What opportunities does the first EIT calls offer the games industry?

EGDF summary of the first EIT Culture & Creativity calls

The first EIT Culture & Creativity calls are now open! The objective of these calls is to facilitate Europe’s green, digital, and social transitions.

The first five open calls are:

  • Talent Scaler (Call 1) mainly targets higher game education institutions interested in building an EIT labelled Master’s programme
  • Skills Fitter (Call 2) mainly targets game education institutions building lifelong learning courses
  • Breakthrough Lab (Call 3) mainly targets game developer studios interested in developing and testing innovative products, processes, or services
  • Venture Factory (Call 4) mainly targets organisations interested in developing and delivering fit-for-purpose incubation and/or accelerator programmes 
  • Community Catalyser (Call 5) mainly targets non-formal game education institutions (e.g. game dev clubs or game jam organisers) interested in helping local communities to develop and implement innovative solutions for shared or similar challenges

The submission deadline for Expressions of Interest is rapidly approaching, so make sure to check out the summary of the calls. 

Who can apply?

  • All legal entities from the EU and associated countries that are eligible for Horizon Europe funding.
  • Organisations from non-associated countries may also request to participate in the activities, providing that they can demonstrate self-financing from their own funds or state funds.
  • More info is available here

What are the General Financing Rules?

  • Eligible costs, indirect costs and co-funding EIT Culture & Creativity adheres to the Horizon Europe principles regarding eligible costs, indirect costs and co-funding. Indirect costs (25% of the eligible direct costs). For more details on eligible costs, please consult Article 6 of the General Model Grant Agreement

Short Glossary

  • CCSI: Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI)
  • RIS: Regional Innovation Scheme of the EIT to boost the innovation performance of countries with moderate or modest innovation scores as defined by the European Innovation Scoreboard. For more information on RIS, please see here .  Countries eligible to take part in the EIT RIS (2021-2024)

The calls are available here: https://eit-culture-creativity.eu/calls-for-proposals/

For more EGDF EU funding summaries, please visit: https://www.egdf.eu/summary-of-european-video-games-industry-eu-funding-calls-for-2023/


1. EDUCATION

1.1 Action Programme 1: Talent Scaler (Call 1)

The objective of this Call is to develop new EIT labelled Master’s programmes that advance and future-proof the European CCSI. These programmes will empower the next generation of socially conscious graduates with the skills and experience to foster societal transformation and economic development through creative thinking and the arts. This call is particularly interesting for game-related Higher Education Institutions or national/regional/local clusters, and game associations interested in contributing to educational content development.

  • What the funding can be used for?
    • Strand 1: Enhancement of existing Master’s programmes:
      •  New curricula developed within existing Master’s programmes by developing and implementing new, relevant modules.
      • The proposed additional modules could also be delivered, for example, through blended learning, hybrid summer/winter schools, MOOCs, etc.
      • The new modules should focus on:
        • Future skills and new technologies
        • Societal transformation and sustainability through CCSI
        • Ethical and sustainable entrepreneurship in CCSI
        • Creativity as skill for innovation
    • Strand 2: New Master’s programmes:
      • New Master’s programmes linking sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness inspired by the New European Bauhaus values, with innovation, business and entrepreneurship capacity.
      • The programmes promote hybrid learning experience
      • Master’s programmes that build capacity and transversal skills of students in one or more of the following areas:
        • Creative practices and new technologies
        • Societal transformation and sustainability through design and the arts
        • Ethical and sustainable entrepreneurship in the arts, digital and design 

How much funding is available and under what conditions? 

  • Estimated total EIT budget for this Call in 2024  €1,400,000
  • Maximum grant per project:
    • €300,000 per year, for three years (2024-2026)
    • €500,000 per year, for four years (2024-2027)
  • Consortia can apply for full financing. However, co-funding is encouraged.
  • We are aiming to finance four new Master’s programmes in two different Strands.
  • The activity must be coordinated by a Higher Education Institution. Consortia must consist of at least two Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and at least two non-academic institutions. The consortia’s partners must be from at least two different EU or associated countries, with at least one from a RIS eligible country. 

