EUR 165 million in funding opportunities offered by CBE JU 2025 in bioeconomy

CBE JU launches annual calls for project proposals under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. In addition to following the Horizon Europe rules, CBE JU has some specific requirements provided in the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2025. The CBE calls welcome all kinds of actors from research organisations to companies of all sizes across bio-based value chains to collaborative projects. 

Key details of the 2025 Call for proposals:

• Call Identifier: HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025
• Expected launch date: April 4, 2025
• Expected deadline for submission: September 17, 2025, at 17:00 CET
• Total Budget: €165 million 

Understanding the types of actions

The CBE JU is committed to advancing a competitive bioeconomy in Europe by funding projects that develop innovative and sustainable bio-based solutions. With a focus on feedstock, processing, products, and the cross-cutting aspects of communication and environmental sustainability, this funding call offers significant opportunities for companies to contribute to a sustainable future. CBE JU funds four main types of actions:

• Innovation Actions – Flagships (IA-flagship): Deployment of a first-of-its-kind innovation on the European market together with the entire value chain.
• Innovation Actions (IAs): Scaling up activities from prototype to product validation and market replication together with the entire value chain.
• Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs): Activities to establish new knowledge or explore feasibility for new or improved technologies and solutions.
• Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs): Supporting community structuring, technological visioning, outreach, and research result dissemination.

Call topics

The CBE JU 2025 call includes a total of 13 call topics under four types of actions, each targeting different aspects of bioeconomy innovation. In IA-flagships and CSA only one project will be funded per topic, but in IAs and RIAs two competing projects are expected to be funded per topic thus sharing the allocated budget for respective topic.

Innovation Actions – Flagship (IA-flagship)

1. Urban-industrial symbiosis for bio-waste valorisation - €18 million
2. Bio-based drop-ins/smart drop-in platform chemicals - €20 million
3. Circular-by-design fibre-based packaging - €18 million
4. Retrofitting of industrial plants towards higher-value bio-based products - €20 million

Innovation Actions (IA)

1. Sustainable macroalgae systems: Cultivation and optimised production - €14 million
2. Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) bio-based solutions to replace hazardous conventional chemicals for textiles production - €13.5 million
3. Scaling-up nutritional proteins from alternative sources - €14 million
4. Cost-effective and robust continuous biotech processes - €14 million
5. SSbD bio-based polymers/copolymers - €13.5 million

Research and Innovation Actions (RIA)

1. Valorisation of untapped forest biomass - €7 million
2. Bio-based and biodegradable delivery systems for fertilising products - €6 million
3. Alternative biomanufacturing routes for natural and synthetic rubber - €6 million

Coordination and Support Actions (CSA)

1. New curricula and knowledge exchange practices for bio-based systems - €1 million