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Key learning outcomes
To provide insights on existing support and opportunities for hump industry business development
To build in depth practical knowledge of a strong funding proposal and differences between funding opportunities, etc.
The actual trend in the EU is to shift our focus from non-renewable fossil raw materials and minerals to circular bio-based production processes which become essential to reach the EU’s climate targets as set out in the European Green Deal. The strong, resource-efficient and competitive bio-based industries are important drivers of this change. Hemp as a source of versatile biobased materials is already part of that. By producing bio-based products from hemp biomass in an innovative, sustainable and circular way, it can significantly reduce the carbon emissions. The hemp process enables a circular and climate neutral product by ensuring that the renewable carbon is kept in the loop over the entire product life cycle – and can be recycled again or returned to the soil.
Creating new markets delivers not only economic opportunities but also environmental and social benefits. It will also create jobs and drive investment into needed infrastructure which helps sustainable economic growth in regions across Europe. The development of hemp products and its new value chains reduces the EU’s dependency on fossil resources and enhances strategic autonomy. EU support of the hemp projects helps meet European consumers’ demands for a sustainable lifestyle and associated products.
Hemp project promoters highlight a number of other risks and challenges, primarily related to societal issues (such as public perception of the cannabis plant drug relation or general stigma), that can be attached to any hemp products and affect access-to-finance. The cannabis stigma together with the lack of awareness and knowledge about hemp materials and its qualities leave a lot of room for education, networking, exchange or upskilling programs. The high growth potential of hemp applications provides early-move advantages (when investing early in an industry that is expected to grow significantly).
The EU regulatory framework should promote and accelerate the market entry of sustainable products innovations and boost the necessary investments. Establishing new value chains and making industrial processes greener will ultimately strengthen the EU’s industrial competitiveness and in its broadest sense – to play its full role to serve the people and the planet.
Website: https://www.eib.org/en/
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. The bank aims to facilitate investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and promote the transition toward a climate neutrality. The EIB can provide loans or credit facilities to hemp-related projects. This financing can be crucial for start-ups or established companies looking to expand their operations, help improve their bargaining power and market access or can invest in R&D projects. EIB can also collaborate with EU programs that offer grants and subsidies for projects.
Venture Capital and Angel Investment
Venture capital and angel investment present significant opportunities in the bio-based industries, where innovative startups are developing sustainable solutions to address pressing environmental challenges. While there are challenges inherent in both funding sources, strategic partnerships with VCs and angel investors can provide the necessary capital, expertise, and networks to drive growth and achieve long-term success in this dynamic field. Entrepreneurs in the bio-based sector should be prepared to articulate their value proposition clearly, demonstrate market potential, and align with investors who share their vision for sustainability.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of a large number of individuals, typically via online platforms. It allows entrepreneurs, creators, and organisations to present their projects or ideas to the public, inviting contributions from interested backers.
Platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe can be effective for raising funds for bio-based projects, especially those with a strong community or consumer angle.
Competitions and prizes
Competitions and prizes focused on bio-based industries and sustainability could be interesting opportunities for innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs to gain recognition, funding, and support for their projects. These competitions often aim to encourage the development of sustainable technologies, promote eco-friendly practices, and address environmental challenges. The Eco-innovation Challenge, organised by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, these awards recognise individuals and organisations making significant contributions to a circular economy, which includes bio-based innovations and sustainable practices.
Competitions and prizes to look at: The Energy Globe Awards, The WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) Prize for Education etc., The Climate Launchpad.
Innovations vouchers
Vouchers for innovations are financial instruments or support mechanisms that provide funding or resources to individuals, startups, or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to encourage innovation, research, and development activities. These vouchers can be used to access specific services, expertise, or resources that can help support the development of new products, processes, or services.
Incubators and Accelerators
Many incubators and accelerators focus on environmental sustainability and may provide funding, mentorship, and resources in addition to investment.
Examples include the CleanTech Innovation Showcase or bio-focused accelerators.
