The Mind4Machines project will provide 3.3 M€ of direct financial equity-free support via two Open Calls, to raise the efficiency and competitiveness of the manufacturing industry by adopting the latest digital technologies for a smarter and greener transformation aligned with the latest EU policies.
About the Mind4Machines project
Mind4Machines is an EU funded project (EU Horizon 2020 INNOSUP Programme) that aims to establish large-scale demonstrators to test a range of digital solutions of technology providing SMEs and startups, which will enable manufacturing companies engaged within the Project to meet both digitalisation and sustainability industry challenges.
The project, that follows a cascade funding scheme, will run two open calls for proposals to facilitate the cross-sectoral and cross-border support needed by manufacturing SMEs to test and adopt the latest digital technologies for transformation towards smarter, greener, and more resource-efficient manufacturing, aligned with the latest EU policies. To get a full detail about how cascade funding works visit our earlier post and discover all the benefits of this financial instrument for your organisation.
Mind4Machines open call summary
Mind4Machines will provide EUR 3.3 M of direct financial equity-free support via two Open Calls. The ultimate goal of these calls for financial support is to fund and encourage the validation of the new cross-sectoral and cross-regional digital manufacturing value chains, delivering innovative goods, services and processes in new sectors.

Additional to the funding,the Mind4Machines project will support the call beneficiaries in their commercialisation and scaling up journey with our tailored innovation and go-to-market accelerator programme. The programme will provide, among others, services such training camps, mentoring, e-learning courses, pitching competitions, innovation support, support in reaching private investments, technology transfer, IP, and others.
Mind4Machines open call details
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- Type I: Innovation Support: funds the development of innovative ICT based solutions for manufacturing industry. Targeted TRL 5-7.
- Type II: Go-to-market Support: funds the demonstration and growth of the digital solution(s) on the industry market. Targeted TRL 8-9.
TYPE OF APPLICATION
The application to this can be done by both single applicants and consortium-based applicants. All applicants [technology supplier applicant(s), industry partner(s)] must be registered in one of the EU27 Member States or in Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. The list of the countries associated with Horizon 2020 is available here.
PROPOSAL
The proposals consist of an online form with 3 main sections:
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- Excellence: This section should provide details about the innovative solution in terms of WHAT, WHY and WHO.
- Impact: This section should provide information about the company’s market (also in the context of the potential new market resulting from this project), competition and potential for replicating your solution in other sectors/areas.
- Implementation: This section should provide details about the concrete actions to be implemented, resource use and estimated timeline
On top of that, applicants will need to complete additional information about the environmental, social and gender impact. A summary of the application form in PDF format can be found here.
DURATION OF THE PROJECTS
Minimum of 6 months, maximum of 9 months.
WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
FUNDING
The first Open Call has a budget of EUR 1.650.000 that will be allocated by adopting two funding schemes:
- EUR 1.020.000 for the INNOVATION SUPPORT Scheme
- EUR 630.000 for the GO-TO-MARKET SUPPORT Scheme
Applicants propose the amount of the lump sum contribution on the basis of their estimated cost. The lump sum is fixed during grant preparation. Cofunding is not compulsory. The following table summarises the Funding scheme for the open call:

PAYMENTS
RELEVANT DATES
- Launch of the 1st Open Call 27/04/ 2022
- Deadline of the 1st Open Call 29/06/2022, 17:00 CET
- Evaluation of the applications 30/06/2022 – 29/08/2022
- Announcement of the final beneficiaries 01/09/2022
- Contracting procedure of the Sub-Grant Agreements 1/09/2022 – 30/09/2022
- Tentative Start date of sub-projects 3/10/2022
USEFUL INFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
How can SPLORO support your organisation with cascade funding grants?
We want to help you make these type of calls more accessible for your organisation. That is why we have designed a series of services to maximise your opportunities of receiving this financing:
- Identification and analysis of funding opportunities: our team monitors all open calls and make a first check on the eligibility of your organization.
- Proposals writing and submission management: we support you to land that idea that you have in mind and adapt it to the requirements of the call. In addition, we carry out the management and upload on the different platforms of all the necessary documentation to ensure that your project is eligible for the call.
- Access to international network: if you have not identified a partner yet, or simply don’t know who to start this adventure with, in consortium projects we take care of finding the partner for your project.
- Project management support: our service does not end with uploading the documentation, we help you throughout the full life cycle of the project, providing you management support and ensuring that you receive 100% of the grant you have won.
If you want to know more about our services for startups, do not hesitate to contact us and book a meeting with our CEO through this link ;).
If you need assistance in the proposal writing preparation, finding the right partners for the call or even having a double-check on what you are currently preparing, do not hesitate to contact us
If you are, on the other hand, managing a cascade grant and want us to promote your call and do a review of this nature, feel free to contact, we can definitely address the topic and help with dissemination within our networks.