119 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 24 countries have been selected for funding in the latest round of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument. The funding is provided under Phase 1 of the instrument, which means that each project will receive €50,000 to finance a feasibility study for innovative products that can disrupt the market. Companies applying also receive business support services and up to three days of free business coaching.

The European Commission received 2079 eligible proposals by the cut-off date of 6 September. The 119 SMEs selected for funding are involved in 117 projects in total (multiple SMEs can be involved in one project). Most of the projects funded were in the area of ICT (29), followed by transport (16) and low-carbon and efficient energy systems (15).

Spanish SMEs were particularly successful with 17 companies accepted for funding, followed by firms from Italy (14), Germany and Switzerland (10 each). Since the launch of the program on 1 January 2014, 2422 SMEs have been selected for funding under Phase 1 of the SME Instrument.