[OSGeo-Discuss] OSGEO & EU Horizon Call - A services and business incubator for geospatial open-source developments

[Nick Bearman]

Hi OSGeo and OSGeo Europe,

As Chair of OSGeo:UK I have been approached by Ksenia Grant, from 
University of Edinburgh and EDINA, to see if we know anyone who is 
bidding for the EU Horizon Call:  A services and business incubator for 
geospatial open-source developments and/or whether we are interested in 
collaborating with them.

The timescale is relatively short (mid-April submission) and they are 
keen to emphasise their willingness to undertake the heavy admin burden 
of a EU Bid.

Of note, it is bidding for up to €6m, and it is designated that a 
minimum of 45% and up to 60% of this will be provided as 'cascading 
funds' - i.e. money given to companies and organisations to do stuff, 
rather than used by the project partners as such.

This seems like an interesting opportunity, and any comments / advice / 
suggestions are welcome.

If you have any links, or are interested, please do reach out to Ksenia 
or myself.

Best wishes,
Nick.

Nick Bearman | OSGeo:UK Chair

On 25/02/2026 14:06, Ksenia Grant wrote:
>
> Dear Nick
>
> Tom (cc’ed) shared your email address with me.
>
> I work for the University of Edinburgh and I have been speaking to 
> colleagues from EDINA <https://edina.ac.uk/> about the EU Horizon call 
> and looking for contacts at OSGeo and I was introduced to Tom who 
> directed me to you.
>
> More info about the call here: EU Funding & Tenders Portal 
> <https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL6-2026-03-GOVERNANCE-06?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502,31094503&callIdentifier=HORIZON-CL6-2026-03&order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate>
>
> As you may be aware, the call seeks to establish an incubator for 
> geospatial open-source developments. I believe organizations such as 
> OSGeo are key to any proposal for this call. Deadline for applications 
> is quite soon - in mid-April. Therefore, I am wondering if OSGEO is 
> already involved in any consortium of partners putting a proposal 
> together and if we (EDINA) could support and offer further input into 
> the consortium.
>
> If you are not aware of any proposals involving OSGeo already, it 
> would also be also useful to discuss if OSGeo would be interested in 
> partnering with us and others across Europe on a potential proposal 
> for this call.
>
> UoE and other organisations I am speaking too are experienced in 
> putting EU Horizon calls proposals together so we are looking for 
> insights and engagement from OSGEO (rather than sharing any of the 
> administrative burdens of putting a proposal together which I 
> appreciate might be off-putting for a volunteer-run organisation).
>
> If this sounds of interest and you might want to discuss further, 
> could you please let me know when is good for a call please?
>
> Friday this week is very flexible for me if that may work for you too. 
> Monday next week is looking good too.
>
> Looking forward to hearing from you and discussing further.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Ksenia
>
> Ksenia Grant MSc, MBA
>
> Business Development Manager
>
> Information Services
>
> The University of Edinburgh
>
> www.ed.ac.uk
>
> Mobile: 07407 794 883
>
> IoT Research & Innovation Service
>
> Digital Curation Centre
>
> EDINA
>
> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in 
> Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann 
> carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, 
> àireamh clàraidh SC005336. 

-- 
Nick Bearman
+44 (0) 7717745715
nick at nickbearman.com

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