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EIT Health — Innovation Uptake

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EIT Healthup to €650,00030 days left

The Innovation Uptake Call funds the market adoption of clinically validated digital, data-driven and AI-powered healthcare solutions: commercialisation pilots in real-world settings, usability and market adaptation, go-to-market and business model validation, health economics analysis and reimbursement pathways. It is the sister call of the Transformative Healthcare Instrument, on the same deadline — but it asks for a consortium instead of a single company, an obtained CE mark instead of an investment round, and for medium and large lead companies its financial sustainability condition is revenue sharing rather than options over equity. The total call budget is €5,200,000 and up to 8 projects will be funded.

Call details

Funding: Up to €650,000 per project, covering a maximum of 50% of total project costs — the consortium funds the other half. If the lead (Commercialising Entity) is a micro or small enterprise, its share of the funding must be between €400,000 and €500,000, and it must demonstrate at least €500,000 of external funding traction over the past 3 years from dilutive sources: revenue, equity or comparable. Grants and non-dilutive sources do not count towards that threshold.
Who can apply: A consortium of at least two legal entities, independent from each other and each legally established in a different country, covering at least two sides of the Knowledge Triangle: industry, research, education. At least one industry organisation is required, and the consortium is led by the Commercialising Entity — the company that brings the solution to market.
Solution gate: The solution must be a medical device or application as defined in the MDR (EU 2017/745) or IVDR (EU 2017/746) — products in transition to MDR or IVDR are also eligible. It must sit at Innovation Maturity Level 7 (validation) or 8 (approval and launch), hold an obtained CE mark, and be preparing entry into a new market.
Timeline: Deadline 16 September 2026 at 16:00 CEST. Eligibility notification 7 October, remote evaluation outcome and pitch invitations 28 October (score above 70% required), online pitches 16–20 November, final award notification 9 December 2026. Projects start on 1 January 2027 and run to 30 March 2028.
The sustainability condition: Every winning consortium signs a Financial Sustainability Contribution Agreement through its Commercialising Entity, as a pre-requisite for the release of any funding to the whole consortium. Which agreement depends on the size of that lead company. A micro or small enterprise signs a Grant-to-Options-to-Equity Agreement — the same convertible structure as the THI call, with a 20% conversion discount and, in this call’s contract template, a maturity date of 15 January 2030. A medium or large enterprise signs a Revenue Sharing Agreement instead: repayment out of revenue from the funded innovation, triggered once sales exceed €10,000 within five years of project end, and capped at the grant received plus a mark-up of at least 15%. No options, no equity, no cap-table effect.
Deadline: 16 Sept 2026(closes 16:00 CEST — a hard deadline, late submissions are not considered)— 30 days remaining
Max grant: €650,000
Official source: https://eithealth.eu/opportunity/innovation-uptake/ ↗

Before you apply

Is this the right call for you? 7 conditions decide it

01Your solution is not a medical device or application under the MDR (EU 2017/745) or IVDR (EU 2017/746), and is not in transition to either. Pure software without a medical-device classification does not qualify.
02You do not hold a CE mark, or your solution sits below Innovation Maturity Level 7. The call requires IML 7 or 8 with an obtained CE mark, preparing entry into a new market.
03You have no consortium: at least two legal entities, independent from each other and each established in a different country, are required.
04Your consortium covers only one side of the Knowledge Triangle. At least two of industry, research and education must be represented, including at least one industry organisation.
05Your lead company is a micro or small enterprise without at least €500,000 of external dilutive funding traction in the past 3 years. Grants and non-dilutive sources do not count.
06You cannot fund 50% of the project. EIT Health funds at most half of total project costs.
07You are not willing to sign the Financial Sustainability Contribution Agreement — options over equity for a micro or small lead, revenue sharing for a medium or large lead. Signing it is a pre-requisite for the release of any funding to the entire consortium.

Not a match on one of these? Then this call is not the one, which says nothing about the next. Calls open continuously: the free Match Report tells you which call does fit, or tells you plainly that none of them do, and our weekly digest tells you when a call you can enter opens.

Questions applicants ask

Does EIT Health take equity in your company if you win the Innovation Uptake Call?

It depends on the size of the Commercialising Entity that leads the consortium. A micro or small enterprise signs a Grant-to-Options-to-Equity Agreement — the same convertible structure as the Transformative Healthcare Instrument, converting at a 20% discount, with a maturity date of 15 January 2030 in this call’s contract template. A medium or large enterprise signs a Revenue Sharing Agreement instead: no options and no equity, but a commitment to share revenue from the funded innovation once sales exceed €10,000 within five years of project end, capped at the grant received plus a mark-up of at least 15%.

How is Innovation Uptake different from the Transformative Healthcare Instrument, which closes the same day?

Three structural differences. THI funds a single SME; Uptake funds a consortium of at least two entities from two countries, led by the commercialising company. THI’s entry gate is a closed priced investment round of at least €2,000,000; Uptake’s gate is product maturity — an MDR or IVDR device at IML 7 or 8 with an obtained CE mark, entering a new market. And THI’s sustainability condition is always options over equity, while Uptake applies that only to micro and small leads; medium and large leads sign revenue sharing instead. Uptake also pays more: up to €650,000 per project against THI’s €500,000 maximum.

What does the consortium requirement actually demand — can two companies from the same country apply?

No. The consortium needs at least two legal entities that are independent from each other and each legally established in a different country. It must also cover at least two sides of the Knowledge Triangle — industry, research, education — with at least one industry organisation, and it is led by the Commercialising Entity responsible for bringing the solution to market. A company plus a research partner or university hospital in another country is the archetypal setup.

Verified against BP2628_InnovUptake27_CallDocument_PUBLISHED_v4.pdf — version 4, July 2026. Official source: https://eithealth.eu/opportunity/innovation-uptake/ ↗

Eucade’s angle

For a medium-sized company this is the rare EIT Health call where the sustainability condition never touches your cap table — which is exactly why we flag it to companies weighing the Transformative Healthcare Instrument on the same deadline. The real gate is not the writing but the setup: a CE mark, a partner in another country on the research or education side, and a lead company that can carry half the project costs. Through our Joint R&D Track you bring the partners and we write the application; the free Match Report tells you first which of the two EIT Health calls is the stronger route, or whether both are worth filing.

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