Private Grants and Foundations
Private Grants and Foundations
The European Climate Foundation (ECF)
Website: https://europeanclimate.org/
The major philanthropic initiative working to foster the net-zero transition and ensure a healthy, thriving planet for current and future generations. They support over 700 partner organisations to drive progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, promote practical policymaking in response to the climate crisis, and broaden political and public support for climate action. ECF strives for a positive, people-centred and socially responsible climate transition in Europe and around the world. Their mission is to empower people across society to create a net-zero world.
Visegrad fund
Website: https://www.visegradfund.org/
The International Visegrad Fund is a donor organisation established in 2000 by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries – Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. VF supports regional cooperation between civil society organisations to advance their relations, exchange and share ideas and promote mutual understanding. When promoting European values in Central Europe, we work together towards a better-connected future.
Government Grants and Programs
Horizon Europe
The EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. The indicative funding amount for Horizon Europe for the period 2021-2027 is EUR 93.5 billion. It addresses various societal challenges and aims to support projects that promote scientific advancement, technology development, and sustainable practices. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth. Horizon Europe fund can play a crucial role in advancing hemp projects by providing financial resources, promoting collaboration, encouraging innovations, and supporting sustainable practices. Hemp projects that align with the program’s objectives can potentially access a variety of funding and support mechanisms to enhance their impact and viability.
Interreg Europe
Website: https://www.interregeurope.eu/
The Interreg program aligns with the objectives such as promoting sustainable growth, environmental protection, and innovation in agriculture or industry. Interreg supports projects that foster cooperation across borders to enhance sustainability. Potential Areas of Support are research on the benefits of industrial hemp, such as its environmental impact, sustainability, or economic viability; promotion of sustainable agricultural practices or the use of hemp in green industry (e.g., textiles, building materials, bioplastics). It could help in developing new markets for industrial hemp products through joint marketing strategies or awareness campaigns and importantly also create training programs for upskilling farmers or reskilling the industry stakeholders on the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp which supports the capacity building.
Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU)
Website: https://www.cbe.europa.eu/
The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) is a €2 billion partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) that funds projects advancing competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe. The partnership is building on the success of its predecessor, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), while addressing the current challenges facing the industry.
Aligning with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the European bio-based sector should become more circular and sustainable while remaining competitive on the global market, thus decreasing Europe’s dependency on and accelerate the substitution of non-renewable fossil raw materials. In this context, CBE JU is operating under the rules of Horizon Europe, the EU R&I programme for the 2021-2027 period, to advance a competitive bioeconomy financing research and innovation activities that exploit renewable biological resources into sustainable high-added valued bio-based products.
Erasmus plus
Website: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/
Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. It has an estimated budget of €26.2 billion. The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life.
Erasmus+ offers mobility and cooperation opportunities in higher education, vocational education and training, school education (including early childhood education and care), adult education, youth, sport.
Funding and Application
1. Find the Right Program: Different strands of EU fundings - focus on different types of cooperation. Identify which one is most suitable for your project.
Keywords when looking for funding are biobased products, innovations, competitiveness, sustainable farming, sustainable products, natural resources, natural fibres, carbon neutral, carbon negative, natural materials etc.
2. Project Design: Develop a clear project proposal that outlines objectives, methodologies, expected outcomes, and the roles of each partner involved in the project.
3. Partnerships: Build a consortium of partners that can contribute various expertise, such as universities, research institutions, NGOs, government bodies, and businesses involved in the hemp industry.
4. Budgeting: Create a detailed budget that justifies the expenses and aligns with the financial guidelines of the EU funding program.
5. Application Process: Familiarize yourself with the application procedures, deadlines, and requirements for the specific program you are targeting.
Examples of Relevant Projects
Consider drawing inspiration from other successful projects funded by funding programs that may have elements of hemp or sustainable agriculture. This can help in shaping your project and understanding stakeholders' interests.
In summary, by aligning your industrial hemp project with the goals of the funding program, fostering regional cooperation, and developing a detailed project proposal, you can position your initiative to seek funding and support through this EU program.
Multihemp - Multipurpose hemp for industrial bioproducts and biomass
Timeline: 2012-2017
Total Budget: 7 966 093,18 €
EU Funding: 5 999 999,00 €
Funding program: Specific Programme "Cooperation": Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology - FP7-KBBE
Partners: 25
Webpage: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/311849/reporting
In Multihemp, a multidisciplinary team of leading researchers and a vibrant group of industrial participants, worked from the level of molecular genetics through to end product demonstration to develop an integrated hemp-based biorefinery in which improved feedstock is subject to efficient and modular processing steps to provide fibre, oil, bio-composited, construction materials, fine chemicals and cosmetics using all components of the harvested biomass, and generating new opportunities within the developing knowledge based bioeconomy.