Mandatory KPI(s): EITHE07.01: No of graduates from EIT-labelled programmes. A minimum target of 25 students graduating in the first iteration of the programmes is required.

The key dates for this Call are:

  • 03 April 2023: Call Opening
  • 25 April 2023 (10 – 1pm CET): EIT Culture & Creativity Infoday
  • 31 May 2023 (4pm CET): Deadline for submitting a Full Proposal (FP)
  • Mid-September: Communication of results to all applicants

1.2 – Action Programme 2: Skills Fitter (Call 2)

The objective of this Call is to support the development and delivery of new lifelong learning courses, renewing and refreshing the skills of professionals and practitioners active in CCSI fields. The activities shall provide structured access to crucial entrepreneurial and cross-cutting competencies such as business and financial management, use of emerging technologies for improving their competitiveness, and ethical, sustainable and business models. This call is particularly interesting for game-related Higher Education Institutions, VET (vocational Education and training) providers, or national/regional/local clusters, and game associations interested in contributing to educational content development.

What the funding can be used for?

  • Consortia that design and implement a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course consisting of approximately 4 independent modules, for a total of around 30 hours.
  • Courses shall clearly fit within the ISCED fields of education related to EIT Culture & Creativity (Arts and humanities;Social sciences, journalism and information; Business and administration; information and Communication Technologies (ICTs); Materials; Textiles,  Architecture and town planning
  • Courses use ‘learn by doing’, action-based and challenge-based learning methodologies and that will facilitate collaborative working to develop skills, knowledge and ideas that can be applied to participants’ professional projects.
  • These shall build participant’s capacity and skills in at least one the following thematic areas:
    • Use of digital tools such as digital marketing and social media, digital content and distribution, e-commerce, emerging web technologies like blockchain based authentication, virtual exhibitions and curation to improve competitiveness within the CCSI sectors.
    • Use of data analytics in areas such as audience development and relationship building, data for creating, measuring and articulating value and impact, and data-based decision making and developing new business models for improving internal processes and decisionmaking in CCSI.
    • Develop business-oriented skills for CCSI avenues and enterprises. Examples include areas such as strategic planning, financial management, project management, fundraising and social entrepreneurship, alternative and ethical business models.
    • Skills that support the creation of strategies and practices for sustainable development relevant for CCSI 
    • Develop intrapreneurship skills that unlock creativity and develop innovative ideas and solutions within the workplace.

How much funding is available and under what conditions? 

  • Estimated total EIT budget for this Call in 2024 is €1,250,000 
  • Maximum grant per project: €250,000 per year, for two years (2024 -2025)
    • Consortia can apply for full financing in 2024 and 2025. However, co-funding is encouraged.
    • Aiming to finance five courses – one each in the areas identified above.
    • The consortium must include partners from at least three different countries (of which at least one must be a partner from a RIS region), and must include at least one academic institution or VET provider.

Mandatory KPI(s): EITHE07.01: No of graduates from EIT-labelled programmes. A minimum target of 120 graduates after the second year is required.

The key dates for this Call are:

  • 03 April 2023: Call Opening
  • 25 April 2023 (10 – 1pm CET): EIT Culture & Creativity Infoday
  • 31 May 2023 (4pm CET): Deadline for submitting Expression of Interest (EoI)
  • 10 July 2023: Completion of the evaluation of EoIs and Communication of results to all EoI applicants. The highest ranked proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal
  • 14 August 2023: Deadline for submitting a Full Proposal & Call Closing
  • Mid-September: Communication of results to all applicants

2. INNOVATION

3.2.1 -Action Programme 3: Breakthrough Lab (Call 3)

The objective of this Call is to support innovations building on creative solutions to tackle the major challenges facing the CCSI as well as global challenges addressed by CCSI. We aim for projects that develop disruptive products and services that can be used in the CCSI and beyond targeting mainly five high impact markets Architecture, Audio-visual, Cultural Heritage, Design and Fashion and Textile. This Call is particularly interesting for national/regional/local clusters, game associations, innovation agencies or game developers who are working on an innovative design/product/process/service or business model that aims to be income generating, and focused on one of the above-mentioned areas

What the funding can be used for?

