The EIT Community Hub Malta continues to connect Maltese entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators to funding, mentoring and partnership opportunities across the EIT network, from EIT Food and Climate-KIC to EIT Urban Mobility, EIT Health, EIT Culture & Creativity and EIT InnoEnergy. Several calls remain open to start-ups, researchers and creative businesses based in Malta and across the EU, alongside an ongoing cross-border mobility project and a flagship fixture on the autumn calendar.
What Funding Opportunities Are Still Open?
Two new calls have opened under EIT Culture & Creativity‘s €6 million NEB Academy programme. NEB Academy | Fashion Shift funds multi-actor consortia — including independent fashion brands — developing circular, regenerative and responsible business models, with up to €2.5 million total and up to €500,000 per project. NEB Academy | Skills Infrastructure supports transregional consortia — a training institution, a public entity and a private organisation — building lifelong-learning programmes for the sustainable transformation of Europe’s built environment, with up to €3.5 million total and up to €600,000 per project. Both close on 31 August 2026.
28DIGITAL‘s Co-creation Accelerator 2026–2027 invites micro and small enterprises to apply together with a corporate partner and jointly define the challenge to solve, with up to €250,000 for the start-up and no co-funding required. Applicants must be at TRL 4–5 or above, incorporated within the last five years, with a minimum of two full-time employees. The call closes 8 September 2026.
EIT Health has opened several new calls, led by the Transformative Healthcare Instrument, which funds the development and commercialisation of high-potential biotech, medtech, digital health and AI innovations, alongside an Innovation Uptake Call for scaling clinically validated solutions. Deadline: 16 September 2026.
EIT Urban Mobility is offering up to €2.5 million in financial support to start-ups developing breakthrough urban mobility solutions. The call targets companies already at pre-seed, seed or Series A stage with a working prototype, pilot or minimum viable product, and a pre-money valuation under €50 million. Applications are assessed through multiple cut-off dates throughout 2026.
EIT Food’s Proof-of-Concept Co-Financing Instrument helps agrifood start-ups de-risk pilot projects and collaborate with established industry players. The first cut-off has passed; the final cut-off remains open until 30 November 2026.
Start-up teams created through EIT Food’s Seedbed Venture Catalyst programme, which supports science-based ventures in food and agriculture, can apply until 27 January 2027.
Climate-KIC is inviting applicants to become a DesirMED Climate Ambassador, sharing a local climate-action story and joining a network of 100 changemakers, with the chance to take part in Adaptation Festivals across the Mediterranean. The call closes 31 December 2026.
Community Spotlight: Urban Minds
Co-funded by the EU through EIT Urban Mobility, the Urban Minds project brings together young people, organisations and mobility experts across Malta and Bulgaria. Running to December 2026, the consortium — Deep Tech Foundry and Malta’s Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works, alongside Cleantech Bulgaria and the Sofia Urban Mobility Centre — delivers structured training, workplace placements, public showcases during European Mobility Week, and a cross-country Innovation Mobility Lab.
Save the Date: The Business Booster 2026
EIT InnoEnergy‘s flagship annual event for clean-tech and deep-tech start-ups, investors, corporates and policymakers, The Business Booster (TBB) 2026, returns to Munich on 28–29 October, bringing together more than 1,800 innovators, investors, corporates and policymakers from over 45 countries around a sharper programme of specialist tracks on financing, first-of-a-kind (FOAK) risk and scaling.
Maltese entrepreneurs and researchers interested in applying to any of these calls can contact the EIT Community Hub Malta directly at malta@eitcommunity.eu, or browse further open calls across the EIT network.