The VR Health Champions project, coordinated by Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), has launched an Open Call offering up to €40,000 to SMEs developing innovative Virtual or Augmented Reality solutions for the healthcare sector. The call supports co-creation with five leading European SMEs over a period of up to six months. Selected participants will benefit from funding, international collaboration opportunities, and access to a growing European health tech innovation ecosystem. Applications are open until June 23, 2025.
VR Health Champions is a three-year EU-funded initiative under the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument of the European Regional Development Fund. With a total budget of €7.8 million, the project brings together 18 partners from eight EU Member States. It aims to accelerate the adoption of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies in healthcare, especially in less developed European regions, by fostering cross-border collaboration and strengthening innovation value chains.
VR Health Champions is a 3-year project aiming at breaking down market, clinical and regulatory barriers in XR healthcare across less developed regions of Central Eastern and Southern Europe, while fast-tracking the advancement of VR/AR applications.
It focuses on five flagship SMEs – Lightspace, MEEVA, MedApp, Metaskills, and Virtuleap – that are leading this transformation. The project’s outcome is to upgrade their Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for VR/AR innovations from TRL 6 to TRL 9, ultimately creating pathways for future innovations in the sector.
To achieve this, VR Health Champions is now seeking SMEs specialising in AR sensors, AI-driven virtual agents, VR market research, XR clinical risk frameworks, or regulatory documentation, to be strategically matched with Flagship projects through cascade funding and foster cross-sector knowledge exchange and technology transfer.
The VR Health Champions Open Call 2025 is your opportunity to real impact in the fast-growing healthcare XR sector. If you’re a small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) and have an expertise in XR healthcare developments, this is your chance to receive up to 40.000 € grant and contribute directly to the development of cutting-edge solutions alongside top-tier innovators.
Applications to VR Health Champions Open Call 2025 are now open.Don’t miss this opportunity. Apply by 23 June!
Who should apply?
Eligible applicants are:
