GRAPPA - I4BE - Ingredients for the Bioeconomy

Agri-food biomass upcycling

Innovation Open Call · Supporting European SMEs

GRAPPA’s Innovation Open Call provides financial support for projects focusing on the development, adoption, and commercialisation of innovative upcycled ingredients for food and non-food applications, products, business processes, and technologies (including digital) that maximise the valorisation of agri-food biomass and side-streams.

This call is now closed. Cut-off 2 proposals are under evaluation and results will be announced in January 2027.

Calendar

Oct'26

1st Call projects kick off19 laureates start their 12-month innovation projects

Jan'27

2nd Cut-off resultsResults announced

Spring'27

Innovation Acceleration Session

Jun'27

GRAPPA SymposiumPitch & Connect with investors and industry

Autumn'27

Innovation Acceleration Session

Sep'28

GRAPPA Final EventBrussels · Launch of the European Strategic Roadmap

€2.020.000 Total Call Budget

Cut-off 1 results

Meet our 1st Innovation Open Call laureates

19 projects from 7 European countries are turning agri-food side-streams into new ingredients, foods, cosmetics and feed. Their 12-month innovation projects kicked off in October 2026.

Discover the 19 projects →

What’s next for our laureates

Each laureate develops a well-defined innovation project with a clear budget, expected results and impacts, and a commercialisation strategy, using the System Innovation Readiness Level (SIRL) assessment tool to track progress.
In June 2027, laureates will pitch their projects at the GRAPPA Symposium during the 2nd European Food Biomass and Bioeconomy Summit, in a Pitch & Connect session with investors and industry.

180Applications received

19Projects selected

23SMEs funded

7Countries

€1.38MFunding available in Cut-off 1

The project

From side-stream to revenue-stream

Everything you need to turn agri-food residues into market-ready circular products.

Direct funding

Innovation grants
through our FSTP scheme

€60K Max. per SME

Knowledge & skills

Innovation Acceleration Sessions and technical trainings

30 Training Sessions

Network access

Regional Agri-food Biomass Upcycling Networks across Europe

6 Regional Networks

Global market entry

Internationalisation support for North America and Asia markets

100+ SMEs Supported

Strategic direction

European roadmap for agri-food biomass upcycling

1 EU Roadmap

Who we support

SMEs turning side-streams into value

Our laureates are bringing new processes, products and services to market, starting from a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of at least 6. Through the Innovation Open Call, GRAPPA supports:

SMEs in the agri-food production and/or processing sector

SMEs in other sectors (e.g. cosmetics, nutraceuticals, etc) that valorise their own biomass/by-products/side-streams for the agri-food sector

SMEs in other sectors (e.g. cosmetics, nutraceuticals, etc) that valorise biomass/by-products/side-streams from the agri-food sector

SMEs offering solutions and/or technology for the valorisation of biomass/by-products/side-streams from the agri-food sector (development and application of new technologies or processes)

Across Europe

SMEs from EU Member States and countries associated to the Single Market Programme

The call at a glance

How the Innovation Open Call worked

The Call ran in two cut-offs during 2026 and funded SME-led agri-food biomass upcycling projects under these key conditions.

Total budget€2.02M

Total budget of the Innovation Open Call: €2,020,000.

Grant€60K / €90K

Up to €60,000 for single-SME projects and €90,000 for collaborative projects.

SMEs1–3 SMEs

Single-SME projects or consortia of up to 3 SMEs.

Co-funding≥15%

Private co-funding through debt or own financial resources.

Duration12 months

Innovation projects lasted up to 12 months.

The consortium

6 Innovation Clusters, 4 Countries

Leading agri-food clusters united to support SME innovation across Europe.

Flanders’ FOOD

Belgium

Coordinator, Co-lead WP3 & WP5 lead

WAGRALIM

Belgium

WP2 lead

FOOD+i

Spain

WP4 lead

CLUSAGA

Spain

WP3 lead, Co-lead WP2

InnovAlliance

France

WP1 lead, Co-lead WP4

ATECluster

Greece

WP3 lead, Co-lead WP5

I4BE – Ingredients for the Bioeconomy

European agri-food partnership with 7 countries and 24 NUTS2 regions, focused on circular ingredients and side-stream valorisation.

Follow GRAPPA

GRAPPA is supported by the European Union under the Single Market Programme (SMP – COSME). Grant Agreement No. 101235085. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Agri-food biomass upcycling