The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) announces a new competition under the STEP (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform), which aims to support investments in digital and deep-tech technologies through two separate funding components
🎯 Two ways to access European support
- Choice A – for projects that bring critical and disruptive technologies to the EU market that have the potential to have a significant economic impact. This includes solutions such as artificial intelligence, next-generation semiconductors, quantum technologies, robotics, autonomous systems and sensor technologies. Assets can range from manufacturing infrastructure to elements of the entire value chain
- Option B – targeting projects that contribute to reducing the EU’s technological dependency on non-EU suppliers by building in-house and secure production capacities for critical digital technologies
📊 Why it matters now
The ICT sector in Poland accounts for about 8% of GDP, employs over 410,000 specialists and records an annual growth of 7-8%. However, a strong push is needed to turn research results into scalable industrial solutions. This is exactly what STEP was created for, which aggregates funding from Horizon Europe, InvestEU and the Innovation Fund to increase Europe’s technological autonomy
🏢 Who can participate and what funds are financed
- Target group: SMEs, large enterprises and mid-caps implementing industrial investment projects.
- Types of eligible costs: purchase of machinery, buildings, construction works, licenses, know-how and training or advisory interventions
- Possible amounts: budget up to PLN 150 million per project. Eligibility covers investments worth from PLN 10 million to PLN 200 million, with different levels of co-financing (up to 70% for SMEs)
🗓️ Highlights and timelines
- Submission of applications: from 31 July to 2 October 2025
- Priority areas: deeptech, climate neutrality and biotechnology, strategic sectors selected to strengthen Europe’s self-sufficiency
With the launch of the STEP call, innovative companies have an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen their technological position in Europe
Source: CORE reworking.