The Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) Instrument opened calls with a total budget of EUR 145 million for the period of 2021-2022. The I3 Instrument is a new Cohesion Policy tool focusing on existing interregional partnerships that emerged around concrete smart specialisation strategies.

The calls are organised under two strands:

• Strand 1 - Financial and advisory support for investments in interregional innovation projects - targeting mature partnerships to assist them in accelerating market uptake and scaling-up of innovative solutions in shared smart specialisation priority areas, as well as in developing a portfolio of investment projects.
• Strand 2a - Financial and advisory support to the development of value chains in less developed regions - aiming to raise the capacity of regional innovation ecosystems in less developed regions to participate in global value chains, as well as the capacity to participate in partnerships with other regions.

The calls are open for submissions. Application deadlines are 22 February, 20 April (only strand 2a) and 18 October 2022.

Learn more here.

The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) will organise an informative online webinar on 9 December, concerning the I3 Instrument calls opened for the 2021-2022 period.