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 partners from different eligible countries, including the EU-27, COSME associated countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine) and the United Kingdom (U.K.).
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: 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
Live Q&A session
Matchmaking events
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 a legally established SME, designer, or startup (SME or micro-company or self-employed professional) from the fashion sector as well as textiles, apparel, footwear, and accessories. Legal status has to be finalized before the Fashion Sprint Designathon (if selected).
- The transnational partner applicant can be a designer, startup, corporation, investor, sponsor, incubator, a self-employed expert/mentor on the circular economy or sustainable fashion, communication, academia, technology center, marketing, education, or logistics.
- Both, the lead applicant and partner must be legally established in the EU-27, the U.K. 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 consist of at least 2 partners from different countries from the EU27, the U.K. or 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. Partnership presence is not important during the application phase.
- 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).
- For information how to find a partner please read the Matchmaking Manual HERE.
How to apply?
An application must be submitted through the official online submission system before the deadline of the Open Call (April 19th, 2022, at 17.00 CET). All the participants need to have a transnational partnership, formed by the Fashion Sprint designathon (read more in the Matchmaking Manual HERE). Partnership presence is not important in the application phase.
The application must be submitted in English and if possible, add following Annexes:
- Annex 1 (if you already found a partner): Letter Of Intent. Download the template HERE.
Optional:
- Self-assessment tool profile. Answer the questionnaire about your product or service and download the profile graphic HERE.
- 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. If you already have a partner in the application phase, you have to submit a Letter of Intent.
More information from the “How to Apply” section.
Please note that for applying you do not need to have a transnational partnership. If you will be selected to the 35, then you have to find a partner!
You can fill in the online application as an individual. However, if you would like to get into the programme, 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 Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate KIC)
- European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP)
- Holland Circular Hotspot (HUB): send email
Yes, you can apply, but if you will be selected for round 35, You still need to find a transnational partner. Better start the process during the application phase! One eligibility criteria for participants is that the team has to be formed with at least 2 transnational partners!
Yes, you can apply, but should you be selected for the Hackathon, you ought to be legally established or self-employed. The same goes for your partner.
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 support them with their ideas financially.
The Grant money (lump-sum) can be used only for the product/service development activities during the Fashion for Change Growth Programme:
- 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
- participating in trade shows or other showcase events
- travel, accommodation, and participation fees for study visits and/or participation to networking/showcase events and/or necessary for developing collaboration within transnational partnerships
- material, services, or other inputs necessary to develop proofs of concept and prototypes of new products and services
- services and inputs required for developing and testing new business models and for the process of environmental/climate certifications
- laboratory fees for testing more sustainable/recycled material.
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.