About the project
The Fortissimo Plus project is a European initiative promoting the use of supercomputing power by startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe.
By leveraging High Performance Computing (HPC) systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI), companies can accelerate the development of innovative solutions such as modeling, simulations, digital prototyping, data analysis, or generative AI.
This enables businesses from various sectors—from medicine, manufacturing, and finance to climate data processing—to speed up the development of innovative services and products.
The project offers funding for enterprises that, in a consortium with other entities such as companies, research institutions, or public bodies, can apply for a grant of up to EUR 300,000. However, the grant amount allocated to each entity (startup, SME, or consortium partner) cannot exceed EUR 150,000. The grant can primarily be used for team salaries, software or license purchases, essential travel, or equipment.
A condition for receiving funding is the development of a solution that, by using HPC infrastructure, will impact the company’s business development—for example, through product or service prototype testing, scaling operations, acquiring new customers, or entering new markets.
The Fortissimo Plus project is funded by the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL-EUROHPC-JU-2023-SME-01):
- Duration: 48 months
- Project start date: May 1, 2024
- Budget: EUR 29.99 million
Benefits for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
- the ability to digitally design and test specialized services and products,
- gaining a significant competitive advantage by reducing time-to-market for new solutions,
- cost reduction through minimized risk and lower expenses related to physical prototyping and testing,
- enhancing staff competencies in using state-of-the-art technological solutions.
Watch the video in which Cyfronet representatives present the project:
Read the article published in the Startup portal of the Polish Development Fund [PL]:
Superkomputery w biznesie - jak przyspieszają rozwój firmy?
Get inspired by success stories
The Fortissimo Plus project builds upon the legacy of previous Fortissimo initiatives, which led to the creation of over 120 solutions using supercomputers across a wide range of fields such as energy and renewable energy sources, automotive industry, construction, finance, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, environmental and marine engineering, e-commerce, and more.
Descriptions of the success stories can be found at: https://www.ff4eurohpc.eu/en/success-stories/
Funding calls
Within the project, companies can apply through two funding tracks:
- The “Experiments” Track is dedicated to startups and SMEs without prior experience, who are just beginning to use supercomputers and want to apply them to specific business challenges.
- Grant of up to EUR 200,000 for the consortium (up to EUR 150,000 per entity)
- Project duration under this track: 15 months
- Funding rate: 100%
- Eligible costs: costs related to the substantive implementation of the grant; administrative costs or those strictly related to business operations are not eligible.
- The “Innovation Studies” Track is intended for startups and SMEs with experience in HPC. This call supports entities active in generative AI technologies that lack the necessary computing resources to scale their operations.
- Grant of up to EUR 300,000 for the consortium (up to EUR 150,000 per entity)
- Project duration under this track: 10 months
- Funding rate: 100%
- Eligible costs: costs related to the substantive implementation of the grant; administrative costs or those strictly related to business operations are not eligible.
The upcoming calls will launch in June (Experiments Track) and August (Innovative Research Track) 2025.
Detailed dates and call documentation will be available soon.
Previous calls:
Contact
Patrycja Dąbrowska, patrycja.dabrowska (at) cyfronet.pl
Marta Maj, marta.maj (at) cyfronet.pl.
Official website: https://www.ffplus-project.eu/en/
