Grants for low-tech SMEs

 

Target Orgs:Companies, SME
Category:Digitalisation, Economy, Entrepreneurship
Issuer:

StairwAI

Website:https://stairwai-1st-open-call.fundingbox.com/ …
Total budget:5.384.853
Due date:15.03.2022 -- None --
Grant min-max:0 € – 60.000 €
Own contribution:%
Keywords:AI, Development, SMEs, Technology, value chains
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Project Stairway to AI is looking for Low-Tech SMEs to improve their products, services, or value chains with AI!

The goal of the AI4EU on-demand platform is to bring together AI stakeholders and resources, overcoming fragmentation issues and encouraging the acceleration of AI-based innovations. Among the most fundamental objectives of the platform is to improve functionality to allow for the easy engagement of its stakeholders, namely SMEs. The EU-funded StairwAI project is targeting low-tech users with the goal of facilitating their engagement in the AI4EU platform. To that end, it will design and implement a series of AI-based services, such as natural language processing, constraint solving, optimisation and machine learning for horizontal and vertical matchmaking as well as reputation and fairness mechanisms to improve the matching results.

This will be achieved through a new service layer enriching the functionalities of the on-demand platform and containing:

  • a multilingual interaction layer,
  • a horizontal matchmaking service and
  • a vertical matchmaking service.

To test the above-mentioned new services, StairwAI is targeting SMEs working in low-tech sectors that do not have immediate access nor knowledge on AI techniques, matching them with cloud providers and AI experts.

StairwAI will select 14 low-tech SMEs to perform a feasibility study and pilot for the adoption of AI. Applicants have to focus on addressing one of the challenge areas using a set of AI tools and resources that will be available on the AI4EU platform.

StairwAI offers: 

  • Financial support (up to €60 000)
  • Support from Technical Mentor with a wide background in AI and knowledge of technologies offered within the project,
  • Support from Business Mentor to help define the Business Model and the Exploitation Plan for market deployment,
  • Experts in AI (mentors and system integrators),
  • HW resources to support deploying the pilot,
  • AI resources and tools available on AI4EU Platform.

Applicants and eligibility

Low-tech SMEs (registered as legal entities) established in:

  • The Member States of the European Union and its Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) or
  • Associated Countries to H2020,
  • The United Kingdom.

Applicants must address one of the challenges areas mentioned below:

  • Rethinking and visibility of supply chains
  • Human resources
  • Management of data generated by the internet of things
  • Predictive maintenance
  • Zero defect manufacturing
  • Environmental issues
  • Logistics
  • Chatbots
No additional info

Overall budget €5 384 853,75.

Total EU funding available is €60 000 per SME (including vouchers: up to €10 000 to access HW Resources and up to €24 000 for AI experts).

Grant agreement ID: 101017142

Deadline is 15 March 2022, at 13.00 (CET – Brussels time).

Expected duration of participation is 6 months.

No additional info

CALL EXPIRED

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