Horizon Europe: research and innovation funding

Funding and partnership opportunities for UK businesses

Get funding, collaborate with international partners and innovate further with Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme. The average amount of funding awarded to a UK business is £440,000*.

What is Horizon Europe?

Horizon Europe is the world’s largest research and innovation programme, providing over £80 billion in funding (2021-2027) to organisations developing new products, services and solutions. UK companies can participate in a wide range of opportunities, particularly those addressing global challenges and supporting business-led innovation.

Why take part?

• Access grant funding
• Develop new products, services and technologies
• Enter new markets
• Collaborate with world-leading experts, from universities and research centres to established industry players
• Share the cost and risk of complex innovation projects

Can my business apply?

Horizon Europe is open to a wide range of innovative UK organisations, including:

• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Scale-ups and large businesses
• Universities and research organisations
• Public sector organisations
• Charities and third-sector organisations

UK businesses can apply for many Horizon Europe funding opportunities, particularly under Pillar 2 and Pillar 3. Eligibility varies by funding call. Check your eligibility here.opens iuk-business-connect.org.uk in a new tab

How it works

Applying for Horizon Europe follows three broad steps:

1. Explore

Identify the pillar and call that matches your project and check your eligibility.

2. Build

Form a consortium with partners from other countries, then develop your proposal, workplan and budget – with free UK support if you need it.

3. Apply

Submit your proposal via the EU Funding Portal. If successful, you’ll move to contracting and project kick-off.

Read the step-by-step overview of the Horizon Europe process.opens iuk-business-connect.org.uk in a new tab

Get help and find partners

A range of support is available to help you navigate Horizon Europe, including:

• Guidance on identifying the right funding opportunities
• Information and resources to help you understand the application process
• Support to connect with potential partners
• Events, information days, webinars and workshops
• Access to expert advice, through the National Contact Points

Find out more about the support available for Horizon Europe applicants.opens iuk-business-connect.org.uk in a new tab

Successful Horizon Europe stories

UK businesses are already making the most of Horizon Europe.

Arbikie is a Scottish farm-to-bottle distillery producing award-winning spirits. Through Horizon Europe, the company collaborated with partners across Europe to support its goal of creating climate-positive spirits and becoming one of the world's most sustainable distilleries. Find out more in the video below.

* Based on the 2024 mean project value for UK organisations participating in Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe, the average funding award to UK businesses of £440,000 (2021-2027), is calculated using the Horizon Dashboardopens ec.europa.eu in a new tab , a publicly available record of all countries’ participation in Horizon Europe. Numbers are rounded to the nearest £10,000 and are correct as of 10/09/2025. As all data is provided in euros, the figures have been converted to pounds using the Bank of England exchange rate as of 2nd September 2025 which was £1:€1.1487.