UNITE Open Calls: Second Open Call for Digital Health Innovators

Deadline: 10-Dec-2026

UNITE is inviting cross-regional consortia to propose deep-tech digital health solutions that improve health equity and address Europe’s healthcare workforce crisis. The Second Open Call has a total budget of €6 million and offers up to €1 million per project through Financial Support to Third Parties agreements.

About the UNITE Programme

UNITE is a €20 million pan-European programme under the European Commission’s Regional Innovation Valleys initiative. The programme aims to create a borderless digital health innovation ecosystem connecting: - Technology developers. - Research institutions. - Healthcare providers. - Public authorities. - End-user organizations. - Regional innovation systems. UNITE seeks to accelerate healthcare transformation through deep-tech solutions addressing demographic change, ageing populations, health inequities, fragmented services, and workforce shortages.

About the Second Open Call

The Second UNITE Open Call supports high-impact collaborative projects addressing two main challenges: - Deep-tech innovations that secure equal health for the entire population. - Digital solutions that respond to the health workforce crisis. Projects should combine technical innovation with practical implementation, end-user participation, and cross-regional cooperation. Funding Information

The Second Open Call provides:

- Total call budget: €6,000,000.

- Maximum funding per project: €1,000,000.

- Maximum funding per organization: €600,000 across all UNITE open calls.

- Funding mechanism: Financial Support to Third Parties.

- Payment method: Pre-financing, interim, and final installments.

- Payment conditions: Achievement of milestones and delivery of agreed outputs.

Regional funding caps also apply. Regional Funding Caps Funding limits vary by participating region.

Examples provided include:

- Central Macedonia: Up to €139,810.

- Scotland: Up to €250,000.

- Romania: Up to €250,000.

Applicants should consult the official call documents for: - The complete regional-cap table. - Whether caps apply per organization or regional allocation. - Co-funding requirements. - Eligible cost categories. - Funding rates. - Rules for distributing the consortium budget. A project cannot avoid regional caps by transferring ineligible costs between partners. Organization-Level Funding Limit An organization can receive no more than €600,000 across all UNITE open calls.

Applicants should calculate:

- Funding previously received through UNITE. - Funding requested in other UNITE applications. - The amount requested under the Second Open Call. - The organization’s remaining funding capacity.

Partners must disclose previous or pending UNITE support accurately

Eligible Regions Applicants must be legally established in one of the following UNITE regions: - Central Macedonia, Greece. - Lombardy, Italy. - Extremadura, Spain. - Aragón, Spain. - Scotland, United Kingdom. - Wales, United Kingdom. - Romania, with national eligibility. Every consortium partner seeking funding should confirm its legal establishment and regional eligibility. Regional Innovation Categories Eligible regions are grouped into two categories for consortium-building purposes.

The strong innovation regions are:

The moderate or emerging innovation regions are: - Central Macedonia. - Romania. - Lombardy. - Extremadura. - Aragón. Every consortium must include partners from both regional categories. Consortium Requirements

Each consortium must include:

- At least three organizations. - Organizations from at least three different UNITE regions. - At least one solution provider. - At least one research entity. - At least one end-user organization. - A partner from Wales or Scotland. - A partner from Central Macedonia, Romania, Lombardy, Extremadura, or Aragón. One organization may need to demonstrate a clear primary role within the project, even where it has experience spanning more than one category. Minimum Consortium Example A compliant minimum consortium could include: - A digital health company from Scotland as the solution provider. - A university from Lombardy as the research entity. - A healthcare organization from Romania as the end-user organization.

This example meets:

- The minimum of three organizations. - The requirement for three different regions. - The solution-provider requirement. - The research-entity requirement. - The end-user requirement. - Participation from both regional innovation categories. Applicants must still verify all legal and technical conditions in the official call. Solution Providers A solution provider develops or supplies the technology, product, platform, or digital service at the centre of the proposed project.

Potential solution providers may include:

- Small and medium-sized enterprises. - Startups. - Technology companies. - Digital health developers. - Medical technology companies. - Artificial intelligence providers. - Data and analytics companies. - Other eligible innovation organizations. The provider should demonstrate that the proposed technology is sufficiently developed for the planned activities. Research Entities A research entity contributes scientific, clinical, technical, methodological, or evaluation expertise.

Eligible research partners may include:

- Universities. - Research institutes. - Clinical research organizations. - Applied research centres. - Other legally eligible research bodies.

The research partner may support:

- Study design. - Validation. - Data analysis. - Ethical frameworks. - Impact evaluation. - Evidence generation. - Technology assessment. - Dissemination. End-User Organizations An end-user organization represents the people or institutions expected to use, implement, or benefit from the solution.

Potential end users may include:

- Hospitals. - Clinics. - Health systems. - Primary-care organizations. - Social-care providers. - Municipal or regional health authorities. - Patient organizations. - Organizations serving older adults. - Workforce-t