The Digital Europe Programme: The Funding Most Software Companies Should Look At First

Horizon Europe gets the attention because it is enormous. The Digital Europe Programme is smaller at €8.1 billion for 2021 to 2027, and for a large number of technology companies it is the better fit, because it funds something different.

Horizon Europe funds research. DIGITAL funds deployment. If you are building and rolling out capability rather than investigating a research question, this is the programme you should look at first, and most companies do not.

What makes it different

The distinction sounds like bureaucratic hair-splitting and is not. It determines whether your project is fundable at all.

A Horizon Europe proposal has to identify something not currently known and propose to find out. A Digital Europe proposal has to identify a capability Europe needs and propose to build and deploy it. "We will take known technology and put it into production at scale across member states" is a losing Horizon proposal and can be a winning DIGITAL proposal.

Practically this means DIGITAL suits work involving integration, deployment, infrastructure, platforms, testing facilities, and capacity building. It is closer to engineering than to science.

The strategic areas

The programme is organised around five capacity areas, with a sixth added in 2023.

Supercomputing

High performance computing capability, working alongside the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Covers acquisition and operation of systems, but also the software stack, applications, competence centres and skills. Detail in our EuroHPC guide.

Artificial intelligence

The largest area of interest for most software companies. Funds testing and experimentation facilities, common European data spaces, the AI-on-demand platform, and deployment of AI in sectors including health, agriculture, manufacturing and the public sector. It is also the programme that funds a substantial part of the AI factories build-out described in our InvestAI guide.

Data spaces deserve specific mention because they are under-recognised. The EU is funding sector-specific data spaces for mobility, health, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and more. If you build data infrastructure, this is a live and well-funded area, and it connects directly to the obligations arriving under the Data Act.

Cybersecurity

Funds deployment of cybersecurity capacity: security operations centres, threat intelligence sharing, certification infrastructure, and support for organisations meeting obligations under NIS2 and the Cyber Resilience Act.

If you sell security tooling or services into Europe, there is money here that is directly aligned with obligations your customers already have.

Advanced digital skills

Funds specialised education and training in advanced digital areas: AI, cybersecurity, high performance computing, quantum, microelectronics. Masters programmes, short courses, and reskilling. Frequently overlooked by companies who could deliver training as part of a consortium.

Wide use of digital technologies

The deployment area. Interoperable public services, digital transformation of public administration, and the European Digital Innovation Hubs.

Semiconductors

Added in September 2023 through the Chips Act. Half of the €3.3 billion Chips for Europe Initiative comes from DIGITAL. Detail in our Chips Act funding guide.

European Digital Innovation Hubs are the underused route

EDIHs are the part of DIGITAL that most SMEs could use and most have not heard of.

An EDIH is a regional organisation, funded jointly by DIGITAL and national or regional sources, that provides support to SMEs and public sector bodies undertaking digital transformation. The services are provided at low or no cost to the recipient, because the hub is the one that is funded.

What they offer varies by hub but typically includes test before invest facilities, where you can trial technology before committing, skills and training, support finding investment, and innovation ecosystem networking.

Two ways to use this:

As a beneficiary. If you are an SME wanting to adopt AI, cybersecurity or advanced digital technology, your regional EDIH will help you, subsidised. There is a directory of hubs by region and specialism.

As a partner. If you provide the kind of expertise an EDIH delivers, being part of a hub consortium is a route into the programme with a more predictable funding relationship than competitive calls.

How the money works

Co-funding rates are typically 50 percent for most actions, which is a significant difference from Horizon Europe where many actions fund 100 percent. There are exceptions: some actions reach higher rates, and specific categories such as EDIHs and certain public sector deployments have their own arrangements.

That 50 percent rate is the single most important practical fact about DIGITAL. You need matched funding, either your own or from a national or regional source. Several member states have national schemes specifically designed to provide the matching half, and finding out whether yours does is worth a phone call.

Project sizes vary widely, from a few hundred thousand euro for smaller actions to tens of millions for infrastructure deployments.

Some calls are restricted to entities from member states, or require specific national nominations, particularly in cybersecurity and supercomputing. Read the eligibility conditions carefully, because they are more restrictive than Horizon Europe in places.

Who this is for

DIGITAL suits you if:

• You are deploying or scaling proven technology rather than researching new technology
• You can provide 50 percent matched funding, or can access a national scheme that does
• Your work has a clear European or cross-border dimension
• You are comfortable in consortia, or you are targeting an EDIH relationship

It does not suit you if:

• You need 100 percent funding
• Your project is purely national with no cross-border relevance
• You are doing fundamental research, in which case Horizon Europe is the right door

Practical notes

Work programmes are published in cycles covering multiple years, and calls open through the year. Check the current work programme rather than relying on news coverage, which routinely reports announced totals rather than what is actually being called.

Recent call sizes give a sense of scale. Announcements in the €60 million to €200 million range across multiple topics have been typical, split across many projects.

Everything runs through the Funding and Tenders portal, the same infrastructure as Horizon Europe, so a Participant Identification Code obtained for one works for the other.

Talk to your National Contact Point. DIGITAL has them like Horizon Europe. They will tell you whether your idea fits before you spend weeks on it, and they usually know about the national matching schemes.

The thing worth repeating

If you are a software company that has looked at EU funding, concluded it was all academic research, and moved on, DIGITAL is the programme you skipped. Deployment, integration, infrastructure and capacity building are exactly the things it exists to fund, and the competition is often lighter than Horizon Europe because fewer companies know about it.

The 50 percent co-funding requirement is the real filter. It means the programme rewards organisations that were going to do the work anyway and want it to reach further, rather than organisations looking for someone to pay for a project entirely.

Where this fits

The full funding landscape is mapped in our EU technology funding guide. For research rather than deployment, see Horizon Europe. For single-company startup scale-up funding, see the EIC Accelerator. What replaces this after 2027 is covered in our European Competitiveness Fund guide.

Getting help

We build and deploy software, data platforms and cloud infrastructure for companies operating across Europe, which is the kind of work DIGITAL funds. Where we are useful is delivery: building the capability, integrating it with what exists, and making sure it is still maintainable after the funding period ends.

We are not grant consultants. If you have funded deployment work that needs building, write to office@c9group.dev. More about our work on the EU market entry page and the AWS cost optimisation page.