UNITE digital health: up to €1 million per consortium, Romania eligible, deadline 10 December

The second open call of UNITE, a European digital health programme, has a budget of €6 million. A project can receive at most €1 million, and an organisation at most €600,000. Start-ups, SMEs, research organisations, hospitals and other digital health players from all over Romania can take part. Proposals must be submitted by 10 December 2026, 17:00 (Central European Time), and only as international consortia.

In brief

• Programme: UNITE, second open call (Open Call 2). UNITE is a pan-European €20 million programme under the European Commission's Regional Innovation Valleys initiative.
• Beneficiaries: start-ups, SMEs, research organisations, hospitals, testing infrastructures, living labs and other digital health players. Organisations from all over Romania are eligible.
• Total budget: €6,000,000, for at most 6 projects.
• Value per project: up to €1,000,000 per project and up to €600,000 per organisation, cumulatively across all UNITE calls.
• Submission period: 10 September – 10 December 2026, 17:00 CET.
• Implementation: 18 months, from 1 April 2027 to 30 September 2028.
• Status: call open.

What does the call fund?

The call has two thematic challenges:

• deep-tech innovations that ensure equal access to healthcare for the whole population;
• digital solutions for the staff shortage in the healthcare system.

Each project must include at least one end-user organisation, which demonstrates the solution in real conditions. Pure research is therefore not funded: the solution must actually be tested, for example in a hospital, a clinic or a care service. The funding rate and the detailed list of eligible costs are set out in the call documents. We do not reproduce them here, because the public call page does not detail them.

Who can apply and what does the consortium look like?

A consortium has at least three organisations from three different regions of the programme:

• at least one company or provider of close-to-market solutions;
• at least one research entity;
• at least one end-user organisation.

The eligible regions are Central Macedonia (Greece), Lombardy (Italy), Extremadura and Aragon (Spain), Scotland and Wales (United Kingdom) and Romania, nationwide. Each consortium must have at least one member from a strong innovator region (Wales or Scotland) and at least one member from a region with moderate or emerging innovation capacity (Central Macedonia, Romania, Lombardy, Extremadura or Aragon). The exact rules on distribution by region are in the specific document for call 2. Read them before choosing your partners.

How and by when do you apply?

Proposals are submitted online on the UNITE Cloud platform by 10 December 2026, 17:00 CET. To find partners, there is an official matchmaking platform on b2match. The information sessions (30 September, at European level, and 1 October, for Romania) have already taken place. On the call page you will find the video recording of the session, along with the general call document and the specific document for call 2. Approved projects start on 1 April 2027 and last 18 months.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation: the call suits companies in medical software, telemedicine, AI for diagnosis or the organisation of medical work that already have a working product or an advanced prototype. Projects of 18 months that must demonstrate the solution in real conditions leave no time for development from scratch.

• Find the end user now. A hospital or clinic willing to pilot the solution is the hardest thing to obtain. An agreement in principle takes time, especially in public institutions.
• Look early for a partner from Wales or Scotland. Each consortium needs at least one organisation from these two regions, and Romania competes with Lombardy, Central Macedonia, Extremadura and Aragon for the places from regions with moderate or emerging innovation. Register early on the matchmaking platform.
• Watch the €600,000 ceiling. The ceiling is cumulative across all UNITE calls. If your organisation has already received funding from the first call, check how much you have left.
• The budget is small, the competition European. With at most 6 projects funded, what matters is a precise clinical problem, measurable impact indicators and a realistic plan for market entry.

If you are not sure whether your company's profile suits this call or other sources of funding, you can start with the eligibility check.

Frequently asked questions

Can companies from any region of Romania apply?

Yes. Romania takes part in UNITE nationwide, so organisations from all regions of the country are eligible, not just from one particular development region.

Can I submit a project on my own, without foreign partners?

No. The consortium must have at least three organisations from three different regions of the programme, with at least one company or close-to-market provider, one research entity and one end user. At least one organisation must be from Wales or Scotland.

How much can a single organisation receive?

At most €600,000, cumulatively across all UNITE calls. A project can receive a total of at most €1,000,000.

When do approved projects start?

Implementation is scheduled between 1 April 2027 and 30 September 2028, that is, 18 months.

Can public hospitals also take part?

Yes. Hospitals are among the eligible players, and in a consortium they can act as the end user that demonstrates the solution in real conditions.

Official sources

• UNITE – Open Call 2, the official call page
• EU funding opportunities (MIPE): UNITE launches its second call for digital health projects

Information checked on 6 October 2026. Conditions may be changed by the managing authority — check the guide in force before you submit.