The METASTARS project is designed to provide the most efficient services to boost the competitiveness of SMEs and to build a sustainable and representative network at European level. The project will offer SMEs financial support to develop innovative projects and to benefit from services to adapt to new technologies, to develop or strengthen their green and digital transition, their innovation potential, their internationalisation strategy towards Japan and Canada, and the upskilling of their work.
METASTARS - which stands for "METAcluster Support Towards a more resilient AeRospace and defence ecoSystem" - has launched an "Open call for innovation services": a call to support the digital innovation of SMEs in the aerospace and defence sector. The objective is to promote collaboration between European clusters to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the defence and aerospace ecosystem and to increase business resilience.
Target audience and supported activities
The target audience of the METASTARS call for innovation services are SMEs from the Aeronautics, Space, Defence and ICT sectors wishing to submit proposals related to Aerospace & Defence.
The call is looking for companies which are:
in Aerospace, Aeronautics, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Defense, Spacetech Services;
located in Europe;
incorporated;
idea, prototype or users stage;
have raised funding or not;
currently raising or not raising funds;
have revenue or not.
This call for innovation services will support six types of activities:
Green technology development (up to €4,000): services to support SMEs willing to develop green solutions, processes or internal activities: processes, manufacturing as well as internally (communication, internal processes, etc.).
Digitalisation (up to €6,000): services to support SMEs willing to digitalise activities and/ or processes: processes, manufacturing as well as internally (communication, internal processes, etc.).
Upskilling and reskilling (up to €5,500): services to boost the SMEs’ skills’ development. Training could be focused either technical and/ or soft skills. It is mandatory that the training benefits more than one person working for the company.
Internationalisation for Japan (up to €5,500): services to support the attendance to a conference/event in Japan to develop business - travel, accommodation and fees can be supported - and/or receive the support of a consultancy company to design an internationalisation strategy or reach new clients/partners to Japan.
Internationalisation for Canada (up to €5,500): services to support the attendance to a conference/event in Canada to develop business - travel, accommodation and fees can be supported - and/or receive the support of a consultancy company to design an internationalisation strategy or reach new clients/partners to Canada.
Information System Security (up to €15,000): services to provide the SME with support to adapt against cyber-attack.
Detailed information is available in the Guide for Applicants, which is available in the online submission system of the call.
How to apply
The call is open to SMEs in the aerospace, space, defence and digital sectors that wish to submit proposals in the fields of aerospace and defence and that are based in or have a branch in one of the EU countries, in one of the states of the European Economic Area or are associated with the COSME component of the Single Market Programme.
Applicants are entitled to apply and benefit from more than one type of activity, reaching a total maximum funding of €60,000 per SME. The applicant SMEs will be allowed to be granted maximum 2 Innovation Services (applying one time for up to 2 services). The total funding available amounts to €362,000.00 and the deadline for applications is December 31st, 2023 at 17:00 (Brussels time).
Only proposals submitted through the online submission system within the call deadline will be evaluated. After the submission, the applicant will receive an e-mail which states the date and time of the submitted proposal. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come first-served basis, i.e., applications will be evaluated in the order in which they are received. The consortium reserves the right to close the call before the deadline in case all the budget is used.
For further information, you can read more on the official European Commission webpage about the call or consult the Guide for Applicants, which is available in the online submission system. For any other enquiry, please write an e-mail to the METASTARS contact point: info@metastars-euroclusters.com.
