Budapest, 05 September 2025 - In the coming days, two corporate innovation calls for proposals will be launched, with a total value of HUF 182 billion under EDIOP Plus, said the Deputy State Secretary for Innovation of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) at a press conference in Budapest on Friday.
One of the calls for proposals is a focus area call aimed at supporting product development by innovative Hungarian companies, while the other is a call supporting innovation in the business processes of micro and small enterprises. The second phase of the former and the third phase of the latter will now be launched, explained László Bódis.
He added that the total funding available under the product development call for proposals is HUF 107 billion, of which HUF 5 billion was allocated in the first phase, leaving more than HUF 100 billion available in the current second phase.
The total budget for supporting innovation in business processes is HUF 75 billion, of which a significant amount is still available, as businesses have so far requested HUF 34 billion in funding during the programme’s previous phases.
László Bódis said that following the first phase of the focus area calls, they asked for feedback from businesses and made adjustments to the second phase on the basis of the feedback received.
Accordingly, two sub-programmes were announced in the call for proposals entitled “Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas”. Under the first sub-programme, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are invited to apply for funding ranging from HUF 100 million to HUF 600 million for product and technology development.
In exchange for such funding, they are expected to create new products, technologies and services, successfully commercialise them, and, where possible, get them patented or otherwise protected by industrial property rights.
Under the second sub-programme, the amount of funding available ranges from HUF 600 million to HUF 1.2 billion. Here, however, following the implementation of the project, the businesses involved are also expected to generate sales revenue from their new products within two to three years.
The Deputy State Secretary pointed out that businesses will have two weeks from 4 November to submit their project proposals under the call “Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas”. The third phase of the call for proposals will be open to businesses from the beginning of next year.
He also noted that the Hungarian Innovation Agency also offers free project development services to help businesses put together the most professional development plans possible for their project proposals.
In response to an inquiry from MTI, László Bódis said that three areas were highlighted in the call entitled “Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas”: the first is “Digital Renewal”, which includes modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotisation and automation.
The second is “Health Life”, which also covers medical device development and biotechnology development. And the third major focus area is the climate-neutral renewal of the Hungarian energy system and agriculture. Nevertheless, it is also important not to exclude those projects of very high quality that do not fit into any of these categories.
In the case of the HUF 75 billion call for proposals (Supporting the innovation capacity of SMEs), the aim of supporting innovation in the business processes of micro and small enterprises is to enable applicant companies to operate more efficiently. Therefore, applicants can apply for funding to modernize their manufacturing technology and renew their business model and marketing structure.
Businesses will have the opportunity to do so for two weeks starting on 9 September, and then again in December, when the fourth phase of the call for proposals will be launched.
László Bódis emphasized that the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy is fundamentally determined by the degree of innovation of Hungarian businesses, which is why it is important to support innovation.
The government aims to propel Hungarian innovation into the top 10 innovating countries in Europe by 2030, and to have Hungary among the top 10 countries in the world by 2040. This also requires that as many Hungarian businesses as possible engage in innovation and that as many Hungarian businesses as possible successfully bring innovative products, technologies, and services to market.
For more information on calls for proposals please visit palyazat.gov.hu.
Source: mti.hu