The Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) instrument is a funding instrument under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) regulation (article 13).
Its objective is to
- encourage the development of European value chains by mobilising innovation ecosystems to scale up and commercialise interregional innovation projects
- through the linkage to mainstream Cohesion policy operational programmes, mobilise additional investments in the selected priority areas and enhance the cooperation with partners from different Member States
- strengthen complementarities between different EU, national and regional funding instruments.
The instrument provides funding for mature joint innovation projects and supports stakeholders involved in smart specialisation to develop and set up such projects in value-chain investment portfolios.
The I3 instrument is implemented by the European Innovation Council and SMEs executive agency (EISMEA) based on a biannual work programme.
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/themes/research-innovation/i3/