LIGAWINE Open Call 2026: Funding Opportunities for Sustainable Innovation in the Wine Sector

The European wine industry is undergoing a profound transformation - driven by climate challenges, sustainability goals, and the rapid adoption of digital technologies. Against this backdrop, the LIGAWINE Open Call offers an exciting funding opportunity for innovators, SMEs, and wine-sector stakeholders ready to test and deploy cutting-edge solutions.

What is the LIGAWINE Open Call?

The LIGAWINE initiative is part of a broader EU-funded effort to enhance sustainability, resilience, and competitiveness in the European wine sector. It focuses on promoting low-input, environmentally friendly, and digitally enabled innovations across viticulture and winemaking.

Through this open call, the project provides Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP), enabling external organisations to test, validate, and scale innovative solutions in real-world vineyard and winery environments.

The call has a total budget of €1.8 million, distributed across multiple sub-projects.

What Types of Projects Are Funded?

LIGAWINE prioritises applied innovation - not basic research. The focus is on solutions that can be deployed and validated in real conditions.

Eligible project activities include:

• Pilot trials and demonstrations

• Deployment of near-market technologies

• Process optimisation in vineyards or wineries

• Real-world validation of innovative solutions

Key areas of interest include:

• Reduction of chemical inputs

• Resource efficiency (water, energy)

• Digital decision-support tools

• Sustainable and low-impact winemaking practices

Two Funding Strands to Choose From

Applicants can apply under two different formats:

1. Mini-Consortia (Strand 1)

• Collaboration between a technology provider and a wine-sector end user

• Designed for real-life pilot validation in operational settings

2. Open Challenges (Strand 2)

• Designed for single-applicant projects led by technology providers

• Focused on addressing specific viticulture or winemaking challenges

Funding levels vary, with projects receiving up to €90,000 (Strand 1) or up to €50,000 (Strand 2).

Who Can Apply?

The call targets a wide ecosystem of innovation actors, including:

• SMEs, startups, and scale-ups

• Technology and digital solution providers

• Equipment manufacturers and integrators

• Wineries, wine cooperatives, and testing labs

Applicants must be legally established entities that meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the official Applicants’ Guide. Natural persons are not eligible.

Special Focus: Less Developed Regions

A notable feature of LIGAWINE is its strong cohesion focus:

• A significant share of funding is reserved for participants from Less Developed Regions (LDRs)

• The goal is to boost innovation uptake and economic development in regions where the wine sector plays a key role

Key Dates and Application Process

• Opening date: 22 May 2026

• Deadline: 31 July 2026 (17:00 CET)

Applications are submitted via the opencalls.fund platform, which provides templates and documentation to guide applicants through the process.

Why This Open Call Matters

The LIGAWINE Open Call is more than just a funding opportunity - it’s a gateway to:

• Test innovations under real vineyard and winery conditions

• Collaborate across regions and value chains

• Contribute to the EU’s green transition in agriculture

• Bring scalable, market-ready solutions to life

By focusing on practical deployment and validation, LIGAWINE bridges the gap between innovation and real-world impact.

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.