agROBOfood connects the world of Robotics, Agriculture, R&D and business by creating a sustainable network of Digital Innovation Hubs. The network already counts 49 Digital Innovation Hubs and 12 Competence Centers, established in 7 Regional Clusters around Europe, which will support companies in digitization by connecting various stakeholders. The heart of the project is formed by Innovation Experiments, organized and monitored by the Digital Innovation Hubs. In the Regional Clusters, Initial Innovation Experiments will demonstrate robotics innovations in agri-food, in a manner that ensures replicability and wide adoption across Europe. -.

agROBOfood, in an attempt to boost the adoption of robotics in the agricultural sector and strengthen its’ network, has just launched the 1^st "Open Call" for funding additional Innovation Experiments. Through this call agROBOfood will distribute 2.65 M€ for the direct benefit of SMEs (300,000€ - 500,000€ per proposal).

The Open Call for Innovation Experiments aims to:

·       support industry, in particular SMEs of the agri-food sector, in their digital transformation, through demonstrators and platforms development, technology transfer experiments and other services;

·       allow the European automation industry (agricultural machinery, material handling, etc) to benefit from the opportunities of guiding, supporting and teaming up with start-ups and SMEs from the robotics sector.

·       mobilize private matching funds (e.g. acquisitions by big industrial players, corporate VC investments), that will support the scale-up of robotic technologies and accelerate the digital transformation of the agri-food sector.

Small consortia (2-5 partners) from agri-food and robotics sector, including at least one SME as end-user and at least one SME as technology provider, can apply. Applicants must be based in Member States or H2020 associated countries.

The basic criteria for participation in the Open Calls are to:

•         tackle a commercial need within agri-food;

•         base the solution around robot technologies;

•         use a local partner Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) as the primary contact point;

•         agree to use network’s cross-border services.

The Open Call for Innovation Experiments (IEs) will be open until the 31^st of May, while the implementation period will run from September 2020 until May 2022.

All the necessary information is available (Call Fiche, Guide for applicants and other information) on agROBOfood website!  

Contact us at info@agrobofood.eu - Register in our Newsletter –

Ping us directly on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn