Innovation calls 2025: IRI S3, PoC and Innovation in S3

Note, 30 October 2026. This overview of announcements was published in May 2025. The IRI S3 call (PK.1.1.12) was published on 17 June 2025, applications were accepted from 15 September 2025, and the call was suspended on 5 November 2025 and closed on 7 January 2026 because the allocation was used up. The first Proof of Concept call (PK.1.1.17) closed on 15 September 2026, and a second call had not been published by 30 October 2026. The call Process Innovation in S3 Areas (PK.1.3.11) accepts applications from 1 September 2026 until funds run out, and no later than 31 December 2026. Current calls are tracked in our guides EU grants for businesses 2026 and Business incentives and upcoming calls 2026.

In May 2025 we published an overview of the calls announced at the time, with information on their content, deadlines and eligible applicants. If you are considering applying, now is the right time to start preparing and developing your project idea.

1. IRI S3: Increasing the development of new products and services resulting from research and development activities (Povećanje razvoja novih proizvoda i usluga koji proizlaze iz aktivnosti istraživanja i razvoja)

Planned call opening: 31 May 2025
Planned call closing: 31 March 2026
Total allocation: EUR 191,170,820

Aid intensity: up to 85% of eligible costs (depending on the type of aid, the development phase, the investment location and the company size)

The IRI S3 call was intended to encourage the development of new products, technologies and business processes by increasing private investment in research and development in the S3 thematic areas.

A similar call was open in 2023 (Targeted Scientific Research, Ciljana znanstvena istraživanja), but it was intended for research, development and innovation (RDI), to co-finance research activities at lower TRL levels. Eligible applicants were micro, small, medium-sized and large enterprises and research organisations, while the grants ranged from (a minimum of) EUR 500,000.00 to as much as EUR 1,500,000.00. For our client, the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb, grants of EUR 1.49 million were approved for a research project that we prepared, in which a multinational pharmaceutical company was a partner.

This year’s IRI S3 call, published in June 2025, focused on projects with high growth and innovation potential, and will place particular value on cooperation between companies and scientific research institutions (e.g. faculties). It will co-finance the cost of developing new products and services in almost all phases of development, from industrial research to experimental development and the first final product, covering costs such as staff salaries, external development services, the purchase of research and development equipment, product testing and the like.

The expected range of EU grants is from EUR 200,000 to as much as EUR 2 million, which makes this call one of the most interesting calls for innovative entrepreneurs this year.

2. Proof of Concept, PoC (Dokazivanje inovativnog koncepta)

Planned call opening: 7 July 2025
Planned call closing: 30 September 2025
Total allocation: EUR 5,304,291.67
Aid intensity: up to 92% of eligible costs

Aid amounts: based on previous versions of the call, grants of up to EUR 50,000 to 60,000 per project are expected.

The announced call for “Proof of Concept” (PoC) concerns early testing of innovative ideas and technologies to assess their feasibility and commercialisation potential. Aid is awarded for research in the early stages of developing innovations (products, processes or services), to reduce the risk of investing in further development. This covers technology development phases TRL 3-4.

Eligible activities include: carrying out research, knowledge and technology transfer, verification and protection of intellectual property, dissemination of project results and visibility, and project management.

Eligible applicants: micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, research organisations, and natural persons who will set up a company before signing the contract.

Most of the conditions are expected to remain the same as or similar to those in the first three calls, meaning that projects will be implemented independently (without partners), with an aid intensity of 50 to 70%.

If your company is at an early stage of developing an innovation, this is an opportunity you will not want to miss.

3. INNOVATION IN S3 (INOVACIJE U S3): helping companies build sustainable and resilient systems and processes through process and organisational innovation and upskilling employees to apply new business models

Planned call opening: 30 September 2025
Planned call closing: 30 June 2026
Total allocation: EUR 17,188,524
Aid intensity: up to 50% of eligible costs

The aim of the INNOVATION IN S3 call is to increase the innovativeness of small and medium-sized enterprises by financing investment in sustainable and resilient business systems. It will support the introduction of new business models, process digitalisation, the development of organisational innovation and the strengthening of employee skills.

Eligible activities are those that contribute to the growth and competitiveness of SMEs, especially in the thematic areas of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) and in regions that are lagging behind in development. Investments in tangible and intangible assets will be financed, as well as working capital, if they are linked to process and organisational innovation.

Eligible applicants: Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that plan to improve their business through organisational innovation, including upskilling employees to apply new business models.

Although this is a permanently open call (first come, first served), experience from previous calls shows that, in addition to the speed of submission, the quality of the project application itself makes a significant difference. We therefore advise preparing the project idea in good time.

The conditions of the open call are in our article Process Innovation in S3 Areas (PK.1.3.11), the status of the Proof of Concept call in our Proof of Concept grants guide, and technology readiness levels in TRL levels 1 to 9.

We look forward to receiving your ideas at info@omniasolutions.hr!

You can also follow all the information on new EU and national grant calls on our LinkedIn profile.