Business, Estonia, Financial Services, Good for Business

Director of the grant center at Enterprise Estonia, Monica Hankov, said that the grant fosters the cluster's and its partner businesses' development and common marketing activities in the growth areas of smart specialization, such as information and communication technologies, health technologies and adding value to resources.

"As a result of the grant, we expect that the clusters be more internationally competitive and foster the intertwining of different economic sectors. Consolidation of existing value chains or the emergence of new ones are also important, as is businesses' increased cooperation in innovation with educational establishments and research institutions," Hankov said in a press release.

Non-profits and foundations that have been entered in the non-profit associations and foundations register can apply for the grant. A maximum amount of 600,000 euros will be allocated per project and the maximum limit of financing is 50 % of eligible costs. The grant fosters the implementation and coordination of the clusters' development and joint marketing activities, and improves their international visibility.

Applications can be submitted until Jan. 7, 2019. The budget of the application round is 3 mln euros. During the financing period for 2014-2020, the activities of 12 clusters were supported with a total amount of 5.4 mln euros.

A cluster is a network of businesses, educational establishments, research institutions and other partners, the members of which share similar economic interests and wish to jointly develop a long-term strategic cooperation in order to increase international competitiveness.