Excel4Pro

1) Where can I find more details on the Open Call? Any Guide for Applicants?

You can find more details on the Excel4Pro website (https://excel4pro.eu/), the European Commission's Funding and Tenders portal, and the opencalls.fund platform. The primary document containing all the rules and guidelines is the Applicants Guide (Annex 4), which is part of the Open Call Kit.

2) Are single applicants eligible to apply?

The call is specifically designed for single applicants. An eligible applicant must be a single legal entity—specifically a start-up or an SME. You do not need to form a consortium to apply.

3) How many applications can one entity submit? And how many of them can be selected for funding?

If an applicant is found to be participating in multiple applications with different scopes, all of their project applications will be rejected.

If multiple versions of the same application are submitted, only the final version will be evaluated. Since you can only submit one proposal, a maximum of one can be selected for funding.

Across the entire Open Call, a total of 9 sub-projects will be selected (3 from each of the participating countries).

4) For how long will the platform accept proposals?

The platform opened for submissions on January 26th, 2026, and will accept proposals until April 27th, 2026, at 17:00 CET (Brussels time).

5) Can successful applicants receive payment in advance after contracting?

No, there is no advance payment. The Applicants Guide explicitly states that no pre-financing is foreseen. The funding is distributed as a lump sum tied to specific milestones, meaning payments are strictly deliverable-based. You will only receive payments after successfully completing each of the three project phases and submitting the required deliverables (Activity plan, Report on Results, and Final report).

6) Can companies based outside the three Excel4Pro ecosystem countries submit an application?

No. To pass the overall eligibility criteria, the applying legal entity must be established in Türkiye, Greece, or Ukraine, and must also be eligible to participate in Horizon Europe. Businesses established outside these three specific countries are not eligible for this call.

7) Do we need to find a partner from the relevant countries to apply for this project? Can an SME operating in a technology development zone in one of the specified countries apply on its own?

You do not need to find a partner or form a consortium to apply. The Excel4Pro Open Call is specifically designed to provide financial support to single applicants. The eligibility criteria explicitly state that applications must be submitted by a single legal entity. While you are encouraged to collaborate with stakeholders during the project execution (such as cross-border engagement), the application itself must be submitted by your organisation alone.

An SME operating in a technology development zone can apply on its own, provided it meets the following two mandatory criteria:

Legal Establishment: Your legal entity must be established in Türkiye, Greece, or Ukraine and be eligible to participate in Horizon Europe. The specific location within the country (such as a technology development zone) does not affect eligibility as long as the entity is legally established in one of these three countries.

SME Status: Your organisation must qualify as a Startup or a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) according to the European Commission definition.

8) Are microalgae (such as Spirulina and other valuable microalgae) considered eligible within the call’s framework, either as a direct protein source or as a complementary/innovative component of plant-based protein systems? Could you provide your guidance on: Whether microalgae-based solutions fall within the scope of the call, or If the call is strictly limited to terrestrial plant-based protein sources.

1. The Primary Scope is "Plant Proteins". The Open Call explicitly defines its scope as supporting innovation in "novel foods based on plant proteins" and references the identification and screening of "protein crops". Furthermore, Focus Area #1 (Protein Structure-Function Relations) specifically mentions validating new protein sources from "underutilized plants" or agricultural by-products. Since microalgae are biologically distinct from terrestrial plant crops, a proposal focused solely on microalgae biomass production as a "plant crop" substitute might be considered outside the strict definitions of the call.

2. Eligibility as a Complementary/Innovative Component. However, your proposal may be eligible if you frame the microalgae as a functional ingredient within a broader plant-based food system, rather than as a standalone crop.

Under Focus Area #2 (Nutritional Quality), the Guide explicitly calls for:

• "New or Improved Protein Ingredients" with optimized nutritional profiles (e.g., amino acid balance).

• "Targeted Nutritional Products" designed for specific groups (e.g., athletes, elderly).

• "Enhanced Sensory Profiles" (colour, flavour, texture).

If you position your Spirulina/microalgae solution as a high-value ingredient used to enrich, complement, or optimize plant-based food matrices (e.g., improving the amino acid profile of a pea-protein product or acting as a natural colorant/functional additive in plant-based meat), it would strongly align with Focus Area #2.

We recommend highlighting how your microalgae technology resolves specific challenges in plant-based food formulations (such as nutritional deficiencies or sensory issues) to ensure full alignment with the call's objectives.

9) I am currently working as a research assistant at one of the partner organisations of the Excel4Pro project. Within the scope of this call, we would like to apply with the start-up of which I am a co-founder. However, I would like to ask whether there would be any obstacle to our application due to the organisations role as a consortium partner. Three of the four co-founders of our startup are employed as academic staff at the same organisation, while the fourth co-founder is currently pursuing a PhD at the same organisation.

Based on the Applicants’ Guide v4.4, there is indeed a significant obstacle to your application. Unfortunately, your start-up would be considered ineligible to participate in the Open Call.

Below you can find the specific rules from the guide that apply directly to your situation:

1. Employment Restriction: The guide explicitly states under Section 4.1 (Conflict of Interest) that "Applicants cannot be affiliated with Excel4Pro consortium partners, nor can they be employees of the Excel4Pro consortium partners". Since you and two other co-founders are employed as academic staff/research assistants at a consortium partner organisation, this rule directly disqualifies your start-up.

2. Affiliation Rule: Section 2.2.1 (Overall eligibility criteria) also confirms that "Existing Excel4Pro consortium members and their affiliates are not eligible for the Open Call".

3. Conflict of Interest: The rules are designed to prevent any situation where the impartial and objective implementation of the project could be compromised by direct or indirect interests. Having applicants who are employees of a consortium partner creates a clear conflict of interest.

Because the co-founders are employees of an organisation that is already part of the Excel4Pro consortium, your start-up falls under these strict affiliation and employment restrictions and cannot apply for this funding.

10) On the submission platform, I see that the proposal must be uploaded directly, but I could not find any official proposal template or structure in the guidelines or on the website. Could you please clarify whether: There is an official proposal template that applicants should follow, or We should prepare and upload our own proposal document in any format (e.g., PDF) as long as it covers the required information?

Yes, there is an official proposal template, and you must use it. You cannot prepare and upload your own proposal document format.

According to the Open Call rules, applicants must use the official Proposal Template (Annex 5) and the Budget Template (Annex 6) provided in the Open Call Kit.

If an applicant does not use these official Excel4Pro templates, the submitted proposal will be considered non-eligible and will be automatically disqualified during the initial eligibility check.

When preparing your application, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

File Format: You must complete the official Proposal Template (Word document) and the Budget Template (Excel document), save both of them as .pdf files, and upload them to the opencalls.fund platform.

Page Limit: The proposal must not exceed the strict limit of 15 pages (this includes all relevant tables, figures, and references, but excludes the cover page and Table of Contents).

Other Mandatory Templates: You must also download, sign, and submit the official Declaration of Honour and SME Declaration templates as part of your complete application.

You can find all these templates within the Open Call Kit published on the Excel4Pro website here: https://excel4pro.eu/open-call/ .