What is an SME?

A consortium of two or more SMEs that can be completed by a non-SME partner not receiving any financing.  The consortium must be cross-sectoral bringing together SMEs from the 5 target sectors.
At least one of the SMEs has to be established in one of the six METABUILDING target countries: Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain or be a direct member, or a member of an organisation which is a member, of the EURIC, AM, EFB and ECTP platforms. A proof oft he membership has to be provided with the application.

The other SME(s) in the consortium need(s) to be located in any of the EU-countries or Horizon 2020 associated countries.

Main steps of the application procedure for the GROW/HARVEST call applications:

1. Register on www.metabuilding.com
2. Confirm compliance with eligibility criteria for participating in the open call and absence of conflict of interest.
3. If needed use tools METABUILDING platform to find a consortium partner, technology asset and/or a service provider
4. Prepare and submit the application on Good Grants (automatic redirect from www.metabuilding.com) including signed offer from service provider.
5. The application must be completed in English, applications submitted in other languages will not be taken into consideration
6. After submission the applicant will receive an automatically generated acknowledgement of receipt. This acknowledgement

Although the project budget can be higher, the total financing per project is limited to 60,000 €. Please note that the proposed budget has to be in line with the effort to implement the project.

You can find more information in the GROW/HARVEST Call Guidelines for Applicants (EN)

Or by contacting your national contacts:

Applicants need to be established in one of the following six METABUILDING target countries:

• Austria
• France
• Hungary
• Italy
• Portugal
• Spain

If they are located elsewhere in Europe, they can also apply if they are a direct member or a member of an institution being a member of the EURIC, AM, EFB, ECTP platforms.

Yes, an SME can receive financing within different projects submitted to the different calls (SEED, GROW/HARVEST) published by the METABUILDING project. However, the total sum of direct METABUILDING financial support per SME is limited to 60,000 €.

The GROW/HARVEST projects have a duration of maximum 6 months after signing the agreement.

Application for the GROW/HARVEST collaborative projects will be evaluated by independent experts (not related to the project).

Three main criteria (presented in the table below) are going to be evaluated:

The maximum score of 5 in each of the evaluation criteria can only be achieved if the cross-border scope, impact or dimension can be evidenced.

On November 15, 2021.

No, only applications submitted in English will be accepted.

In order to receive the reimbursement, the awardee has to complete and submit a post-assessment questionnaire containing pre-defined KPIs which help to measure and compare the impact of the supported activities.

A second post-assessment on the same KPIs is required 12 months after the implementation of the service in order to analyze the medium-term impact of the supported activities on the awarded SMEs.

The EU funding is centrally managed by the European Commission and therefore not considered as De-Minimis state aid. Consequently, GROW/HARVEST grant should not be taken into account when determining maximum overall funding allowed per beneficiary (according to De-Minimis).

Yes, but they have to come with their own funding as they can’t receive funding from the grant.
If you want to work with a service provider please check the Innovation Stakeholder Directory to find eligible service providers here Innovation Stakeholder Directory – METABUILDING.

Up to 75% can be used to pay external services to service providers that belong to the Innovation Stakeholder Pool.
A 25% at least of the budget must be used by the SMEs to cover their own implementation costs. Equipment costs are not eligible.
Costs exceeding the amount of the grant can be covered by the SMEs or a non-SME partner with their own funds.
Large Enterprises can’t receive any funding from the grant.

Yes, if one of the requested documents is missing the application won’t be eligible.

No, only SMEs established in an EU country or being located in any of the Horizon 2020 associated countries can receive funding from the grant. Please check the list here: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/3cpart/h2020-hi-list-ac_en.pdf.

Yes, the call is challenge-based and only applications addressing at least one of the topics of the challenges will be eligible. Please note that you have to indicate in which topic your project should be evaluated.

How can a service provider be registered in the METABUILDING Innovation Stakeholder Pool?

Potential service providers have to register as users in the METABUILDING platform and signal their interest to become an Innovation Stakeholder. Then, they will have to contact the national Helpdesk of their country to learn about the procedure.

How many projects will be funded in total?

In this first round of GROW/HARVEST call a total of 16 projects will be funded based on the quality of the proposal and independently of the countries of origin of the participating SMEs.

Can a project not result in a marketed product?

The outcome has to be in line with the TRL expected at the end of the project and the result doesn’t necessarily has to be a finalised product.