Cypriot Businesses Can Apply for €1 Million in RIF Funding for Innovation and Product Development

The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) announced on Wednesday that the application process is now open for two major funding programmes aimed at supporting Cypriot businesses.

These programmes, designed to provide practical assistance to the country's business sector, have a combined budget of over €1 million and are funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of NextGenerationEU.

In its statement, the RIF outlined that the two initiatives, titled Innovation Vouchers – InnoVouchers and Enterprises Capacity Building in New Product Development (NPD), are aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Cypriot businesses. "These initiatives seek to strengthen the competitiveness of Cypriot businesses by encouraging their involvement in research and development activities and fostering the creation of new products and services," the foundation said.

The first programme, Innovation Vouchers – InnoVouchers, offers €10,000 per project to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cyprus with between 4 and 29 permanent employees. The programme is designed to provide SMEs with access to specialised expertise from relevant entities, enabling businesses to enhance existing products or develop new ones. The deadline for submitting proposals under this programme is April 28, 2025, at 13:00. Further details on this programme can be found here.

The second programme, Enterprises Capacity Building in New Product Development – NPD, is aimed at businesses with 15 or more employees. This initiative focuses on supporting the recruitment of specialised personnel to aid in product development, as well as involving these employees in research and development activities. The total budget for the NPD programme is €750,000, with a maximum funding of €30,000 per project.

Proposals for this call must be submitted by March 31, 2025, at 13:00. More information about the NPD programme is available here.

"Businesses selected for funding will automatically gain access to RIF’s free innovation support and knowledge transfer services," the RIF concluded in its announcement. 

By fLEXI tEAM