The North-West Regional Development Agency launched at the end of April, within the European MIND4MACHINES consortium, a funding call dedicated to the development, testing and commercialization of digital, automation and robotic solutions for the manufacturing industry.

The applicant's guide is available on the project website: https://mind4machines.eu/open-calls/

With an allocation of 1,650,000 euros, the call is addressed to small and medium-sized companies (including micro-enterprises/startups) that develop solutions for the efficiency and improvement of manufacturing processes, such as: digital technologies such as hardware, software, cyber security, connectivity, cloud storage solutions, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, robotics, industrial automation, machine learning.

Depending on the maturity of the proposed innovation, one or more technology providers may apply for:

• INNOVATION STAGE for product development: projects with a maximum budget of 120,000 euros, respectively of a maximum of 60,000 euros per applicant
• PRE-COMMERCIALIZATION STAGE for the completion of the innovation and support for the launch on the market: projects with a maximum budget of 60,000 euros, respectively of a maximum of 30,000 euros per applicant.

The project must include at least one company from the industry to ensure the testing and validation of the innovation, international partnerships being encouraged.

Applications will be completed in electronic format, in English, by June 29, 2022.

At least 38 projects will be implemented over a period of 9 months, starting from autumn 2022. Partner companies will additionally benefit from support services for business development and acceleration of the innovative solution.

This call takes place within the project MIND4MACHINES funded by the Horizon 2020 research-development-innovation program of the European Commission. The project is implemented by a consortium consisting of 11 organizations such as development agencies, chambers of commerce, clusters, accelerators, research institutes, innovation centers and technology transfer from 7 countries.

Interested companies can request details and guidance from the Nord-West ADR experts, the Department of Regional Development, Projects and International Relations, by phone or at the e-mail address: mind4machines@nord-vest.ro.