Blockchain and AI Projects Under Horizon Europe: Funding, Opportunities and Strategy

Artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies together represent one of the highest-funded thematic areas in Horizon Europe's seven-year work programme. Understanding exactly where, how, and under what conditions these technologies are funded — and what evaluators actually want to see in proposals — is essential for any organisation planning to enter this competitive space.

Where AI and Blockchain Are Funded in Horizon Europe

The primary funding home for AI and blockchain R&D in Horizon Europe is Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space. Within Cluster 4, the most relevant destinations are Destination 1 (AI, Data and Robotics) and Destination 2 (Next Generation Internet). However, AI and blockchain appear across multiple clusters:

• —Cluster 1 (Health): AI for drug discovery, diagnostic imaging, personalised medicine, and health data management.
• —Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society): AI for cultural heritage analysis, misinformation detection, and social inclusion monitoring.
• —Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society): AI for border management, crisis response, and cybersecurity.
• —Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space): Core AI/blockchain R&D, industrial AI, edge computing, trustworthy AI.
• —Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy, Mobility): AI for energy system optimisation, smart grids, and autonomous transport.
• —Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Resources): AI for precision agriculture, food traceability (blockchain), and environmental monitoring.

Trustworthy AI: The EU's Core Requirement

All Horizon Europe AI proposals must align with the EU's vision of Trustworthy AI — defined by seven key requirements: human agency and oversight, technical robustness and safety, privacy and data governance, transparency, diversity and non-discrimination, societal and environmental wellbeing, and accountability. Proposals that do not address these requirements, even if technically excellent, are unlikely to score highly.

Blockchain-Specific Funding Opportunities

• —European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI): The Commission's cross-border blockchain platform actively funds pilot use cases — credentials, social security, company registration, document attestation.
• —Digital Europe Programme: DIGITAL specifically funds deployment of blockchain infrastructure and pilot applications in public services.
• —Horizon Europe: Research on blockchain scalability, privacy-preserving blockchain, tokenisation frameworks, and blockchain-based data governance is in scope across multiple clusters.

How to Position a Horizon Europe AI/Blockchain Proposal

• —Define your Technology Readiness Level (TRL) clearly. Horizon RIA typically starts at TRL 1–4 (research); IA starts at TRL 4–5 and should reach TRL 6–7. Mismatched TRL is a common rejection reason.
• —Describe the scientific/technical advance explicitly: what is the state of the art, what gap your project addresses, and what new knowledge or capability it will produce.
• —Embed ethical and societal considerations from the start: AI bias mitigation, GDPR compliance, algorithmic transparency, human oversight.
• —Show a credible exploitation pathway: Who will commercialise or deploy the results? Under what business model? Timeline to market?
• —Build an interdisciplinary consortium: Pure technology partners are rarely competitive without domain experts (healthcare, public administration, finance) who understand the deployment context.