EIT Culture & Creativity opens €8.6m in start-up funding

Through two programmes, Shape Acceleration and Scale Post-Acceleration, the call targets start-ups and scale-ups developing solutions, helping them strengthen product-market fit, attract investment, and scale internationally.  

In addition to the current call, EIT Culture & Creativity plans additional calls in 2027 to include gaming and cultural heritage ventures.  

Shape offers up to €100,000 to pre-seed and seed-stage ventures with early market traction and international ambitions, helping them build investment readiness. Scale offers up to €200,000 – or up to €500,000 for ventures registered in an EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) country – to seed ventures with proven market and investment traction, accelerating their path to their next funding round.  

The financial support is combined with structured acceleration and post-acceleration programmes, including opportunities to connect with EIT Culture & Creativity's pan-European network of investors and industry partners, and pitch at a Demo Day for additional financial support. Beyond financial support, the programmes focus on helping founders achieve the milestones that matter most for growth: stronger market validation, scalable business models, customer acquisition, fundraising readiness, and international expansion.  

Europe’s cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI) already contribute 5.3% of EU GDP and 8.7 million jobs, yet, according to EIT Culture & Creativity, much of its growth and investment potential remains untapped even as the global creative economy heads toward nearly 10% of global GDP by 2030. This call aims to strengthen the pipeline of ventures capable of attracting private capital and competing globally.  

“Europe’s cultural and creative industries have never lacked for talent or ideas, but the business support, investor relationships and funding that take a promising venture from product to scale have been harder to come by,” said Anette Schaefer, CEO of EIT Culture & Creativity. “Shape and Scale are designed to close that gap.”  

Two tracks, one goal: Growth 2  

Shape and Scale share a common eligibility baseline: applicants must be registered, for-profit companies operating in the CCSI, based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe-associated country, and committed to growing in Europe. Full eligibility criteria, timelines, and application details are available here.  

All selected ventures in Shape or Scale receive: a six-month acceleration journey with an in-person kick-off and Demo Day in an EU city; goal-oriented topic sprints and workshops; and a designated coach and expert trainers, plus high-level matchmaking with investors and industry partners. The ventures may also have the opportunity to become part of the 100-To-Watch list, EIT Culture & Creativity list of most promising ventures in culture and creative tech in Europe, including visibility, market access, and priority connections with funding and commercial opportunities.  

Building Europe’s creative investment pipeline  

This funding announcement forms part of EIT Culture & Creativity's broader effort to strengthen Europe's innovation and investment ecosystem for cultural and creative industries. It follows the launch of a call supporting education and training providers to develop continuing professional development (CPD) courses for Europe's audiovisual media workforce, as well as two NEB Academy programs to advance circular fashion and skills for sustainable built environments. Together, these initiatives make a total of €15.2m available to innovators, educators, and entrepreneurs across Europe's cultural and creative sectors in the first half of 2026.  

EIT Culture & Creativity recently opened an expression of interest inviting experienced investors, entrepreneurs, and start-up specialists to join its pool of expert evaluators and mentors, with opportunities for professionals working in the audiovisual and gaming sectors. Discover more here.