The Call for Expressions of Interest Greentech Innovation 2026
What is the Call for Expressions of Interest “Greentech Innovation” ?
The Greentech Innovation Call for Expressions of Interest (CEI) is a call for applications to the Greentech Innovation programme, which comes with a range of advantages.
The initiative aims to select innovative solutions from start-ups and SMEs based on ambitious, innovative, and sustainable processes, products, or services (or a combination thereof).
Solutions may be high-tech, low-tech, technological, or non-technological.
Solutions must have reached at least the “minimum viable product” stage and fall within one of the 12 key sectors of the ecological transition.
The CEI is open to French and European companies.
Did you miss the informational webinars on CEI 2026 ? Find the presentation and replay here
Our support package
In addition to receiving the “Greentech Innovation” award, winning companies can benefit from comprehensive support based on four key boosters: visibility, sales and networking, digital technology, and public procurement.
The CEI does not include any financial support.
When apply ?
The application phase for CEI 2026 opens on November 24, 2025, and closes on January 19, 2026 (11:59 p.m.).
Selection auditions take place in April-May each year.
How apply ?
You must submit your application on the on-line platform demarche.numerique.gouv.fr
The complete application file for the 2026 “Greentech Innovation” Call for Expressions of Interest consists of the following items:
1. The fields in the “demarche.numerique.gouv.fr” form, fully completed.
2. Two mandatory attachments:
– The latest certified balance sheet and income statement (unless the company was created too recently)
– An image file of the company logo (this logo may be used by Ecolab for communication purposes related to the Call for Expressions of Interest if the company is declared the winner).
3. Three additional attachments may be submitted:
– Any documents describing the environmental impact of the solution
– Any documents describing the development status of the solution (current situation)
– Any documents describing the prospects for the solution’s development and deployment (projections).
Please note: A company may apply for the CEI several times.
Link to apply for the EU CEI 2026: https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/depot-de-candidature-pour-l-appel-a-manifestation–3
Companies based in the EU outside France – Responses possible in English or French
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us via greentechinnovation@developpement-durable.gouv.fr
The selection process
Once your application has been submitted, it will be reviewed by a committee of experts who will verify that it meets the criteria set out in the CEI regulations.
If your application is deemed interesting, you will be invited to an interview with a panel of experts from the ministry and its partners.
The interview will take the following form: a 10-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes to answer questions from the jury.
This interview will be an opportunity to “challenge” your innovation and its ability to have the expected impact in support of public policies for ecological transition.
To ensure optimal support, the annual “Greentech Innovation” award selects 25 to 30 companies offering innovative solutions.
The Call of Expression of Interest requirements
Solutions are analyzed according to the following non-hierarchical criteria:
– Maturity of the solution
– Adequacy of the solution in line with public policies on ecological transition and their priorities
– Potential contribution of the solution to ecological transition
– Eco-design approach of the solution
– Innovative nature of the solution
– Economic and value creation potential of the solution
– Adequacy of the solution for the market
– Capacity of the company to develop the solution.
297 start-ups and SMEs have been distinguished “Greentech Innovation”
Their solutions cover 12 areas of ecological transition.
Support package for start-ups and SMEs labelled “Greentech Innovation”
Visibility booster
Sales and network booster
Digital booster
Public Procurement
The Greentech Innovation Winners
Ecolab is the General Commission for Sustainable Development‘s (Commissariat Général au Développement Durable) innovation laboratory dedicated to the ecological transition. It is in charge of coordinating and supporting the “Greentech” ecosystem. In particular, it leads the following initiatives through the “Greentech Innovation” animation and support package.
- Identifying and promoting innovations from start-ups and SMEs across the entire spectrum of the ecological transition
- For the past three years, Ecolab has been offering insight into the challenges for SMEs to access public procurement markets, particularly at the local level. This presents major advantages for the internationalization of startups and SMEs, as the rules on public procurement are the same for the entire European internal market.
In November 2023 Ecolab received European recognition for its support in accessing public procurement markets in France. The innovation lab won the European Commission’s “European Entrepreneurship Promotion Award “ (EEPA) in the category “Supporting the Sustainable Transition”. Each year, the EEPA rewards the best policies and practices in the field of entrepreneurship and business support in Europe.
The jury particularly appreciated the highly innovative nature of Ecolab’s work, as well as its potential replicability, concerning the following initiatives : (i) actions to reference innovative and sustainable companies in France (Greentech Innovation label), (ii) raising awareness of the possibilities in public procurement markets, (iii) organizing events to bring together public decision makers and Greentech companies (“Rencontres des Décideurs Greentech”), (iv) providing local office space for companies, with the objective of stimulating local public procurement of innovation (the Greentech Living-Lab), (v) piloting the Call for Projects “Frugal AI demonstrator in territories for the ecological transition” aimed at local authorities, project developers, etc.
The Greentech Innovation initiative supports innovative start-ups and SMEs that innovate for the ecological transition.