Between 25 February and 24 April 2025, AUTOASSESS called for innovative startups and SMEs to apply for the Open Call for Tech Solutions, and benefit from €500k available to support 5 projects.
As a result, 142 expressions of interest were registered, resulting in 54 proposals completed and submitted.
While we wait for the public announcement of the 5 proposals selected and the startups/SMEs behind them, let’s dive in and take a look at some statistics behind the applications.
Countries and Regions
The Open Call for Tech Solutions received proposals from a good number of countries, thanks to the promotion efforts targeting participants from all the eligible countries. Applications were received from a total of 27 countries, with a predominance of applications from Spain (7), followed by Italy (6) and Greece (5).
Three applications were received from The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Turkey. Two applications were also received from startups/SMEs based in Croatia, Estonia, France and Norway. Finally, the list of countries also includes one application from Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Morocco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Romania, Slovenia, UK, USA and Singapore.
Type of Applications
The Open Call for Tech Solutions was open to SMEs and Startups, applying individually or in consortia of 2 entities maximum. The majority of the applications were submitted by individual applicants (50 proposals), while 4 proposals were submitted by consortia.
It is also worth noting that out of the 54 applications received, 41 were proposed by Startups, while 13 by SMEs.
Challenges per application
The Open Call for Tech Solutions invited startups and SMEs to submit a proposal to address one out of five challenges.
All the five challenges were chosen in the applicants proposals, being Challenge 1 and Challenge 4 the ones with the higher number of applications (13 applications each).
Applications Submitted per challenge | n=54 |
|---|---|
Challenge 1: Reliable high-bandwidth communication for off-board control of drones
| 13 |
Challenge 2: Stereo event-camera on miniature drone | 10 |
Challenge 3: Human Operator interface for FA-IUAS | 13 |
Challenge 4: Crack detection with multi-element ultrasound transducer
| 7 |
Challenge 5: Synchronization of multi-modal sensor data | 11 |
What’s Next
Once the evaluation and contracting phase is finalised, the selected applicants will enter a 6-month programme divided into 3 stages (Plan, Develop & Integrate, Assess):
- Plan: Participants will submit a complete plan of activities for the next 6 months, including the milestones, implementation plan and the expected outcomes in each programme stage.
- Develop & Integrate: Participants will develop the solution and proceed with the integrations according to each solution proposed.
- Assess: Participants will test, validate and demonstrate the final solution.
Stay tuned for the winners announcement, by subscribing AUTOASSESS newsletter and following the LinkedIn and X pages.
