2027 Is the Last Year of Horizon Europe: The Agri-Food Calls to Plan For Now
Horizon Europe runs from 2021 to 2027, so the 2027 calls are the last ones of this programme. For agri-food startups, SMEs and research teams, that makes the next twelve months the final window to join a Horizon Europe project before the EU moves to a new framework. Most 2027 agri-food deadlines fall between April and September, and consortia are forming now.
Key dates: Cluster 6 two-stage calls, first stage 8 April 2027. Cluster 6 single-stage calls, 11 May, 22 and 23 September 2027. Nature restoration living labs, 14 January 2027.
The Cluster 6 calls for 2027
Cluster 6 is the Horizon Europe budget for food, bioeconomy, agriculture and environment. In 2027 it runs five calls:
The two-stage Call 02 alone has €35 million for three topics: emerging plant pest risks, the water-nutrient-energy nexus in African agriculture, and an open topic on solutions for the European Water Resilience Strategy. Grants are between €5.5 million and €6 million per project, at up to 100% of eligible costs.
Beyond Cluster 6: soil and nature
The Soil Deal for Europe Mission has a 2027 call worth €94.8 million, with topics on living labs that reduce eutrophication from agriculture and on agroforestry for soil health. The new cross-cutting Nature call adds about €229 million for biodiversity, including €60 million for nature restoration living labs with a deadline of 14 January 2027.
Why April is closer than it looks
In two-stage calls, the first stage is a short outline of up to 10 pages, judged only on excellence and impact. That sounds light, but it already needs a consortium, a work plan and a clear role for every partner. Coordinators are choosing those partners in November and December.
SMEs rarely lead these projects. They join as the partner who brings a technology, a pilot site or the route to market. If you want in, you need a Participant Identification Code (PIC) and an introduction to a coordinator before the outline is written.
What this means for Bulgarian and CEE companies
Widening countries such as Bulgaria are welcome partners because consortia are scored on their European reach. AgriVentures already works as a partner in EU projects such as TrueFoods, which spans 8 countries, and runs a Soil Living Lab in Kubrat that is ready to host EU-funded trials. For an overview of where research money is flowing this year, read Where Agrifood Biotech and Research Funding Is Actually Going in 2026.
Do not miss the last round
Start with a free check: paste your website and see which 2027 calls match your company. Then save the calls to your favourites and get a reminder before each deadline with the Standard membership.
Want to be invited into a consortium? The Business membership includes matchmaking, PIC registration and invitations to participate in calls. Both start with a 7-day free trial.
Sources: Cluster 6 2027 deadlines (UNED), Call 02 two-stage 2027 (Welcomeurope), Soil Mission 2027 (Welcomeurope), Nature call 2027 (Accelopment), two-stage rules (REA). Checked 1 November 2026.
Check out our guides for funding opportunities
https://projects.agriventures.co/resources
Agriventures Connect 3.0 is coming on 20th of April 2027 in Sofia, Bulgaria
https://connect.agriventures.co/
The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation
As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation.
Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization.
By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems.
Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.
Tags
Related Articles
Continue reading our latest insights and updates from the AgriVentures ecosystem.
A New International Research Community on Agrifood Law and Food Systems Launches in Brussels
The International Joint Research Group on Agrifood Law and Food Systems was launched in Brussels on 15 October 2026. Agriventures took part in the founding discussions. The International Joint Research Group on Agrifood Law and Food Systems (IJRG-ALFS) was officially launched on 15 October 2026 at Vrije Universiteit Brussel | It took place during the 5th Food Law, Policy & Diplomacy Conference, opened by an FAO keynote on the right to food | Agriventures contributed to the discussions, with...
🌱 SYSARM Project: Join Our Regional Learning Alliances!
The SYSARM (Systems Thinking for Agricultural Risk Management) project is entering an important phase: the development of Regional Learning Alliances (RLAs) that bring together key stakeholders to improve agricultural risk management through systems thinking, collaboration, and knowledge exchange. 🤝 Why join a SYSARM Regional Learning Alliance? By participating, your organisation can: ✅ Share your expertise and needs — contribute your practical experience and help identify the key...
World Food Day 2026: 50 Funding Opportunities for Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems
To mark World Food Day, Agriventures has published a free guide to 50 funding calls, prizes and programmes for food security and sustainable food systems, each with a direct link to the official call page. World Food Day falls on 16 October, the date FAO was founded in 1945. This year's message, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.”, puts innovation at the centre: not only data, AI and robots, but also traditional knowledge, existing solutions used in new ways, and better methods to produce...
Biotechnology, Agri-Inputs and Biosecurity: Why the Future of Farming Needs a Wider Conversation in Sofia
Agriculture is undergoing a quiet transformation. Genomic tools, precision biological solutions, and new generations of crop protection and plant nutrition products are changing what is possible in the field and along the whole food chain. At the same time, the same advances raise questions that the sector is only beginning to ask. Who controls the genetic resources and seeds we depend on? How do we manage biosecurity when biological agents and genomic technologies can be used for more than...
Where Agrifood Biotech and Research Funding Is Actually Going in 2026
Basic research doesn't fund itself, and in agrifood, the gap between a promising lab result and a fundable project often comes down to knowing which of a dozen overlapping EU programmes to approach first. Food safety science, biotech platforms, and multi-country research consortia each follow their own funding logic, and 2026 has brought fresh calls across all three. Two Live Examples Worth Studying Safe-Agri, one of AgriVentures' active projects, is reinforcing the security assessment...
VerAgro launches a free self-assessment to help farms measure - and improve - their sustainability
"How sustainable is your farm?" It's a question most producers can answer instinctively, but rarely with hard numbers. A new Bulgarian startup wants to change that. VerAgro, a Bulgaria-based agtech startup, has launched a free online self-assessment that gives farms and processors a clear, structured picture of where they stand on sustainability — and what to do next. A 20-minute check-up for your farm The tool works like a health check-up for your operation. Farmers and processors answer 57...
Never Miss an Update
Join our community to receive the latest insights, funding opportunities, and industry news from AgriVentures.