Eurostars Call 11 in September 2026: what Calls 9 and 10 reveal for SME applicants
25th June 2026 at 9:57 am
With the upcoming call for applications (Call 11) closing on 10 September 2026, the latest Call 9 and Call 10 figures provide a useful benchmark for applicants preparing over the summer. Eurostars remains one of the most relevant public funding programmes for innovative SMEs that aim to develop market-oriented products, processes or services with partners in other countries. The scheme is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs and combines support from national funding bodies with EU co-funding through Horizon Europe. It is open to international collaborative R&D and innovation projects in all fields, provided that the project is led by an innovative SME and meets the Eurostars eligibility rules. The latest publicly available figures for Eurostars 3 Calls 9 and 10 confirm that demand for the programme remains high. Call 9 closed in September 2025 with 648 proposals submitted and 124 projects recommended for funding. Call 10 closed in March 2026 with 687 applications, suggesting slightly more competition the application stage. Final funding outcomes for Call 10 have not yet been identified in public sources at the time of this update, but the application statistics already provide useful signals for SMEs preparing the next call.
What the latest Eurostars calls show
Call 9 (deadline September 2025) provides the clearest recent benchmark because the funding outcome has been published by a national funding body. With 124 projects recommended for funding out of 648 submitted proposals, the indicative call-level success rate was 19.1%. This figure should be treated as an overall benchmark rather than a country-specific probability, because each applicant still depends on national eligibility checks, national budget availability and the position of the project in the ranking list.
Call 10 (deadline March 2026) attracted even more applications, with 687 submissions by the 19 March 2026 deadline. Eureka reported that electronics, IT and telecoms was the largest technology area, with 220 applications. The highest number of applications came from Germany, followed by Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This reinforces a familiar Eurostars pattern: the programme is particularly attractive in countries with active SME innovation ecosystems and comparatively strong national funding participation.
| Eurostars 3 call | Deadline | Applications submitted | Projects recommended for funding |
| Call 9 | 4 September 2025, 14:00 CEST | 648 proposals submitted | 124 projects recommended for funding; indicative success rate 19.1% |
| Call 10 | 19 March 2026, 14:00 CET | 687 applications submitted | Not yet publicly available at the time of this update; applicant notification was scheduled for late June 2026 |
Why Call 9 matters for future applicants
A call-level success rate of 19.1% means that Eurostars continues to be selective, even though it is often perceived as more accessible than many centrally managed European funding schemes. For applicants, this has two practical implications. First, the proposal must be strong enough to rank well internationally. Secondly, the consortium must be realistic from a national funding perspective, because each partner is assessed through the rules of its own country or region. This national dimension is important for Swiss applicants as well. Even when a project is well ranked internationally, the final funding path still depends on national conditions, available budgets and the role assigned to each partner. SMEs should therefore treat Eurostars preparation as a two-level process: building a competitive international proposal while checking early that the Swiss and non-Swiss partners meet their respective national funding requirements. The Call 9 results are useful not because they predict the outcome for Switzerland, but because they show how the final funding picture can differ from the overall European ranking.
Call 10: a strong application pipeline, but final outcomes still pending
The Call 10 application figures are useful because they show where applicant demand is concentrated. The 687 submitted applications represent a larger pipeline than Call 9, while the strong presence of electronics, IT and telecoms suggests continuing interest in digital and technology-intensive innovation projects. However, Call 10 figures should not yet be presented as funding results. The publicly available information identified for this update covers application statistics and the official evaluation timetable, not the final number of projects recommended for funding.
For SMEs considering the next Eurostars deadline, the message is straightforward: competition is substantial, and a technically promising idea is not enough. Evaluators and national funding bodies need to see a coherent international consortium, a convincing route to market, a credible work plan and financial assumptions that can withstand both the Eurostars evaluation and national checks.
What Swiss applicants should take from the latest data
Switzerland remains highly visible in the Eurostars programme. In Call 10, Switzerland was among the countries with the highest number of applications, following Germany and ahead of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For Swiss SMEs, start-ups, universities and research organisations, Eurostars remains attractive because it combines international R&D collaboration with national funding through Innosuisse. The programme has no thematic restrictions and supports market-driven innovation projects led by SMEs.
High Swiss participation also means that applicants should not rely on country reputation alone. Swiss partners need to demonstrate that their role is essential to the project, that the budget is proportionate to the work and that the commercialisation path is credible. This is particularly important for SME-led consortia where the lead company must show both innovation capacity and the ability to bring the planned result towards the market.
| Practical lesson from Calls 9 and 10 | What applicants should do |
| Call-level competition remains high | Start early enough to refine the innovation case, commercialisation route and consortium logic. |
| National funding rules still matter | Check partner eligibility, funding rates and national documents before the Eurostars deadline. |
| Technology-intensive areas attract many applicants | Explain the market differentiation clearly, especially in crowded digital, electronics and IT fields. |
| Call 10 outcomes are not yet public | Use application statistics as an early signal, but update benchmark figures once final results are published. |
How to prepare for the next Eurostars call
The next Eurostars call is expected to attract strong interest again. Applicants should use the latest statistics as a reminder that success depends on more than eligibility. A competitive Eurostars proposal needs to connect the technology, the market need and the cooperation model in a way that is easy for evaluators to follow:
1. Start with eligibility: SME lead, partner independence, two Eurostars countries, SME budget share.
2. Check national funding rules: Innosuisse and all partner-country requirements.
3. Build the commercial case: target market, customer need, competitive advantage, exploitation path.
4. Make the consortium logic obvious: why each partner is necessary.
5. Stress-test the budget and work plan: realistic effort, milestones, deliverables and risks.
6. Leave time for platform and annex checks: PIC numbers, templates, declarations and partner inputs.
Planning a Eurostars Call 11 application? At accelopment, we support SMEs throughout the application process, from interpreting country-specific call requirements and structuring the proposal to coordinating partner input and fine-tuning the application in the Eurostars online platform. Our team has contributed to several successful Eurostars applications, including the recently started ASCEND project as well as many previous Eurostars projects such as AirToxMonitor, FP-Catheter, MiniLib and RETWood. We can help you translate a strong innovation idea into a compelling Eurostars proposal.