This research project aimed at developing hemp genotypes with enhanced traits suitable for diverse cultivation environments and to provide improved feedstock for a wide array of innovative end products generated within an integrated biorefinery. The project aim was to develop a modular biorefinery in which market forces will dictate the flow of raw material into differing product options.
The concept of biorefinery developed within this project combines actual and innovative processing systems that, starting from harvesting, transform hemp biomass into a spectrum of marketable intermediate and final products.
Ssuchy - developing advanced bio-based composites
Timeline: 2017 - 2021
Total Budget: 7 411 150.71 €
BBI JU contribution: 4 457 194.75 €
EU partners: 17
Webpage: https://www.ssuchy.eu/
SSUCHY aimed at exploiting the intrinsic and differentiating properties of plant fibres and biopolymers derived from lignocellulosic feedstock to develop fully bio-based composites with improved functionalities. The main driver behind this project was not only to substitute conventional fossil-based materials with more sustainable bio-based ones but also to achieve improved functionalities that surpass those of fossil-based ones. Enhanced functionalities are, in addition to load-bearing resistance and weight reduction of structures, enhanced durability, vibration damping, vibro-acoustic control and fire retardancy while retaining an essentially recyclable and, for certain applications, biodegradable character. Such developments could provide to the composite industry a significant value and functions added products with high socio-economic impacts and minimized environmental impact. It can also create opportunities to expand market applications for bio-based composites to semi-structural and functional applications in transportation along with new opportunities in high value niches.
Hemp4Circularity - Hemp as a driver of circularity in the textile industry: from field to recycled fibre
Timeline: 2023 - 2026
Total Budget: 3 811 323 €
Interreg NWE contribution: 2 286 794 €
Webpage: https://hemp4circularity.nweurope.eu/
This project aims to lay out a circular value chain for hemp as a high-value textile material by 2027, rooted in the North-West Europe flax processing industry. The objective is to integrate and match all actors throughout the value chain, i.e. local agriculture, ‘like flax’ primary processing, downstream processing, as well as mechanical fibre recycling and to raise awareness among designers and consumers about hemp textiles. The goal is to implement an innovative, local and biobased ecological fibre - the long fibre hemp - in the textile value chain from growers to weavers/knitters, from field to fashion.
The project aims to bring opportunities to:
● Farmers, by implementing a profitable crop with a positive impact
● The flax sector, with a complementary fibre in order to enlarge the possibilities of this sector.
● The textile industry in general and the brands, in demand for local and sustainable materials.
● The end-users, also in demand for local and sustainable textile and information about natural fibres available.
HempClub Project
Timeline: 2022 - 2024
Cosme contribution: 426 976 €
Total budget: 578.923 €
EU partners: 7
Webpage: https://hempclubproject.com/
HempClub project was established with the goal to help to unlock the potential of hemp by creating EU value chains for biobased applications and new business opportunities for primary producers and chemical companies. Through mutual learning, and SMEs and other stakeholders’ mobility, HempCluB worked on unlocking the biomass exploitation potential supporting the Cluster eXchange scheme’s implementation.
The objective of Hempclub Project:
● Improve the management skills of cluster managers through a multidisciplinary training course that will involve at least 14 managers functional to achieving the Cluster Excellence Label certification for at least 4 clusters.
● Strengthen cluster excellence capacity by improving the portfolio of business support services. At least 14 new services will be developed involving a minimum of 300 EU SMEs.
● Facilitate B2B and C2C collaborative activities to strengthen interregional strategies for the bioeconomy, defining 20 new interregional cooperation projects and creating 2 value chains in the hemp sector.
● Organisation of at least 80 Cluster eXchange opportunities as short-term exchanges to enhance collaboration and networking activities between European organisations.
● Promote internationalization, technology and knowledge transfer through the activation of new opportunities for growth and capacity of excellence for clusters and their members.
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