The Ministry of Transport and Communications has announced a EUR 1 million competitive call for start-ups in an effort to promote the creation, testing and development of digital technological solutions in Lithuania. This call is part of the Sandbox innovation promotion programme, so the main condition is that the start-ups applying for support create, test and develop solutions that are based on 5G next-generation connectivity.

Applications can be submitted until 31 July by micro and small enterprises that have been registered with the Register of Legal Entities for no more than five years.

“Less than two months ago, we announced the first Sandbox call for business and scientific consortia, and with the current one, i.e. the second one this year, it is start-ups that we are targeting. I sincerely hope that the Sandbox measure will provide motivation and become an impetus for our start-ups to implement their very boldest ideas. Foreign practice shows that not only financial support, but also integration into the emerging multi-faceted Sandbox community in general, is a strong accelerator,” says Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis.

With this measure, the Ministry of Transport and Communications wants to encourage solutions in innovative areas of autonomous transportation, UAVs, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, 5G-based robotisation or automation, and so on.

Projects that include the planned implementation of digital solutions aimed at increasing the digitisation of various sectors can participate in the competitive call. While additional points are planned to be given to projects benefiting the transport sector, solutions for industry, health, agriculture, energy, environment, education, social security, and other fields are also welcome.

As part of the Sandbox measure, industry and business are encouraged to cooperate closely with scientific institutions, so additional points are also planned to be given to start-up projects that are designed to be implemented in conjunction with higher education and research institutions and researchers.

In addition to representatives from science, partners can also be another start-up or a mobile operator ensuring the 5G connection necessary for the project activities.

The detailed conditions of the call can be found on the esinvesticijos.lt website, in the “Calls” section. The link to the description of the progress measure for start-ups can be found here. The Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) will be accepting applications until 31 July.

We would like to remind you that this call for start-ups is one of the constituent parts of the Sandbox tool. In total, EUR 24.5 million are planned to be allocated to this measure in Lithuania from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

In addition to the EUR 1 million earmarked for start-ups, the Ministry of Transport and Communications previously announced an open call for EUR 23.5 million for business and scientific consortia to promote the development of digital solutions that require 5G connectivity. You can find more information about the open call and the funding conditions applicable to it here until 31 May.

The goal of the Sandbox initiative is to create a financial, legal and regulatory environment where programme participants can develop and test – in a real environment – innovative 5G-based solutions in various sectors. Innovative solutions are being used to address the most pressing challenges of society, business and the public sector and promote the creation of value-added jobs.