€1.5mln for SMEs to help secure EU critical raw materials
The EU has a €1.5mln funding opportunity for scale-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in line with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act.
An investment ticket of €1.5mln, widening to €2.5mln for mining, processing and recycling projects, is available from EIT RawMaterials, a subset of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
It is hoped this will help diversify supply sources and increase recycling and circularity.
‘The European Raw Materials Alliance Booster Call is a strategic initiative to reduce European reliance on imports for 80-100% of the critical raw materials essential to industrial resilience and competitiveness,’ says Bernd Schäfer, CEO, Managing Director, EIT RawMaterials.
Funding is provided through an open application process with multiple cut-off dates throughout 2025. The final cutoff in 2025 is 8 September.
EIT RawMaterials invites applications across two segments:
Booster: start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs, focused on innovation in raw and advanced materials, such as:
- Exploration, resource assessment, and mining in challenging environments
- Recycling and optimisation for end-of-life products
- Substitution of critical or toxic materials
- Circular economy solutions through product and service design
ERMA: Advanced extraction (mining), processing, and recycling projects, focused on projects with significant potential impact in line with EU strategic projects:
- Open to recognised EU Strategic Projects or approved as ERMA-supported (at the time of funding)
- Projects with the potential to expand or diversify Europe’s critical raw materials supply and incorporating innovative approaches in extraction, processing, or recycling
