New funding call offers up to €30,000 per team alongside a nine-month venture-creation programme for early-stage founders in fashion, architecture and materials innovation.
EIT Culture & Creativity today opens a new funding call offering €1.05 million in total funding to help early-stage founders turn creative tech concepts into scalable ventures.
Under the New Ventures in Creative Tech Call (Spark), selected founders will receive up to €30,000 per team alongside a nine-month venture-creation programme combining funding with coaching, mentoring, business training and access to EIT Culture & Creativity’s pan-European network.
The first cohort focuses on tech-centric ventures in Materials & Built Environment, spanning fashion, architecture, and advanced and circular materials. Future programmes will expand to additional sectors, with details to follow.
Why now: Europe’s growth opportunity
Europe’s cultural and creative economy is a major economic asset. The sector contributes 5.3% of EU GDP and supports 8.7 million jobs, while the global creative economy is projected to approach 10% of global GDP by 2030. Europe’s opportunity is not only to generate creative ideas and innovation, but to turn more of them into investable businesses that can scale across markets and compete globally.
“Europe has no shortage of creative talent, ideas or entrepreneurial ambition. The challenge is turning more of that potential into businesses that can scale,” said Anette Schaefer, CEO of EIT Culture & Creativity. “That requires better connections between founders, industry and investors, stronger investment readiness, and clearer pathways to capital as companies grow. Our role is to help build those connections so that more creative businesses can scale from Europe.”
From concept to company
Spark is the first step in bridging the gap between well-developed concepts and commercially sustainable companies. Rather than rewarding promising ideas, the call targets founders who are already testing, building and validating, and those ready to turn creative ambition into a viable business.
Selected founders kick-off with an in-person CreaTech Startup Sprint: a bootcamp hosted in a European city, where they work on problem-solution fit alongside international experts, coaches and peer founders. It continues with a nine-month online venture-creation journey, guided by a designated coach and international mentors, alongside topic workshops led by experienced industry and business experts. EIT Culture & Creativity exclusive technology partnerships support venture development, while access to major European events provides visibility.
Beyond funding and business support, the programme connects founders with a peer community of entrepreneurs tackling similar challenges. Ventures also gain access to EIT Culture & Creativity’s pan-European ecosystem of investors, universities and research organisations, cultural institutions and industry partners across six regional hubs. These connections are key to helping founders test ideas, build partnerships and tap into expertise and investment networks as they grow across Europe.
Building the sector's capacity, stage by stage
Spark is part of EIT Culture & Creativity’s broader effort to strengthen Europe’s capacity to turn cultural and creative innovation into companies that can grow, attract investment and compete globally. It is the earliest stage of a venture growth pathway that continues through Shape, its acceleration programme, and Scale, its post-acceleration programme. Together, the programmes support creative-tech ventures from pre-seed through to Series A, helping founders move from early business development towards investment readiness and international growth.
Alongside calls supporting skills development and the market deployment of validated innovations, in 2026 EIT Culture & Creativity has put a total of €26.75M behind Europe’s cultural and creative sectors, connecting the talent, innovation and investment needed to strengthen their contribution to Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and technological sovereignty.
Who can apply
The Spark call is open to early-stage founders – individuals and small multidisciplinary teams – with an innovative business concept and no registered company, and the ambition to build for-profit, scalable, tech-centric ventures within the CCSI. Applicants must be based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe associated country.
A dedicated information session will take place on 20 October and 10 November to walk applicants through the call and address any questions. Register here.
Applications close on 16 November 2026 at 17:00 CEST. Full eligibility criteria, timelines and application details are available here.