Apply to our Open Call for SMEs

There is a mistake in the Guide for Applicants in section 6. Manage your grant, part 6.1.1. Eligibility Check where NDA (Non-Disclosure agreement) and CA (Consortium agreement) are requested for the application.

THIS IS NOT THE CASE, you don’t need to upload these documents in your application (but rather in the later stages after approval)

To form a sub-project, one Lead Partner and one or more Supporting Partner(s) are needed. The LP will take on the role of coordinator, as they will become a part of the DIGIT PRE consortium and act as a bridge between the sub-project and the DIGIT PRE consortium. This role, comes with more responsibilities than the SP role, but attracts a higher financing rate and provides the opportunity to drive the project and pursue more freely, one own’s agenda.

No. You have to find and match with a SME partner, from another region in the DIGIT-PRE project, to be eligible to participate in the DIGIT-PRE Open call. 

No. Only one application per SME is allowed, as the setup of the DIGIT-PRE subproject only allows each SME partner to participate in one sub-project. So as a joint application of 2 SMEs in 2 different regions in the project, you can apply once.

No. The setup of the project prevents having more than one application approved.

Please register in the Matchmaking Tool available at www.digit-pre.eu, where it is also possible to see other SME companies looking for partners. Also, contact the regional represantative in the DIGIT-PRE project, in order to receive hands-on support in finding another SME partner from another region. You can use  www.digit-pre.eu/contact/ and it will redirect you, to your regional representative.  

Yes. As silent partners are excluded from receiving direct financial support, it is possible to be involved in more than one sub-project. Preferably, the contact persons should differ between the different sub-projects but if this is not possible, it is not considered a major obstacle. 

Due to the setup of the project, in order for Lead Partners to receive the full support they need to become a beneficiary of the European Commission (= a formal partner in the DIGIT-PRE consortium).  
 
This setup allows us to provide a larger amount of support to the SMEs who take on the role as Lead Partner. It also comes with some administrative efforts, as a result of becoming an I3 (EC funding) grant beneficiary.

No. There is no limitation on how many people can be involved in each DIGIT-PRE sub-project. Part-time workers can be included. However, for reporting purposes, it is recommended to keep the amount of people involved to a minimum (and instead maximise their time spent on allocation of tasks).

You can have individuals at home as customers. One of the cornerstones of DIGIT-PRE is the consumer focus, so there is no need to work only with patients in focus.  

Also, another project goal is to work on prevention and prediction – we aim to keep people from becoming patients.  

The ownership of all intellectual property created during the Innovation Support Program delivered via the DIGIT-PRE Open Call, will remain with the party that develops it. The Sub-Grant Agreement, will define provisions regarding joint ownership of the results of the granted projects from an IP point of view. 

In addition, the applying SMEs, will also define this issue (foreground/background IP) in their sub-project. A formal Consortium agreement will be signed between the partners of the sub-project. 

There is a clear definition in Section 8 in the “Glossary in the Guide for Applicants.”  

If you still are unsure, feel free to reach out to your local representative for more detailed guidance.  

We strongly encourage partnerships where companies are already in contact in the suggested regions, as DIGIT PRE are closely linked to these, and want the investments to benefit the regions parttaking in the project.  

However, we cannot prohibit you from starting up a postbox branch office in any region, but by doing so we are moving away from one of the core concepts of DIGIT PRE project and this type of action is not recommended. 

Individual documents: SMEs’ financial status, Passport or ID for the Lead partner, company (SME) registration certificate, Professional insurance certificate. 
 

Joint documents: Sub-project proposal (10 pages max.), Powerpoint Pitch (10 slides) 

Proof of attaining  Technology Readiness Level TRL6  
 

Documents to be signed by each partner: GDPR data protection form, Declaration of honour 

Each SME needs to provide proof that they have some form of business insurance – it does not have to be a specific liability insurance (as this is only mandatory in France).  

This request is to safeguard that participating companies have covered their basic needs for insurance purposes, and that they are properly covered in the event of a problem. The insurance is not shared among partners but is individual for each party. Depending on the structure of the company, it can be in the name of the legal entity of the SME or the CEO, as a natural person. There is no specific amount suggested for coverage, it should be adequate for the type of business that the SME engage in, and it should cover all company activities. The geographic area covered should be the one that the SME already operates in or intends to operate in, in the near future.  

Natural persons are NOT eligible for the DIGIT-PRE project. An exception is made for self–employed persons, i.e.  those registered as sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person. 

According to the European Union’s definition of an SME, you can have between 0-250 employees. To be eligible you do not need to have any employees, however it is recommended to consider it carefully with regards to being able to deliver project activities described in your application.  

No. There is a minimum of 2 partners for each application, but no maximum limit. Make sure that the partners you include in your sub-project are relevant to the activities you plan and that the constellation is manageable, but apart from that you are more than welcome to be more than 2 partners sending in an application together.

SMEs applying together should be complementary so that each of them bring in their own perspective to the joint project work. Most of the sub-projects will be cross-sectoral by nature since by combining 2 or 3 different companies there should be coverage from more than one sector, also the joining SMEs are probably not likely direct competitors meaning that they operate within different areas and are therefore complementing eachother.

Yes. It is the same number for all European projects, one organisation = one PIC number.

In order to be able to maximise the support to SMEs given from the DIGIT-PRE project, this specific setup has been chosen as the optimal one in accordance with EC laws and  limitations connected to EC interregional financing intruments like the I3.  

By including Lead Partners in the DIGIT-PRE consortium, the consortium is able to give a larger amount of support and therefore also create bigger impact. 

This statement that does not need to follow a certain structure. The purpose of it is to verify that the bank account you register for the funding payments is indeed is linked to your company.  

The Verification of a company’s status can be a print screen of the bank account itself (you can blur out the numbers/money in your account, they are not relevant), or some other form of statement from your bank where it is clear that the bank account is linked to your company name – to summarise, the document must show the account number that you intend to use to receive the payments AND your company name. 

No, the investment is not considered as state aid. You can apply for other sources of funding, such as investments from different sources to your company in general. However, you cannot apply for EU- or national funding for the same activities that you plan to implement during the course of the DIGIT PRE Innovation Support Program

As mentioned in the Guide for Applicants, costs related to personnel, sub-contracting and travel are accepted. Purchasing hardware is not recommended as it is rather complicated to include any fast or slow depreciation assets. This is valid for the Lead Partner. On the other hand, the funds provided to the supporting partner could be utilized for such these purchases, since they do not have to report expenses to the same detailed level.

The project costs should be accounted for in a separate ledger. There is no need to attach invoices/payment slips/other forms of verification at this stage (however, it should be available for potential reviews so it needs to be kept in order).  

Lead Partners will, on a quarterly basis, report their financials in a simple format and in addition to this a progress report of 2-3 pages will need to be produced jointly by the sub-project and shared with the KAM.  

You can use actual costs, so no need for a flat rate. In the case of being an SME owner that does not take out a salary, you can use unit costs: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/unit-cost-decision-sme-owners-natural-persons_en.pdf 

We recommend setting up a contract with potential vendors. It can be ok with very simple agreements as long as they are in written and the terms approved by all parties.

There is no need for SMEs to provide any form of financial investment after being selected to participate in this project. However, in order to receive the full amount of grant you will need to present is 80k euro in costs connected to your sub-project. These costs can be in the form of personnel costs, sub-contracting or travel expenditures. Our recommendation is that the majority of this in-kind contribution is personnel costs as this is by far the easiest to handle administratively.