  • Projects supported as part of the Breakthrough Lab will be ‘close to market’ and will lead to income-generating innovations within 24 months from the start of the project
  • Innovation activities in the following areas:
    • Architecture: innovative and scalable designs or products for new or renovated buildings and/or public spaces that will effectively contribute to climate-neutrality.
    • Audio-visual: development and testing of innovative products, processes, or services for audio visual industry applications that can demonstrate use of emerging technologies for environmental sustainability or new models in the Metaverse, of IP monetization or for fair remuneration of creatives as well as innovative distribution of contents.
    • Cultural heritage: innovative products and business models that contribute to the preservation and dissemination of European cultural heritage, tangible or intangible, and provides revenue streams or new forms of value generation that ensure the financial sustainability of the heritage site or activity.
    • Design: development and testing of innovative products, processes, and services that significantly improve existing solutions by developing novel criteria and approaches, in terms of ecological aspects, eg. environmental protection but also providing future oriented proposals for social and economic sustainability and prosperity. Fashion and textile:use of digital technologies and/or new materials to create new no-waste or net-zero products, processes, services or business models.
    • ‘Wild card’: ‘unexpected’ innovations that do not fit into any of the focus areas identified above.

How much funding is available and under what conditions? 

  • Estimated total EIT budget for this Call is €5,000,000
  • Maximum grant per project: €500 000.
    • Consortia must provide a minimum of 30% co-funding
    • Aiming to finance 10 projects through this Call. Projects last one year
    • The consortia must consist of at least two independent organisations from two different EU or associated countries, with at least one partner from the CCSI and one SME.

Mandatory KPI(s): EITHE02.4: Innovations launched on the market (sales revenue ≥ 10K€). A minimum target of one innovation is required.

The key dates for this Call are expected to be:

  • 03 April 2023: Call Opening
  • 25 April 2023 (10 – 1pm CET): EIT Culture & Creativity Infoday
  • 31 May 2023 (4pm CET): Deadline for submitting a Full Proposal (FP)
  • Mid-September: Communication of results to all applicants

3 – CREATION

3.1 – Action Programme 5: Venture Factory (Call 4)

The objective of this Call is to support the creation and growth of sustainable CCSI businesses that share EIT Culture & Creativity’s vision of the future. Building on the growth and impact potential of CCSI enterprises we look for business support programmes such as incubation and acceleration that cater to the specificities of CCSI and support scalable, business-savvy ventures both for profit and non-profit. This Call is particularly interesting for national/regional/local clusters, game associations, or incubation/accelerator centers interested in developing high quality incubator or accelerator programmes for founders and startups

What the funding can be used for?

  • Development and delivery of fit-for-purpose incubation and / or accelerator programmes for CCSI businesses of high standard, and able to deliver impact, results and scalability the KIC is targeting in terms of growth of the sector and financial sustainability.
  • Divided in two strands, Strand 1 and Strand 2.
  • For both Strands, the CCSI specific incubation and acceleration programmes shall:
    • target founders and startups from CCSI;
    • be focused on CCSI specific value and venture models, the core economics of the business model, revenue generation for profit and non-profit venture models, and support during the first stages of the startup, i.e., incubation and acceleration;
    • cover topics such as business validation methodologies, market and customer understanding, financing, intellectual property in the CCSI, etc;
    • cover activities including – but not limited to – training, expertise sharing, investment readiness, and bespoke workshops led by industry leaders and mentors;
    • go beyond the state of the art, for example through cross-domain & -sector collaborations, industry cooperations or learning formats;
    • attract investors and financing opportunities for the startups and scaleups being supported through the programmes;
    • ensure that EIT Culture & Creativity has full access to the participating startups and scale-ups;
    • ensure that the programmes are branded as EIT Culture & Creativity services.
  • Strand 2 is a specific Call for capacity-building in RIS regions where bespoke CCSI business creation and business support programmes are currently lacking. EIT Culture & Creativity is looking to support organisations seeking to develop these programmes in one or more RIS region, supporting founders / startups from these regions.

How much funding is available and under what conditions? 

