TL;DR: EU funding calls 2027 are already on the calendar: on 26 October 2026 the EU Funding & Tenders Portal listed 377 open or forthcoming topics with a 2027 deadline, 309 of them under Horizon Europe. Only a few dozen suit a startup. Plan around Women TechEU (14 January, 1 April, 8 July), Creative Europe MEDIA (14 January, 2 February), Eurostars Call 12 (4 March), Horizon Europe cluster calls you join as a partner and the EIC Pre-accelerator for Widening countries (18 November). EIC Accelerator dates are still draft. Below: a month-by-month calendar, a fit table, a back-planning template and a worked example.
EU funding calls 2027 matter more than usual because 2027 is the last year of the EU's 2021–2027 budget. The main Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, adopted by the Commission on 11 December 2025, is the last one of the period, and the next programmes start in 2028 under new rules. If you want EU money before that switch, the 2027 deadlines are the ones you can still plan for.
This calendar is for founders, not research offices: it keeps only calls where a startup can apply alone or join a consortium as a partner. Every date comes from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, the European Innovation Council (EIC), Eureka or the programme's own site, checked on 26 October 2026.
How the 2027 EU funding year works
Three kinds of dates shape a startup's EU funding year:
- Fixed cut-offs for single companies. Women TechEU, the EIC Accelerator and Creative Europe MEDIA let one company apply alone. Miss a cut-off and you wait for the next one, sometimes a full year.
- Consortium deadlines. Horizon Europe cluster calls and Eurostars need partners from several countries. The deadline is the end of a three-to-six-month process of finding partners and writing together, not the start.
- Rolling and cascade calls. EU-funded projects and the EIT communities hand out smaller grants through their own open calls all year. These rarely appear far in advance, so they belong on a watch list, not in a fixed calendar. Our guide to cascade funding explains how they work.
A date is only final once the call is published. The Commission had not adopted the EIC Work Programme 2027 by 26 October 2026, so 2027 EIC dates below are marked "draft". The EIC presents its 2027 opportunities at online info days on 19 and 20 November 2026.
The 2027 calendar for startups, month by month
More Horizon Europe cluster deadlines: Climate (4 March), food and bioeconomy two-stage calls (8 April), Mobility (14 April), Space (2 September), Clean Industrial Deal (15 September), Civil Security (4 November) and Energy (1 December). EIT Culture & Creativity has an open call closing on 15 March.
Sources: EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIC, Eureka and national Eurostars agencies, 26 October 2026. "Draft" dates come from the unadopted EIC Work Programme 2027. EIT open calls under one business plan can cover several separate competitions, so read each call text.
Two dates from late 2026 still count for your 2027 plan: the EIC Accelerator full-proposal cut-off on 4 November 2026 and the end of the SME Fund 2026 on 4 December 2026 (or earlier if the money runs out). The EUIPO has not announced an SME Fund 2027 yet; the 2025 and 2026 editions both opened in early February.
Which 2027 call fits your startup?
Use the stage you will be at on the deadline, not today.
If your answer is "none of these", you probably need a different kind of money first. Our guides to startup funding in Europe and EU grants for small businesses cover loans, regional grants and free services.
Plan backwards: when to start for each deadline
The date on the portal is the day you press submit. The work starts much earlier:
So for Eurostars on 4 March 2027, start the partner search in November or December 2026.
Copyable 2027 deadline planner
Fill one block per call you are serious about. Three is plenty for a small team.
Submitting two days early is not optional. The Women TechEU organisers reported that more than 58% of applications in an earlier call arrived on the last day, and the portal makes no exceptions for traffic jams.
Worked example: a two-founder climate-tech startup
Take a generic case: two founders in Lisbon build sensor software for industrial heat pumps, with a pilot customer, a prototype at TRL 6, €200,000 from angels and a woman co-founder holding 50% of the shares. Their 2027 plan:
Women TechEU allows up to €1 million of equity raised before you apply, so their angel round does not block them. They spread the risk: one small solo grant, one consortium project and one large bet later in the year, and no two grants pay for the same costs.
Portugal is a Widening country, but at TRL 6 the EIC Accelerator fits them better than the EIC Pre-accelerator.
Where to check the dates as they change
- EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Search by programme, then filter by "open" and "forthcoming". Forthcoming calls show the planned opening date and budget. Our step-by-step guide on how to find open EU funding calls shows the filters that matter.
- EIC website. Watch it for the adopted EIC Work Programme 2027, which turns the draft dates into final ones.
- Eureka and your national Eurostars agency. National budgets and rules differ by country.
- Monthly news. Mean CEO's EU Funding News on blog.mean.ceo lists newly opened calls for startups every month.
Who should apply and who can skip it
Use this calendar now if you plan to apply for EU money in 2027, have a product or prototype, and can give a proposal several focused weeks. Pick two or three dates, not ten.
Skip it for now if you have no product yet, no one on the team can write for weeks, or you need cash within three months. EU money is slow: Horizon Europe aims to tell applicants the result within five months of the deadline and to sign the grant within eight. Start with our EU funding readiness checklist and come back in a quarter.
Related EU funding guides
- EU grants for startups: programme map, deadlines and decision tree
- European funds for startups: the 2027 map of EU grants, equity and loans
- Women TechEU: eligibility, timeline and how to apply
- EP PerMed calls: funding for personalised medicine startups
- The EU funding labyrinth: a critical analysis for startups
- EU grants: a guide to writing a funding application
Want to test your idea before writing a proposal? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks you through building a startup step by step.
FAQ
What EU funding calls open in 2027 for startups?
For single startups, the main fixed dates are Women TechEU (14 January, 1 April and 8 July 2027), Creative Europe MEDIA (14 January and 2 February) and the EIC Accelerator (four draft cut-offs). For startups with partners, there are Eurostars Call 12 (4 March) and dozens of Horizon Europe cluster calls between February and December 2027.
When are the EIC Accelerator deadlines in 2027?
The draft EIC Work Programme 2027 lists full-proposal cut-offs on 3 February, 1 April, 1 September and 3 November 2027. The Commission had not adopted it by 26 October 2026, so the dates can still move. Short applications can be sent at any time.
Is 2027 the last year for Horizon Europe funding?
2027 is the last year of the current 2021–2027 budget, and the Work Programme 2026–2027 is the last one of Horizon Europe. Calls with 2027 deadlines still fund projects that run for several years. The Commission has proposed the next EU research programme for 2028–2034.
Can a startup apply to several EU calls in the same year?
Yes. You can apply to Women TechEU, Eurostars and the EIC Accelerator in the same year, as long as each programme's rules allow it and no two grants pay for the same costs. Some programmes limit repeat wins, so check each call text.
When does Eurostars Call 12 close?
Eurostars Call 12 closes on 4 March 2027. National agencies say the call opens on 17 December 2026. Your consortium needs at least two independent partners from two Eurostars countries and must be led by an SME.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
