Strategic Partnerships for Innovation (SPIN) 2024: closed

Note, 2 November 2026. The call Strengthening Strategic Partnerships for Innovation in the Industrial Transition Process was published on 28 December 2023, accepted applications from 1 February 2024 and, after three extensions, closed on 13 June 2024 at 11:00. Its successor for the new period, STEP SPIN, was in public consultation until 14 October 2026; the consultation report has been published, and as of 2 November 2026 the call itself had not been published. Current calls are tracked in our guides EU grants for businesses 2026 and Business incentives and upcoming calls 2026.

The EU call “Strengthening Strategic Partnerships for Innovation in the Industrial Transition Process” (Jačanje strateških partnerstva za inovacije u procesu industrijske tranzicije) was open from 1 February to 13 June 2024.

The purpose of this call was to direct aid to research and development projects and to the development of technology infrastructure, in order to develop priority niches grouped into regional value chains within the S3 thematic areas.

The call co-financed projects of strategic partnerships for innovation (SPIN consortia) implemented with the aim of developing innovative products and/or services.

Eligible applicants and mandatory partners were companies of any size (SMEs and large enterprises) that operate at a profit, had at least 1 employee in 2023, and have, or plan to have (by the award of aid, i.e. the signing of the Grant Agreement), their registered office or a branch in areas of Croatia outside Zagreb.

A SPIN consortium had to consist of at least three companies, at least two of which are SMEs, and all consortium members must be from the same region (Northern, Pannonian or Adriatic Croatia), with the option of including research organisations as partners.

Eligible activities

1. Research and development activities:

industrial research (TRL 2 to 4),
experimental development activities ending at (TRL 5-8),
preparation of a feasibility study.

The project proposal must include industrial research and experimental development activities and the preparation of a feasibility study, which precedes or follows the industrial research and/or experimental development activities within the same project proposal, i.e. which assesses and analyses the potential of the project results.

Eligible costs include salary costs, purchase of equipment, depreciation, purchase of materials and raw materials, external services, project management costs and others.

2. Investment in testing and experimentation infrastructure (technology infrastructure)

Aid for investment in testing and experimentation infrastructure can be awarded only if aid for research and development activities is also approved, and it may include investment in equipment such as:

test platforms,
pilot lines,
demonstrators,
testing facilities or living labs, and
related support services whose users are mainly enterprises seeking support for testing and experimentation to develop new or improved products, processes and services, and to test and upgrade technology so that it advances through industrial research and experimental development.

Under the original call, project proposals were accepted from 1 February 2024 to 5 June 2024.

The total allocation of the call was EUR 100 million.

Minimum grant amount: EUR 500,000

Maximum grant amount: EUR 3,000,000

The successor of this call for consortia from Pannonian, Northern and Adriatic Croatia is the STEP SPIN call 2026, whose conditions from the draft guidelines and the consultation report we track until publication. Individual manufacturing companies can apply until 31 December 2026 to the call Process Innovation in S3 Areas (PK.1.3.11), and the technology readiness levels that calls require are explained in our guide Technology readiness levels (TRL).

For more information, an eligibility check for this call and help with preparing your project proposal, contact us at info@omniasolutions.hr.