia.
For Miguel García and Marina Ortega, the meeting was an opportunity to connect with the consortium from the very beginning, align on the work ahead and start shaping the collaboration that will guide VALLEYS over the next three years.
Sploro will contribute to VALLEYS through its experience in cascade funding, mentoring and innovation support, helping turn the project’s ambition into practical opportunities for Europe’s knowledge transfer ecosystem.
With €500,000 in cascade funding to be distributed and more than 500 participants expected to be trained, VALLEYS starts with a clear focus on impact.
For us, it is also a project we are especially looking forward to: a chance to support the people and organisations working every day to bring research closer to market and society.
VALLEYS offers a unique opportunity to put our expertise in cascade funding into helping innovation intermediaries become more professional and bringing research closer to the market and society.
VALLEYS is a Horizon Europe project helping innovation intermediaries strengthen knowledge valorisation and bring research closer to market and society. Learn more here.
For Open Horizons, May brought two clear signs of momentum: a new group of women-led startups entering the programme and the final open call closing with its strongest response yet.
Following the Open Call #2 evaluation process, 12 women-led deep-tech startups entered the programme’s Inception Phase on 4 May.
Working across areas such as AI, quantum computing, water management, predictive maintenance, food waste reduction and sustainable industry solutions, the startups will spend one month preparing for potential collaboration with corporates. From there, seven will move into the five-month Piloting Phase, where they will work more closely on validating their solutions.
On 19 May, Open Horizons reached another milestone with the closure of its final Open Call.
The response was the strongest of the programme so far: 389 applications from 38 countries, including 28 Horizon Europe Widening countries, and a 32% submission rate.
Beyond the numbers, the result shows how much interest there is in collaborative innovation opportunities that connect startups with corporates around real challenges.
For Open Horizons, May confirmed that the programme is closing with strong visibility, a growing ecosystem and a final cohort still to come.
The final Open Horizons Open Call closed with record engagement from startups across Europe, proving the growing demand for collaborative innovation and meaningful corporate-startup connections.
Open Horizons is a Horizon Europe project supporting deep tech and digital startups through cascade funding and structured corporate collaboration. Learn more at openhorizonsproject.eu.
19-20 May | Berlin
From one post-quantum project nearing its conclusion to another still building momentum, PQ-NEXT also brought partners together in May to align on the months ahead.
On 19 and 20 May, the consortium held its third General Assembly in Berlin, hosted by Fraunhofer FOKUS.
The meeting gave partners space to review progress, discuss upcoming activities and keep the project roadmap moving in the right direction.
Our own Maja Horvat joined the meeting and presented Sploro’s preliminary market research under Work Package 6, where we lead activities related to innovation management, exploitation and sustainability.
This work will support partners interested in bringing their results closer to market once the project concludes. As PQ-NEXT is still in its early stages, the market strategy and exploitation plans will continue to evolve as pilots, results and technical developments progress.
For Sploro, this is where the long-term value of the project starts taking shape: connecting technical progress with future exploitation opportunities.
PQ-NEXT is a Horizon Europe project advancing post-quantum cryptography to ensure secure and trustworthy digital communications in the quantum era. Learn more at pqnext.eu.
26-27 May | Pamplona
Back in Pamplona, APPtake used its May General Assembly to move from review to action, looking at the progress achieved so far and the final steps needed to complete its pilot activities.
On 26 and 27 May, the APPtake consortium met in Pamplona for its General Assembly. For Mikel Apesteguía and Aitor Uranga, the meeting provided an opportunity to reconnect with project partners, assess progress and help shape the activities that will define APPtake’s final months.
Discussions focused on the work carried out so far, the results achieved and the next steps needed to bring the project to a successful conclusion.
A key part of the conversation centred on the SaaS pilot that Sploro is running alongside Kronis, our project management platform.
The consortium reviewed feedback from piloting activities with the technology providers’ tools and mapped out the actions needed to bring the pilot to a strong close.
As the project moves towards its final phase, the focus is clear: turning the lessons from the pilot into practical outcomes that can support future use.
APPtake is a Horizon Europe project helping European SMEs strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities by driving the adoption of DevSecOps practices through an integrated marketplace of innovative application security solutions. Learn more at apptake.eu.
Finally, May closed on a meaningful note for Women TechEU. The 2024–2026 iteration reached its end, but for the community, and for Sploro, this is less a goodbye than the beginning of the next chapter.
Over the past two years, the programme has brought together partners, mentors, experts, evaluators and women-led deep tech startups from across Europe and Horizon Europe associated countries. All of them were united by one mission: supporting and empowering women innovators in deep tech.
Being part of this journey has been a privilege.
And the mission continues. Women TechEU will move into its next iteration for 2026–2028, carrying forward the community, impact and momentum built over the past two years.
For us, this is not the end of the story. It is a continuation of a mission we are proud to support: creating more space for women innovators in deep tech.
Women Tech EU is a European initiative supporting women-led startups in deep tech. Learn more at womentecheurope.eu.
The pace shows no signs of slowing down. As projects move from planning to implementation, and from results to impact, June is set to bring another round of milestones across the portfolio.
The PQ-REACT Final Event will take place in Bucharest on 11 June, VALLEYS will enter its first full working month, Open Horizons will move into the evaluation phase for its final open call, and APPtake will continue progressing towards its final activities.
We will also be introducing a new project in our portfolio: Skills4Valorisation, coordinated by Sploro.
Here’s to another month of innovation.
