Accelerator Programme
The aim of the Call
Our aim is to select 25 outstanding partnerships led by at least one SME, designer, or startup (SME, micro-company, or self-employed professional) and a transnational partner. The partnership seeks to create or develop innovative products or services for circular fashion. The financial and business support will be provided to the selected teams.
The call will consider the following specific objectives in order to cover the entire value chain from resources, design, production, retail, consumption to the product’s end-of-life:
- New fiber development and materials recycling;
- Design and manufacture of fashion products using sustainable, recycled, and upcycled materials;
- Retail customer services incl. repair and return;
- New clothes sharing and reselling business models;
- Software systems for on-demand fashion production.
Summary of the Call
A total funding pool of the call: 275 000 EUR
Opening date: 10th of January 2022 at 00:00 CET
Deadline: 19th of April 2022 at 17:00 CET
Number of proposals to get funded: 25 selected projects
Number of applicants per partnership: at least 2 applicants from at least 2 different eligible countries: the EU-27 or COSME associated countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine)
Maximum funding per proposal: up to 15 000 EUR
Funding rate: 100% of eligible costs
Duration of the programme: 8 months
Type of lead applicants: SMEs, designers, and startups from the fashion industry.
Type of partner applicants: Other SMEs, designers, and startups; communication, marketing, education, or other industries’ representatives; supporters of the fashion ecosystem that can add value to the overall project outcome.
Timeline
Announcement of the Open Call and application opening
Pre-recorded programme info session
The deadline for the Open Call
Pre-Hackathon event
Fashion Sprint hackathon for 35 selected teams
25 selected teams start the programme
The end of the programme
Benefits for the participants
The selected projects will be provided with:
- Financial support for 25 teams (10 000 EUR per team). In addition to 5 teams, another 5000 EUR.
- Mentorship on circularity and sustainability, product/service development, and business development.
- 2 study visits focusing on manufacturing and marketing/business development.
- Workshops and training cover circularity, product/service development, and business development.
- Networking with partners, investors, and experts.
- Access to the Knowledge Hub.
- Support and assistance from the Consortium throughout the project.
Eligibility criteria for participants
The individual applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- All applicants should have a high potential for sustainable innovation in the fashion industry (applications, products, processes, ideas).
- The lead applicant must be an SME, a designer, or a startup (SME or micro-company or self-employed professional) working in the fashion sector as well as textiles, apparel, footwear, and accessories.
- The transnational partner applicant can be another designer, another startup, corporation, investor, sponsor, incubator, a self-employed expert on the circular economy or sustainable fashion, communication, academia, and technology center, marketing, education, logistics, or other industries’ representative.
- All applicants must be legally established in the EU-27 or COSME countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine).
- Additional criteria will be considered, if necessary, to assess the startups’ investment readiness.
- Project activities that have already been funded or are being funded by other funding instruments will be rejected. Double funding is not allowed.
- The same organisation can be involved in only one partnership under the call. Only the first submitted application will be evaluated if an organisation is mentioned in more than one application. All the other concerned applications submitted will be considered ineligible under this call.
- Organisations that have already been awarded under a call for proposals published by any of the following three projects: S4Fashion (Grant agreement number: 958038), Circular InnoBooster (Grant agreement number: 958135) and SmallButPerfect (Grant agreement number: 958060), can participate in this call only if the project idea is completely different from the one already awarded.
Eligibility criteria for partnerships
- Partnerships must present innovative applications, products, processes, services, or ideas in textiles, clothing, footwear, leather, and accessories, or new business models for circular fashion.
- Each project must comprise one SME, designer, or startup who will be the lead applicant.
- Each partnership should be formed from at least 2 eligible (EU27 and COSME) countries. If an applicant does not have a partnership, the Fashion for Change consortium will assist in forming the partnerships and reaching agreements beneficial for both parties.
- Partnerships who apply as partnerships are expected to provide proof of being in partnership (letters of intent as a minimum).
- Proposing a sound plan on how the teams use the financial support (developing proofs of concept and prototypes of new products and services, developing and testing new business models, developing collaboration to test more sustainable/recycled material, supporting participation in trade shows or other showcase events).
How to apply?
An application must be submitted through the official online submission system before the official deadline of the Open Call (April 19th, 2022, at 17.00 CET). To apply, you need to have a transnational partnership (read more HERE). The application must be submitted in English and the completed form must include all following Annexes:
- Annex 1: Declaration of Honour. Download the template HERE.
- Annex 2: Letter Of Intent. Download the template HERE.
- Annex 3: Curriculum Vitae of all the applicants of the project. Free style format.
- Annex 4: Self-assessment tool profile. Answer the questionnaire and download the profile graphic HERE.
Optional:
- Pitch video: Informal video recording of maximum of 2 minutes. The main purpose is to present the team, their values regarding circularity or sustainability, and the main idea of their project. The video must be led by the primary representative of the lead SME, designer, or startup and optionally can include other partners.
FAQ
You can submit your application HERE. In addition to the application form, you have to submit a Declaration of Honour, Letter of Intent, CV, and Self-assessment profile. More information from the “How to Apply” section.
Please note that for applying you need to have a transnational partnership!
You can fill in the online application as an individual. However, you will need to have at least one transnational partner in order to be eligible to participate in the programme. If you don’t have a transnational partner yet, you will be invited to participate in the online matchmaking event. Please also check the supporting channels available:
- Fashion for Change Knowledge hub
- Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)
- Climate KIC
- ECESP
- Holland Circular Hotspot.
After submission, all partners and proposals will be evaluated based on specific selection criteria.
The evaluation will have the following stages:
- Eligibility and Technical check of the applications to fulfill the minimum eligibility criteria.
- Quality Evaluation of the applications by jury. Investors will be consulted in the process to ensure the alignment of investment goals of both sides.
You can find the eligibility criteria listed in the Guide For Applicants.
No, participation in the programme is free of charge. In fact, we are giving the selected teams up to 15 000 eur to bring their idea to life!
The first phase with selected 25 teams will last for 6 months. The second phase with the final 5 teams will last for 2 months.
Follow us on social media and regularly check our website for the latest updates. If you have specific questions, feel free to reach out to the Fashion for Change team via info@fashionforchange.eu.
Need more information?
You can have more detailed information from the Applicants Guide HERE.