Call: Fast track to innovation

Fast Track to innovation (FTI) is a fully-bottom-up measure in Horizon 2020 promoting close-to-the-market innovation activities that is open to all types of participants. FTI aims to reduce the time from idea to market and to increase the participation in Horizon 2020 of industry, SMEs and first-time industry applicants.

FTI also aims to nurture trans-disciplinary and cross-sector approaches. All kinds of innovation actors can work together to develop sustainable innovations addressing societal needs or areas under 'Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies' and, at the same time, create viable business opportunities. This is why FTI projects must be business-driven and clearly demonstrate a realistic potential for quick deployment and market take-up of innovations.

On offer is a maximum EU contribution of €3M per proposal with time-to-grant (from the cut-toff to the signature of the grant) of around 6 months.

Proposals for funding must be submitted by consortia comprising between three and five legal entities established in at least three different EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon 2020. Within each consortium there must either be an allocation of at least 60% of the budget to industry participants or the consortium must include a minimum of two industry participants in a consortium of three or four partners, or three industry participants in a consortium of five partners.

Proposals can be submitted at any time during the three-year programme with ranking following three cut-off dates in 2018: 21 February 2018, 31 May 2018 and 23 October 2018 (17:00 Brussels time). Cut-off dates for 2019 and 2020 are in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme.

For more information, go the the website of the European Commission.