💰 Funding Details

Scaling-up nutritional proteins from alternative sources

Call Identifier: HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-03

Type of Action: Innovation Action (HORIZON-JU-IA)

Total Indicative Budget: €172.1 M (CBE JU 2025 work programme)

Typical EU Contribution per Project: €7-15 M (guidance derived from past IA topics; larger flagship budgets possible)

Funding Rate: 60 % of eligible costs for for-profit entities, 100 % for non-profit entities (standard Horizon-JU-IA rules)

Consortium Requirement: Min. 3 independent legal entities from 3 different your country (at least 1 EU Member State)

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at Start/End: TRL 5→7/8

Opening Date: 03 Apr 2025

Deadline: 18 Sep 2025 – 17:00 (Brussels)

Strategic Fit

Projects must demonstrably advance the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, Farm-to-Fork, Circular Economy and the new Initiative on Biotech & Biomanufacturing by:

* Increasing European protein autonomy and food-system resilience.

* Lowering resource footprints (land, water, energy, nitrogen).

* Delivering consumer-safe, nutritious, and acceptable alternative protein ingredients (≥50 % protein).

Scope Highlights

1. Feedstock breadth: plants, fungi, insects, microorganisms, algae, aquatic biomass, gas-fermentation, etc.

2. Process innovation: scalable extraction/bioprocesses, cost-effective downstream purification, circular feedstock loops with zero contaminant carry-over.

3. Product performance: nutritional adequacy, digestibility, hypo-allergenicity, functionality in food matrices.

4. Regulatory & safety: EFSA-aligned tox testing, gap analysis, and roadmap for Novel Food/other approvals.

5. Market pull: early end-user co-creation and consumer acceptance studies.

6. Cascading use: valorise by-streams into feed, chemicals or materials for additional impact.

Eligible Costs

* Personnel, equipment depreciation, consumables, subcontracting, large-scale demo costs, communication, exploitation, IP.

* Up to 20 % indirect costs calculated on the flat rate.

Key Evaluation Weights

1. Excellence (1/3): science & technology credibility, integration of prior CBE/H2020 results.

2. Impact (1/3): quantified protein tonnage uplift, resource savings, consumer uptake plan, credible KPIs.

3. Implementation (1/3): robust work plan, industry-led governance, risk & cost realism.

📊 Evaluation Criteria

Key Evaluation Criteria (IA)

1. Excellence (0-5)

* Technical novelty vs state-of-the-art.

* Soundness & credibility of scale-up approach.

2. Impact (0-5)

* Quantified protein output (t/y, % EU demand coverage).

* Credible exploitation/commercialisation plan (TRL 8-9 route).

* Contribution to circular bioeconomy & EU policy targets.

3. Quality & Efficiency of Implementation (0-5)

* Work-plan coherence, risk management, KPIs.

* Consortium’s capacity (infrastructure, market access, regulatory expertise).

Thresholds: 4/5 for Impact, 3/5 for others; overall ≥10/15.

📝 Application Strategy

Winning Strategy for HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-03

1. Craft a Need-Driven Narrative

* Open with Europe’s current 60-70 % dependency on imported protein and position your technology as a resilience lever.

* Quantify environmental gains vs. soy/whey baselines using LCA pre-data (land –80 %, water –70 %, GHG –60 %).

2. Build a Complementary, Market-Pull Consortium

| Role | Profile | Minimum Tips |

|------|---------|--------------|

|Coordinator | Mid-cap ingredient producer with pilot line (TRL 6) | Proven IA management record |

|Technology Providers | Start-ups / RTOs for fermentation, membrane filtration, enzymatic hydrolysis | Show IP freedom-to-operate |

|End-users | Multinationals in meat alternatives, sports nutrition, bakery | Provide LoIs & formulation specs |

|Consumer insight | Social science SME/university | Gender-action & behavioural models |

|Safety & LCA | EFSA-experienced CRO, LCA experts | Harmonise with PEFCR |

|Circularity valorisation | Feed company / bio-based materials SME | Demonstrate cascading approach |

3. Demonstration Concept

1. Scale-up sequence: lab (5 kg) → pilot (100 kg) → demo (5-10 t) batches.

2. Integrated pilots: combine upstream (fermenter/insect rearing) and downstream (membrane + chromatography) in one European demo hub.

3. Digital twin & AI: model mass-balance, optimise yields by ≥15 %.

4. Work Package (WP) Skeleton

*WP1 Coordination & ethics*

*WP2 Feedstock pre-treatment & supply contracts*

*WP3 Upstream protein production (TRL 5→6)*

*WP4 Downstream purification & formulation (TRL 6→7)*

*WP5 Safety, nutrition & regulatory pathway*

*WP6 Environmental & socio-economic assessment (ISO 14040, CBA)*

*WP7 Consumer co-creation & market uptake*

*WP8 Exploitation, IP & communication*

5. Impact Quantification

* Target ≥5 kt/y protein capacity 3 years post-project.

