Kaila, the platform developed by Zabala Innovation, has updated its cascade funding calendar with 85 open calls aimed at startups, SMEs, universities, research centres, technology organisations, researchers and other stakeholders in the European innovation ecosystem.
Cascade funding has become a particularly accessible way to participate in European programmes. Compared with large projects funded by the European Union, these calls usually involve more agile processes and are designed to fund specific activities, such as pilots, technology validation, training, solution adoption or innovation projects.
The calendar brings together active European funding opportunities in strategic areas such as:
- Artificial intelligence and digital transformation
- Cybersecurity and digital resilience
- Health, personalised medicine and biomedical research
- Circular economy, bioeconomy and sustainability
- Advanced training, digital talent and mobility
The June update highlights a high concentration of deadlines between June and July 2026, although it also includes calls closing in September, October and December, as well as opportunities open during 2027 and even 2028.
Who is it for?
These calls may be especially interesting for:
- innovative startups and SMEs
- universities
- research centres
- technology organisations
- researchers
- organisations within the European innovation ecosystem
For startups, cascade funding can represent an opportunity to access European funding, validate solutions in real environments and move forward in key development phases without needing to lead a large international consortium.
How to participate
Interested organisations can consult Kaila’s updated calendar to identify the calls that best match their profile, review the eligibility requirements and prepare their applications before the upcoming deadlines.
At Radar, we continue to follow resources like this, which bring startups and innovators closer to European opportunities to fund, validate and scale solutions with impact potential.
Among the calls, several stand out for startups and projects linked to applied innovation, sustainability, circularity, digitalisation or scaling, including:
- Advanced Materials Innovation Open Call: for projects related to new materials, industrial innovation, sustainability or solutions applicable to packaging and production processes. Deadline: 6 July 2026.
- RIVCircular, an interregional open call focused on circular economy innovation proposals with high-impact potential. The call seeks projects at TRL 6–8 in areas such as construction and demolition waste, valorisation of local waste streams, recycling and reuse of electric vehicle batteries, circularity in the textile industry and digital solutions for the circular economy. Funding is targeted at specific territories in Spain, Norway, Ukraine, France, Austria and Greece. Deadline: 17 September 2026.
- Scaling Green Innovation with Industry – Growth Box Call: a European call for SMEs with mature solutions in energy, grid flexibility, renewable energy integration and digitalisation. Deadline: 7 July 2026.
- Open Call for innovative projects enhancing the valorisation of agri-food biomass: for bioeconomy, circularity, agri-food waste valorisation and new models for biomass use. Deadline: 20 October 2026.
Source: Kaila by Zabala Innovation.