EU funding and tender guides
Every guide here answers one question a company actually asked us, from the public rules rather than a summary of a summary. Each one links to the source records so you can check it.
There are two different worlds behind the phrase “EU money”, and confusing them wastes months.
Funding calls are grants: Horizon Europe, the EIC, the ERC, and the national programmes that distribute EU structural funds. You propose a project, it is evaluated against other proposals, and the EU pays a share of the cost. Competitive, slow, and worth a lot when it lands.
Public tenders are contracts: a public body needs something bought and publishes what it will pay for. Above the EU thresholds those appear on TED; below them they stay on national portals like Portugal’s BASE.gov.pt. Less glamorous, far more frequent, and usually a better fit if you already sell a service.
The guides below cover both. If you would rather not read the portals yourself, that is what the weekly email is for.
- EIC Accelerator: what it funds and who qualifiesHow the EIC Accelerator works: single-company applications, the grant and equity blend, the two-stage application process, and who is eligible.
- ERC grants: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and SynergyHow the ERC's grant schemes differ, the eligibility windows that decide which one you apply to, how evaluation works, and where the deadlines are.
- EU funding for AI projects: where to lookWhich EU programmes fund AI work, how Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and the EIC differ in what they support, and what the AI Act means for a project.
- EU funding for renewable energy projectsWhich EU programmes fund renewable energy, how research funding differs from deployment funding, and which route fits a plant versus a consortium.
- EU grants for startups: which programmes actually applyWhich EU funding programmes a startup can realistically apply to, what each expects in return, and the eligibility facts that decide if you qualify.
- Horizon Europe funding, explainedWhat Horizon Europe funds, how its three pillars and work programmes are structured, who is eligible, and what actually happens when you apply.
- How to find and track public tenders in PortugalWhere Portuguese public tenders are published, what BASE.gov.pt and TED each cover, and how to monitor them without checking portals every day.
- How to track EU funding calls: the methods that workThe realistic ways to keep up with EU funding calls: portal alerts, national contact points, programme newsletters, aggregators and digests, compared.
- Tender alerts in Europe: how TED and national portals workWhat TED publishes and when, how national portals cover everything below the EU thresholds, how tender alerting works, and where keyword alerts fail.
- The EU Funding & Tenders Portal, explainedWhat the Funding & Tenders Portal is, why it replaced the Participant Portal, how EU Login and the PIC code fit, and how to find and submit to a call.
- What is co-financing in EU grants?Co-financing means the EU pays a share and you fund the rest. What counts as your contribution, how in-kind works, and the mistakes that sink budgets.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19