  • Estimated total EIT budget for this Call is €5,000,000
  • Maximum grant per project:  €325 000 per year for two years
  • Strand 1:
    • Consortia must provide a minimum of 20% co-funding
    • at least two independent business support organisations from two different EU or associated countries are require
    • Aiming to finance 3 programmes
  • Strand 2:
    • No co-funding is required. However, co-funding is encouraged.
    • at least one of the business support organisations must be from a RIS eligible region.
    • Aiming to finance 1 programme
    • Each programme must be at least 6 months in length, delivered in English, and support 5 to 10 founders /startups 

Mandatory KPI(s)

  • Strand 1:
    • EITHE03.1: Supported start-ups/scale-ups (minimum target of 5 registered companies supported)
    • EITHE06.1:  Investment attracted by KIC-supported start-ups and scale-ups (minimum target of an average €50k/company).
  • Strand 2: 
    • EITHE03.2-EITRIS: Supported start-ups/scale-ups registered in RIS (minimum target of 5 registered companies supported)
    • EITHE06.1:  Investment attracted by KIC-supported start-ups and scale-ups (minimum target of an average €50k/company).

The key dates for this Call are expected to be:

  • 03 April 2023: Call Opening
  • 25 April 2023 (10 – 1pm CET): EIT Culture & Creativity Infoday
  • 31 May 2023 (4pm CET): Deadline for submitting a Full Proposal (FP)
  • Mid-September: Communication of results to all applicants

4 – SOCIETY

4.1 – Action Programme 8: Community Catalyser (Call 5)

The objective of this Call is to address the social fragmentation by providing spaces for communities to cohesively create a future of Europe for all. Specifically, the activities will seek to strengthen the sense of belonging by fostering civic participation and encouraging social and cultural entrepreneurship through CCSI-driven social innovation, resulting in products, services and models that address social needs while create social relations hips and form new collaborations. This Call is particularly interesting for national/regional/local clusters, game associations, researchers or game developers who want to develop initiatives that contribute to social and cultural cohesion and local environmental challenges.

What the funding can be used for?

  • Activities that leverage creative and cultural approaches enabling local communities to develop and implement innovative solutions for shared or similar challenges. These approaches may build on any of the creative and cultural subsectors(e.g., audiovisual, videogames, performing arts, music, architecture, design, culture, heritage or the arts).
  • All initiatives must lead to clear innovations with scalable and replicable potential that increase both the social and cultural cohesion in the communities as well as increasing a sense of belonging and empowerment
  • Activities shall also contribute to addressing local-based environmental challenges

How much funding is available and under what conditions?

  • Estimated total EIT budget for this Call in 2024 is €1,500,000. 
    • Looking to finance 6 projects
  • Maximum grant per project:  €250,000 per project (one year)
    • Consortia must provide a minimum of 20% co-funding.
    • Each project supported needs to demonstrate the capacity to meaningfully engage participants from civil society and for lowering potential barriers for access (e.g., physical, technical, cognitive, sociocultural). Specific projects with refugees or newcomers are encouraged.
    • Consortia must consist of at least three independent organisations from three different EU or associated countries, of which at least one must be a partner from a RIS region. At least one partner must be a civil society organisation and at least one partner must be an SME.  Participation of microenterprises or start-ups is encouraged.
    • Consortia need to design an impact monitoring strategy with quantifiable and qualitative results and data that can measure the long-term effects of CCSIs- led innovations, to facilitate the future replication and scale-up of new initiatives.

Mandatory KPI(s): Consortia must select either EITHE02.4 (option A): Innovations launched on the market (sales revenue ≥ 10K€) (minimum target of one innovation is required), or EITHE04.4 (option B): Start-ups created (financial transaction ≥ 10K€) – (minimum target of one startup is required).

The key dates for this Call are expected to be:

  • 03 April 2023: Call Opening
  • 25 April 2023 (10 – 1pm CET): EIT Culture & Creativity Infoday
  • 31 May 2023 (4pm CET): Deadline for submitting Expression of Interest (EoI)
  • 10 July 2023: Completion of the evaluation of EoIs and Communication of results to all EoIapplicants. The highest ranked proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal
  • 14 August 2023: Deadline for submitting a Full Proposal & Call Closing
  • Mid-September: Communication of results to all applicants