Call for proposals under the Technology scouting program

For enterprises, it is a requirement that at least one person was employed based on recorded working hours, as reflected in the latest annual financial statement. As outlined in Section 1.1. Exclusion situtations, Annex I. Conditions for the preparation and implementation of projects, enterprises without any recorded employment in the annual financial statement of the enterprise (or another equivalent document) for last financial year are not eligible as applicants in the project.

Under the provisions set out in Annex I – “Exclusion situation”, applicants classified as “trade business” are not eligible for funding under this Call. Accordingly, Croatian sole proprietorships/crafts (“obrti”), including flat-rate sole proprietorships (“paušalni obrti”), are considered within this category and are not eligible applicants. Eligible applicants are only those explicitly defined in the Call’s eligibility criteria. Therefore, only entities that meet the applicant definition as specified in the Guidelines for Applicants may apply.

The Applicant must ensure that the procurement of contract research services is carried out under arm’s length conditions, meaning that the terms of cooperation, including pricing, scope of work, IP arrangements and access to results, correspond to those that would apply between independent parties under comparable market conditions. Where there is an ownership, institutional or personal link between the Applicant and the selected research organization, any potential conflict of interest or risk of preferential treatment must be identified, mitigated and appropriately reflected in the contractual research agreement, including through clear provisions on separation of decision-making, objective scope definition, arm’s length pricing and the absence of any undue economic advantage.

The Applicant should maintain a clear audit trail demonstrating compliance with these requirements, including, as applicable, declarations on absence of conflict of interest, records of internal decision-making, justification of the selected provider, price benchmarking or comparable offers, and evidence that the contractual terms correspond to standard market practice.

To substantiate compliance with the arm’s length principle, the Applicant should maintain adequate supporting documentation demonstrating that:

To substantiate compliance with the arm’s length principle, the Applicant should maintain adequate supporting documentation demonstrating that:

• the selected research organization possesses the relevant expertise and capacity required for the project;
• the pricing of the contracted services is reasonable and in line with market conditions;
• no preferential treatment results from the ownership relationship.

Depending on the specific circumstances, such documentation may include, for example:

• comparable offers or benchmarking of similar services;
• internal market assessment or price comparison;
• detailed cost breakdowns and justification of the proposed budget;
• documentation on the methodology used for determining the price;
• evidence that the scope of work and contractual terms are consistent with standard market practice.

 In addition to the above, this call is intended for fostering collaboration between industry and academia in identifying and developing innovative technological solutions with strong market and development potential, with the support of technology scout in their evaluation of innovation challenge, search of appropriate solution, strategic guidance, and the high-quality inputs in preparation of project applications, which is also part of quality assessement.

The costs related to technology scout services and implementation of Activity 1 are eligible from the date of publication of the Call. All other project costs are eligible only from the date of submission of the project proposal. The date on which a cost is incurred shall be considered the date of signature of the contract, purchase order, or another equivalent document establishing the contractual relationship between the parties.

This activity falls outside the total duration of project. Applicants should in eDIGIT portal in the Activities table, as a “Start month of activity implementation” for Activity 1 enter “0”; however, they are required to specify the last month of activity implementation (calendar month in which the project proposal is submitted). All other activities must fall within max. 12 months period, which is maximum duration of project implementation.

Staff costs are calculated in accordance with the methodology described in Section 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

The calculation is based on the total employer cost for all staff members employed by the applicant in the last closed financial year, increased by 20% to account for projected staff expenditure growth in the coming years. This includes gross salary level 2, encompassing the total employee-related costs borne by the organization, including all taxes and mandatory contributions payable by the employer, as well as transport allowances and other non-taxable costs, as reflected in the organization’s annual financial statements.

Applicants will be required to provide supporting evidence prior to the signature of the Grant Agreement, as specified in Table 5 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

The 20% share refers exclusively to the costs of contracted research carried out for the Applicant by one or more research organizations, where and if necessary.

The Applicant may also engage other external experts or legal entities with relevant expertise for the implementation of industrial research activities at TRL 3-4; however, these costs are not included within the 20% share allocated to research organisations. Such services are considered separately under this activity.

The Call does not prescribe that the research organization must be established in the Republic of Croatia. However, applicants should take into account that project activities must be implemented in the eligible geographical area, i.e. in the Republic of Croatia. Accordingly, any contracted research performed by a research organization established outside Croatia must be clearly justified, attributable to the Applicant’s project in Croatia, and must not shift the core substance of the project outside the eligible area or confer an undue economic advantage to the research organization or any other party.

These costs include direct expenses related to the protection of intellectual property rights, such as patent application drafting and filing, examination and validation procedures (national, EU or international), official fees, and legal costs related to the defence of IP rights (e.g. oppositions or appeals). Eligible costs are limited to those directly linked to the creation, validation, extension, or protection of intellectual property arising from project activities and only for costs incurred during the project implementation.

Costs for the purchase of licenses for AI tools used for development and research are considered eligible costs under Activity 2 (Industrial research at TRL 3–4, including contract research). However, such costs are eligible only outside the 20% minimum requirement allocated to contract research with a research organization and only for the duration of project implementation.

The applicant is responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable procurement rules and the principles of transparency, proportionality, and equal treatment where relevant. Contract research services must be procured under market conditions and in line with the Call requirements.

The maximum grant amount per project is EUR 70,000. The total project value therefore includes the grant plus the beneficiary’s co-financing contribution, which depends on the applicable funding intensity. The maximum overall co-financing rate per project is 80%. Individual costs may have different funding intensities ranging from 60% to 100%, depending on the type of activity and eligibility rules.

For employed persons please see answer for Q1. As stated in Annex I. of GfA, grant cannot be awarded to an applicant whose business revenue in the year prior to the submission of the project proposal (based on the latest available official data) is less than 50% of the total eligible project costs allocated to the applicant. Revenues include total operationg income recorded in the financial statements of the applicant.

For the application phase, only one technology scout should be foreseen. A change of the technology scout is permitted in justified cases due to various unforeseen circumstances.

The applicant may also engage additional experts and technology scouts beyond the project scope, but these costs must be covered from the beneficiary’s own resources.

Projects supported under this Call should focus on demonstrating a proof of concept and/or technology validation in a laboratory environment, corresponding to TRL 3–4. The Applicant should demonstrate that the project concept is sufficiently developed to allow the proposed industrial research activities to be carried out at this level, preferably based on previous research, technical knowledge or preliminary evidence. No specific template or formal proof of TRL is prescribed; however, the consistency and justification of the proposed TRL, the scientific and technological soundness of the approach, and the technological feasibility of the planned activities will be assessed as part of the quality assessment, in particular under criteria 1.1, 1.2 and 3.1.

Applicants may receive up to 100% funding for activities financed under Article 28 of the GBER Innovation Aid for SMEs. However, in the specific case of aid for innovation advisory and support services, the aid intensity may be increased up to 100% of eligible costs only provided that the total amount of such aid does not exceed EUR 220,000 per undertaking within any three-year period. If this threshold is exceeded, the aid intensity is limited to a maximum of 50% of eligible costs. This information will be subject to verification during the evaluation phase of the application.

The exclusion related to “Maritime industry” refers primarily to projects involving core maritime industrial activities, such as shipbuilding, large-scale maritime operations, offshore activities, port infrastructure, dredging, ship repair, shipbreaking, and similar sector-specific industrial activities. The exception applies to research activities related to maritime transport involving small vessels. ICT, digital, and AI-based solutions are not automatically excluded solely because they may be applied within the maritime domain. Eligibility will be assessed based on the actual scope and primary objective of the project. In particular, projects focused on the development of general-purpose or cross-sector digital technologies (e.g. AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, navigation safety, monitoring systems, software platforms, sensors, communication systems) may be considered eligible, including where such solutions are tested or demonstrated in maritime transport contexts involving small vessels. However, projects whose primary purpose is to directly support excluded maritime industrial activities or large-scale maritime operations would not be considered eligible.

Definition of research organization is given in GfA. Applicants are advised to refer to the Communication from the Commission – Framework for State aid for research and development and innovation (2022/C 414/01), from which the definition of a research organization is derived. Applicants/beneficiaries are responsible for ensuring that any contracted research activities with research organisation meets the Call conditions.

The Ministry cannot provide a determination of eligibility without reviewing the specific facts and circumstances of each individual case. A negative financial result in fiscal year does not automatically mean exclusion. However, applicants must meet all eligibility and exclusion criteria defined in the Call documentation, including financial capacity requirements and the rules on undertakings in difficulty as defined in Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 and Call conditions.

The Ministry cannot provide a determination of eligibility without reviewing the specific facts and circumstances of each individual case. Applicants must ensure all conditions of the Call are respected, including compliance with applicable State aid rules and the avoidance of double financing of the same eligible costs.

Please see answear in Q16.

The Ministry cannot provide a determination of eligibility without reviewing the specific facts and circumstances of each individual case. With regard to the prior projects, the relevant date for assessing previously awarded aid is the date of granting the aid, i.e. the date of adoption of the Financing Decision or the signature date of the Grant Agreement, as applicable under the relevant aid scheme. In this Call, this condition refers only to Article 28. of GBER and is not an exclusion criterion, but it may affect the aid intensity for the costs that fall under Article 28. The threshold relating to previously received innovation aid applies to the SMEs.