The European Commission (EC) will organise the EU – India Matchmaking Event in the context of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024 which will be held on 19-21 November 2024.

The EU – India Matchmaking Event itself will take place on-site in Bangaluru, India 19-21 November 2024.

The event will be jointly organised by the European Commission through the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP), in collaboration with the Global Business Inroads the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) partner and Government of Karnataka, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology.

Who can Participate?

This invitation is addressed to cluster and business network organisations interested in collaborating with Indianan counterparts in the following sectors:

• Biotech
• Digital
• Green Tech
• Advanced Manufacturing

Deadlines

This Call for Expression of Interest has three cut-off dates (deadlines):

1. 16 July 2024, 23:59 Brussels time
2. 20 August 2024, 23:59 Brussels time (the second cut-off date will be available only in case of still available places after the first round of evaluation after the first cut-off date).
3. 17 September 2024, 23:59 Brussels time (the third cut-off date will be available only in case of still available places after the first and second round of evaluation after the first and second cut-off dates).

First cut-off

Applicants will receive a notification whether their application is selected, put on the reserve list or rejected within two weeks after the first cut-off date.
Applications on the reserve list may be edited and resubmitted for the next cut-off date(s) – the last submitted application will be considered in the evaluation.
Applications that have been rejected can be improved and re-submitted for the next cut-off date(s).

Second cut-off (only available if necessary)

Applicants will receive a notification whether their application is selected or rejected within one week after the second cut-off date.
Applications on the reserve list may be edited and resubmitted at the latest before the deadline of the third cut-off – the last submitted application will be considered in the evaluation.
Applications that have been rejected can be improved and re-submitted for the next cut-off date.

Third cut-off date (only available if necessary)

Applicants will receive a notification whether their application is selected or rejected within one week after the third cut-off date.
Applicants that are not selected may participate at their own cost if they fulfill the eligibility criteria of this call.
Applications on the reserve list of the first cut-off will be evaluated together with the applications received by the second cut-off date. Applications on the reserve list of the second cut-off will be evaluated together with the applications received by the third cut-off date.

Late applications could be accepted for participation, provided eligibility criteria are fulfilled and costs are borne by the participants. Late applications are accepted until 8 November 2024, 23:59 Brussels time

Apply and submit your expression of interest as a Cluster here until 16 July 2024 (Tuesday), 23:59 (first cut-off date) Brussels Time.

The EU – India Matchmaking Event will bring together cluster organisations and SMEs from the European Union (EU), non-EU countries participating in the Single Market Programme/COSME Strand, and India. It will provide participants an excellent chance to promote Cluster to Cluster (C2C), Cluster to Business (C2B), and Business to Business (B2B) collaborations.

The overall objective of the event is to promote the exchange of information and provide networking opportunities for European cluster organisations and their members with counterparts from India, particularly in the fields of Biotech, Digital, Green Tech and Advanced Manufacturing.

The objectives for the participants include:

• Strengthening EU-India cluster cooperation for the benefit of their members, including a seminar, a cluster matchmaking event, and site visits.
• Identifying potential areas of common interest for cooperation and synergies, in terms of the sectoral, value chain, and market focus of their SMEs and other companies.
• Improving, through clusters, the EU-India industry and academia-industry collaboration in research, development, and innovation. For its members, the clusters will identify possible areas of RDI collaboration (academia, research organisations, industries…).

The call for expressions of interest is being launched to identify a European delegation made up of representatives from cluster organisations (please see the Call for Expression of Interest) who are willing and committed to participate in the EU-India Matchmaking Event.

By submitting an expression of interest in response to this call, you are indicating your acceptance of the call's terms.

Further details about the event, the eligibility requirements, and how to submit an expression of interest can be found here.

This call is targeting only cluster organisations and business network organisations. A separate call exists for SMEs. So if you are an SME you should respond to the call that is available here.