Call for Proposal - Venture Incubation Program 2026

The Venture Incubation Programme (VIP) is a structured, 12-week entrepreneurial education and venture creation programme designed to support early-stage digital and deep-tech innovators in establishing and scaling new ventures. The programme combines venture-building know-how, market validation, and business development with access to 28DIGITAL’s European innovation ecosystem. VIP targets founders and startup teams with a prototype, proof of concept, or near-MVP and supports them in progressing towards company incorporation, product-market fit, and investment readiness.

The programme follows a structured 12-week format that balances entrepreneurial education, venture development, and hands-on mentoring.
Typically, this includes:

• An intensive bootcamp focused on venture fundamentals, market orientation, and value proposition refinement;
• A multi-week mentoring and coaching phase combining online sessions, expert guidance, and milestone-driven venture development;
• A Pitch Day or final evaluation event, where teams present their progress to experts, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders.

Proposals must align with 28DIGITAL’s Strategic Innovation Agenda and its strategic domains:

• Deep Tech
• Strategic Tech
• Green & Social Tech

The programme should support ventures developing digital and deep technology solutions with strong innovation potential and relevance to European strategic priorities.

Each Venture Incubation Programme edition is expected to support a cohort of early-stage venture teams at scale, demonstrating sufficient outreach and operational capacity to attract, select, and support a competitive and diverse pool of founders, including participants from RIS countries.

The call opens on 15 January 2026 and closes on 16 March 2026 at 5:00 PM CET (Brussels time).
Feedback to selected and rejected proposals is expected shortly after completion of the evaluation process.

Applicants must be or become partners of 28DIGITAL if selected. Proposers must be or become partners of 28DIGITAL once selected. For organizations that are not yet partners please see partnership models for more information about joining 28DIGITAL. Eligible applicants include incubators, accelerators, university entrepreneurship centres, technology transfer offices, venture builders, innovation hubs, industry associations, science and technology parks, venture capital funds, or similar organisations established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe–associated countries.

The maximum EIT funding per selected proposal is €35,000.
Partners are required to provide a minimum of 50% co-funding at activity level, in line with 28DIGITAL’s financial sustainability strategy. Funding is provided as reimbursement of eligible actual costs and is disbursed in several tranches based on contractual milestones and reporting.

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the 28DIGITAL Submission System before the deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to ensure early access to the submission system and to consult 28DIGITAL staff in advance if they are not yet partners.

For questions related to the Venture Incubation Programme 2026, applicants may contact the 28DIGITAL team at venture_program@28digital.eu.