Zabala Innovation’s success in Horizon Europe, quadruple the average rate

Once again, the effectiveness of Zabala Innovation’s work ethic is confirmed at a European level. In the first calls for projects under Horizon Europe, the EU’s new research and innovation framework programme, Zabala Innovation has succeeded in obtaining funding for one in two proposals. This raises Zabala’s success rate to 50%, in other words, approximately four times the average rate, which varies between 6% and 15%, depending on the theme results.

In Horizon Europe’s Cluster 4, for example, for which results of the first TwinTransition and Resilience proposals have been announced, of the nine projects submitted, four were approved by the evaluators and three are on the waiting list. “As the programme’s budget is limited, this list contains projects that could be potentially funded in case the projects that have already been selected fail. Although in principle, these projects do not receive funding, the fact that they are on the waiting list is proof of their excellent quality,” explains Igor Idareta, Zabala Innovation’s International Project Manager.

As for the results in the Transport and Energy themes of Cluster 5, two of the four projects submitted were funded, one in each theme. In the express call for Cluster 1 (Health), the only project, whose leader is the company Hipra, that benefited from Zabala Innovation’s advice was also financed, with the objective of developing a vaccine against Covid. Regarding the EIC SME Accelerator, one of the two projects presented has passed the technical evaluation phase and will proceed to the jury evaluation, during which a decision will be made on its possible funding.

1% of the total budget

Horizon 2020’s successor, Horizon Europe is the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation for the period 2021-2027. Its overall objective is to achieve significant scientific, technological, economic and social impact from the EU’s investment in R&I, thereby strengthening its scientific and technological capacities and promoting the competitiveness of Member States.

In Cluster 4 of this programme, ‘the most competitive of all’, according to Idareta, the proposals funded that contain Zabala Innovation’s signature represent 4.2% of all those selected in this call. “This is a very noteworthy fact,” says Zabala Innovation’s International Project Manager, adding that Zabala Innovation has obtained 1% of the programme’s total budget.

“The European Commission has introduced significant changes in Horizon Europe, in comparison with Horizon 2020, particularly in the way the impact of proposals, in both society and in industry, is measured,” says Idareta. “The results of these first calls prove our ability to adapt to these new requirements and demonstrate that we have the capacity to adapt in the best possible way,” he concludes.