SECURE Open Call: Up to €30,000 for SMEs Preparing for the Cyber Resilience Act

If your company sells connected farm equipment, sensors, irrigation controllers, robots or software, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is coming for your product. The good news: the EU-funded SECURE project has opened a second call with €11.5 million for SMEs that need to prepare, offering up to €30,000 per company. The deadline is 11 December 2026.

Grant: up to €30,000 per SME, at a 50% co-financing rate. Budget: €11.5 million. Open since: 1 October 2026. Deadline: 11 December 2026. Apply: SECURE second open call.

Why the Cyber Resilience Act matters for agritech

The CRA sets cybersecurity rules for hardware and software "products with digital elements" sold in the EU. Its duty to report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents has applied since 11 September 2026. Its essential requirements become binding for most products on 11 December 2027.

Modern farming runs on connected products: soil and weather sensors, automated irrigation, precision sprayers, farm robots and the apps that control them. A security weakness in one of them can stop an irrigation system or expose a farm's data. Agritech companies that build these products need a compliance plan, and buyers will start asking for it.

What SECURE pays for

The grant covers a wide range of CRA-related work, including:

1. Regulatory compliance: audits, certification support and policy drafting.

2. Product testing: vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.

3. Cybersecurity training for your team.

4. Security upgrades to production infrastructure, across IT and operational technology.

5. Governance and risk management, such as incident handling and supply chain security.

6. Goods or professional services needed to meet the required security standards.

Because of the 50% co-financing rate, a €60,000 compliance project can receive up to €30,000.

Who can apply

Applicants must be a single legal entity that meets the EU definition of an SME and is registered in an EU or EEA country. Each company can submit only one proposal and cannot combine the grant with other EU funding for the same work. SECURE is financed by the Digital Europe Programme with the support of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre.

Plan for the timeline

SECURE's first call ran from January to March 2026 with €5 million. Results of the second call will take time, and the project itself is expected to end around November 2027, close to the CRA deadline. Funded work has to fit inside that window, so prepare a realistic plan from the start.

Build trust in your agritech product

Cybersecurity is now part of selling agritech. Our Safe-Agri project runs workshops on digitalisation, AI and cybersecurity in agriculture, including NIS2 and information security. Companies such as ONDO, which automated subsurface drip irrigation across more than 150 hectares, show how much farms now depend on connected systems.

Not sure SECURE fits your company? Run our free eligibility check and see which digital and cybersecurity calls you match. Get deadline reminders for calls like this with the Standard membership, with a 7-day free trial.

For more background, download our free guide Digital Solutions and Robotics (in Bulgarian).

Sources: SECURE second open call, CRA Insights on the SECURE second call. Checked 8 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.