Thousands of SMEs tap into MSCA funding [Sponsored]

More than 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises have participated in projects funded by the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) over the past five years, per a Tech.eu sponsored post published August 4, 2026. The programme connects companies with international research networks and doctoral or postdoctoral researchers.

The scale of private-sector engagement is broader when viewed across a longer window. Since 2014, when the EU's Horizon 2020 funding programme launched, more than €1 billion has supported the participation of over 8,500 private companies across more than 3,000 projects, according to Tech.eu. Over the last five years specifically, more than 4,300 businesses took part in MSCA projects, and more than half were SMEs.

The MSCA has run since 1996 and celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Collaboration between universities and companies has been part of the programme from the start, though SME involvement has grown over time. The programme offers several mechanisms for business participation, including Staff Exchanges — which allow research staff to move across countries, sectors, and disciplines — COFUND grants that help cover researcher recruitment and training costs, and Doctoral Networks that support doctoral training in partnership with universities. A newly launched "Choose Europe for Science" pilot also supports projects where academic and private sector organisations hire postdoctoral researchers with a view to longer-term employment beyond the project period.

Engagement is highest in Staff Exchanges and Doctoral Networks, where around half of the participating organisations come from the non-academic sector, per Tech.eu. In Doctoral Networks, data from 2021 to 2023 shows that for every three educational establishments involved, there were almost two private sector organisations.

One concrete example cited is SERENADE, an MSCA-funded Doctoral Network coordinated by BSH Appliances in Spain. The project trains seven doctoral candidates from institutions in Belgium, Germany, and Italy on technologies to reduce food waste — including sensor-equipped food containers and AI-powered freshness analysis tools. Sergio Gomez Ortiz, head of product development shared services at BSH Group in Zaragoza, has described the networked approach as more efficient for tackling complex challenges than solo efforts, per the Tech.eu report. Doctoral candidate Revathy Gurusamy, who works on the project at BSH Appliances, has said she joined partly because of the potential for smart food-monitoring devices to reach millions of households.

To support broader uptake, the MSCA has created a dedicated business hub page aimed at helping companies navigate the available funding instruments. The programme's international mobility requirements — Doctoral Networks must include members from at least three countries, and Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants must not have lived or worked in the host country for more than 12 months in the prior 36 — are framed as a feature for SME partners, giving them access to wider research networks and specialised expertise they might not otherwise reach.