Unlocking Europe's innovation potential: The I3 Instrument programme (2025-2027)

Innovation is a key driver for Europe's sustainable growth, regional development, and global competitiveness. Recognizing this, the European Commission has launched the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument for the period of 2025-2027. This initiative is aimed at strengthening European value chains by promoting interregional cooperation, advancing the digital and green transitions, and promoting smart manufacturing.

What is the I3 Instrument?

The I3 Instrument supports projects that enhance innovation by connecting regional ecosystems across Europe. It provides financial and advisory support to interregional innovation projects, especially those that integrate SMEs and other actors within regional innovation ecosystems.

This multiannual programme, adopted by the European Commission for the period of 2025 to 2025 on March 18, 2025, is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a budget totaling €176 million for the years 2025-2027, allocated as follows:

2025: €57 million
2026: €59 million
2027: €60 million

Infographic titled “I3 – Interregional Innovation Investment” with three main thematic sections: Interregional, Innovation, and Investment. Each section is illustrated with a corresponding icon and description: Interregional (Icon: globe with location pins): Describes the aim of creating connections between EU regions based on shared or complementary smart specialisation priorities. It emphasizes the inclusion of all relevant innovation ecosystem actors and the promotion of value chain development in less developed regions. Innovation (Icon: people collaborating around a large lightbulb): Details support for testing, demonstration, pilot projects, large-scale validation, and market replication. Includes adaptation of existing prototypes and accelerating innovative solutions in digital transition, green transition, and smart manufacturing. Investment (Icon: stacked coins with green sprouts): Highlights financial and advisory support for collaborative innovation projects, enabling transformation from ideas to implementation. Emphasizes direct funding, particularly for SMEs.

Key objectives

The I3 Instrument has two main strands of support:

Infographic titled “I3 Instrument – Strengthening Innovation in Europe’s Regions,” structured into three numbered blocks: Interregional: Minimum of 3 partners required, coming from different EU Member States and regional innovation ecosystems. Innovation: Focus on close-to-market activities with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 6 to 9. Emphasizes innovation and impact-oriented investments. Investment: Projects can receive up to €10 million. Strand 1 and 2a: 70% EU contribution. Strand 2b: Up to 100% EU contribution.

Strand 1: Shared smart specialisation

This strand targets innovation consortia aiming to enhance EU value chains by bringing new or significantly improved products, services, or production processes closer to market readiness.

Strand 2: Development of value chains in less developed regions

Strand 2a supports the creation and integration of new value chains in less developed regions into existing pan-European networks.
Strand 2b aims to build capacities of regional innovation actors to move from investment ideas to mature, financeable business plans.

Focus areas

The I3 programme specifically addresses the following thematic priorities:

Digital transition
Green transition
Smart manufacturing

These areas align with Europe's strategic initiatives such as the New European Innovation Agenda and the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), emphasizing the EU's commitment to technological leadership and sustainable development.

Who can apply?

Eligible applicants include consortia composed of entities from the quadruple helix innovation ecosystems:

SMEs
Public administrations
Research centers and universities
Innovation intermediaries
Clusters
Civil society organizations and end-users

For Strands 1 and 2a, consortia must demonstrate balanced participation from regions with varying levels of development and innovation performance. For Strand 2b, the coordinator must come from a less developed region, with the consortium strongly and meaningfully involving less developed regions.

A color-coded map of Europe showing regional eligibility for the "Investment for jobs and growth" goal under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for the period 2021–2027. Regions are categorized based on GDP per capita (PPS) relative to the EU-27 average: Red: Less developed regions (GDP/head < 75% of EU average) – covering most of Eastern and Southern Europe including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Southern Italy, Portugal, and France's outermost regions. Orange: Transition regions (GDP/head between 75% and 100% of EU average) – including parts of Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and several Baltic and Nordic regions. Yellow: More developed regions (GDP/head > 100% of EU average) – primarily found in Central and Northern Europe including much of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, and parts of Scandinavia. — Source: Inforegio - Is my region covered?

In the context of the European Union's Cohesion Policy for 2021-2027, less developed regions are those where the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is less than 75% of the EU average. These regions receive substantial support to promote economic growth, infrastructure development, and overall convergence with more affluent areas.

Examples of less developed regions during the 2021-2027 period included based on Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1130 of 5 July 2021: Bulgaria Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

Benefits for participants

Selected projects can receive:

For Strands 1 and 2a: Financial support covering up to 70% of eligible project costs, with up to 100% funding available specifically for financial support provided to third parties. Project durations typically range from 18 to 36 months.
For Strand 2b: Financial support covering up to 100% of eligible project costs. Project durations typically range from 12 to 30 months.
Access to a dedicated support facility providing advisory services to enhance the capacity of innovation actors, particularly from less developed regions.
Opportunities for SMEs to become internationally competitive by scaling innovative solutions and addressing pan-European market needs.

Projects can receive funding up to €10 million each, positioning them for significant market impact and replication across other regions and sectors.

Expected impact

The I3 Instrument is expected to:

Accelerate the market introduction of innovative solutions, boosting regional and interregional economic growth.
Strengthen European value chains, improving the resilience and competitiveness of EU businesses.
Enhance cooperation between less developed, transition, and more developed regions.
Promote climate, biodiversity, and gender equality mainstreaming as part of EU innovation activities.

Expected results

For Strands 1 and 2a, financial and advisory assistance will result in coordinated and interlinked innovation investments across EU regions, creating pathways towards commercialization and scale-up. Projects will reach a high technological readiness level (TRL6-9), resulting in new products, services, or processes ready for market introduction.
Strand 2b projects will strengthen local innovation ecosystems in less developed regions through capacity-building activities, delivering validated methodologies, tools, governance structures, and cooperative models.
All I3 projects will disseminate best practices through the I3 Support facility and Smart Specialisation (S3) Community of Practice, facilitating replication and multiplication of successful interregional innovation investment models.
Technical assistance, learning activities, and capitalisation provided by intermediaries will further support regional and EU policy-making, enhancing the effectiveness of interregional innovation cooperation.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include:

Cohesion/Territorial
Value Chain
Interregional
Innovation
Investment
Intellectual Property Rights
Gender

How to participate

The planned calls for proposals in 2025 are:

22 May 2025: Investment Calls for Strand 1 and 2a (closing on 13 November 2025)
23 October 2025: Final Capacity Building Call (Strand 2b, closing on 19 March 2026)

Building Europe's future together

The I3 Instrument represents a significant opportunity for European regions to collaboratively drive innovation, scale impactful projects, and enhance their competitive positions in global markets. By participating, regional actors can leverage EU support to bring groundbreaking solutions to the world stage.

If you are interested in participating and need support in proposal preparation, consortium building, or innovation management, please contact NETO Innovation. Our experienced team is ready to guide and support your innovation journey.

To learn more, visit the EISMEA I3 Instrument page.