* CAPEX reduction: ≥20 % vs. state-of-the-art through process intensification.

* Circularity KPI: ≥90 % valorisation of side streams.

* Consumer acceptance: ≥65 % positive intention in 3 your country pilot markets.

6. Budget Logic

* 30 % large-pilot leasing & utilities

* 28 % personnel

* 20 % subcontracted safety/toxicology

* 12 % travel, networking, dissemination

* 10 % contingency & IP

7. Risk Management

| Risk | Mitigation |

|------|------------|

|Downstream fouling | Backup membrane suppliers, cleaning-in-place protocols|

|Novel Food delay | Parallel pre-submission w/ EFSA; allocate 150 k€ regulatory budget|

|Consumer rejection | Iterative sensory panels; reformulation loop in WP7|

8. Exploitation & IP

* File process patent by M18, licensed within consortium.

* Launch joint venture SPV for first commercial plant by 2029.

* Open-access publication of non-confidential LCA datasets to meet CBE JU open-science policy.

💡 Success Factors

End-User Letters of Intent

Attach binding **purchase commitments or co-investment MoUs** from food manufacturers to prove market pull and enhance the *Impact* score.

Integrated Circularity Model

Show a **mass-balance diagram** where >90 % of by-streams are valorised (e.g., fiber to feed), directly addressing the topic’s circularity KPI.

Early Regulatory Engagement

Schedule an **EFSA pre-submission meeting by month 6**, demonstrating pro-active compliance and de-risking time-to-market.

Gender & Social Inclusiveness

Integrate **sex, gender, and socio-economic analysis** in consumer studies, aligning with Horizon Europe cross-cutting priorities and adding evaluation points.

Digital Process Optimisation

Employ **AI-driven digital twins** to predict yields and energy use, providing quantifiable efficiency gains that bolster *Excellence*.

Clustering and Dissemination Synergy

Commit to **CBE JU clustering events**, share pilot sites for cross-demo visits, and align KPIs with sibling projects to maximise European added value.

❌ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Underestimating TRL Requirements

Ignoring the need to **exit at TRL 7/8** leads evaluators to classify the proposal as RIA rather than IA, cutting scores on *Excellence* and *Implementation*.

Superficial Consumer Work

Many proposals add a generic dissemination WP instead of **embedding behavioural science and sensory testing** throughout development, conflicting with the topic’s early end-user involvement mandate.

Fragmented Pilot Infrastructure

Placing upstream and downstream demos in different your country without a clear logistics plan inflates cost, emissions and risks, triggering negative comments under the **coherence** criterion.

Neglecting EFSA Novel Food Roadmap

Failing to allocate budget and timeline for **toxicological studies, dossier drafting and pre-submission meetings** signals unrealistic commercialisation, downgrading Impact.

Weak Connection to Previous CBE Projects

Omitting a table that maps learnings from **SMART PROTEIN, PLENITUDE, SYLPLANT, etc.** violates the call text asking for complementarity and may be considered duplication.

Over-optimistic LCA Claims

Stating ‘carbon-negative’ without an **ISO-conformant** methodology or baseline data invites evaluator scepticism and lower credibility scores.

Scaling-up nutritional proteins from alternative sources

Quick Facts for Spain Applicants

Ready to Apply from Spain?

💰 Funding Details

Scaling-up nutritional proteins from alternative sources

Strategic Fit

Scope Highlights

Eligible Costs

Key Evaluation Weights

📊 Evaluation Criteria

Key Evaluation Criteria (IA)

📝 Application Strategy

Winning Strategy for HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-IA-03

1. Craft a Need-Driven Narrative

2. Build a Complementary, Market-Pull Consortium

3. Demonstration Concept

4. Work Package (WP) Skeleton

5. Impact Quantification

6. Budget Logic

7. Risk Management

8. Exploitation & IP

💡 Success Factors

End-User Letters of Intent

Integrated Circularity Model

Early Regulatory Engagement

Gender & Social Inclusiveness

Digital Process Optimisation

Clustering and Dissemination Synergy

❌ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Underestimating TRL Requirements

Superficial Consumer Work

Fragmented Pilot Infrastructure

Neglecting EFSA Novel Food Roadmap

Weak Connection to Previous CBE Projects

Over-optimistic LCA Claims

🇪🇸Spain Overview

🏷️ Keywords

🔗 Quick Links

Related Opportunities for Spain

Enhancing plant protein production to bolster the resilience of agricultural systems and EU self-sufficiency in plant protein used as feed

Raising citizen awareness on alternative proteins derived from biotechnology

Nutrients produced by microorganisms utilising primarily CO2 from the air, with the support of biotechnology

Ready to Apply from Spain?

Frequently Asked Questions