Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Phorwards21 (Photonics from research to market: Empowering Europe’s strategic autonomy, supporting the green deal and securing resilience – Photonics21)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30
Phorwards21 provides the support to the Horizon Europe Photonics Partnership in developing and implementing the European Photonics Strategy. It addresses the very heart of the Horizon Europe Photonics Partnership, since it provides the strategic support to the photonics community to develop and implement the European industrial strategy. In the subsequent Phorwards21 respectively the Photonics21 secretariat teams up with 14 National Technology Platforms (NTP). These NTPs have been established to mirror the Photonics21 activities in the member states and to provide the strategic link to national and regional policy makers – more than 25 regional photonics clusters are involved.
To this end the Phorwards21 Coordination and Support Action pursues following four main objectives:
1a. Empower open strategic autonomy and a resilient, green, digital economy for Europe – creating roadmaps for European photonics and its value chains. (WP1)
1b. Strategic collaboration with other initiatives – photonics enabling the technologies in all key parts of current and future supply chains (WP1)
2. Empower regional, national and European public investment in photonics (WP2)
3. Improve financing opportunities for photonics start-ups and SMEs. (WP3)
4. Engage the community and promote photonics as a key enabling technology for Europe. (WP4)
To this end the Phorwards21 Coordination and Support Action pursues following four main objectives:
1a. Empower open strategic autonomy and a resilient, green, digital economy for Europe – creating roadmaps for European photonics and its value chains. (WP1)
1b. Strategic collaboration with other initiatives – photonics enabling the technologies in all key parts of current and future supply chains (WP1)
2. Empower regional, national and European public investment in photonics (WP2)
3. Improve financing opportunities for photonics start-ups and SMEs. (WP3)
4. Engage the community and promote photonics as a key enabling technology for Europe. (WP4)
Short summary of progress towards the achievement of each of the project objectives
Objective 1a: Open strategic autonomy and a resilient, green, digital economy for Europe
R&I priorities for Horizon Europe Photonics Partnership calls 2026–27: Based on the roadmap, Photonics21 ran 12 workshops with around 1,000 experts to define priorities, submitting five call topics to the European Commission in early 2025.
Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda: At the Annual Meeting 2025, Work Group workshops launched the process to develop a new SRIA in preparation for FP10.
Photonics market study: Published at the 2024 Annual Meeting, showing Europe’s photonics industry grew at 6.5% CAGR (2019–2022) to €124.6bn maintaining second place globally with 15%.
Thematic reports: Four reports published in autumn 2024 highlighted photonics in Defence, Virtual Worlds, High-Performance Computing, and Energy (fusion).
Objective 1b: Strategic collaboration with other initiatives
End-user R&I programming: Phorwards21 supported the €380m Chips JU Pilot Line call, ensuring photonics inclusion in the ECS SRIA. It also contributed to a joint RIA call with the Virtual Worlds partnership and an advanced materials call.
Objective 2: Empower investment in photonics
Smart Specialisation Community of Practice (S3 CoP): Consultations with authorities, clusters, and end-users mapped photonics relevance across regions, identifying four application domains and areas for interregional collaboration.
Objective 3: Improve financing opportunities for start-ups and SMEs
Start-up database: Now 556 entries, with most under 10 years old. Health (20%), Components and Materials (16%), and Industry 4.0 (14%) are key markets. Contact information was secured for 497 to engage in Tech Tour, with 39 start-ups selected for investor access and coaching.
Tech Tour Photonics 2025: Held in Brussels with 157 participants. A 54-member panel selected 34 start-ups, with expert coaching provided. Six pitching sessions and 100+ one-to-one meetings fostered investor connections.
Objective 4: Engage the community and promote photonics
Success stories and press campaigns: Seven articles in tier 1 media achieved wide reach. An INPHOMIR story alone reached 15.1m readers via Reuters, while Les Echos published a six-article series on photonics.
Objective 1a: Open strategic autonomy and a resilient, green, digital economy for Europe
R&I priorities for Horizon Europe Photonics Partnership calls 2026–27: Based on the roadmap, Photonics21 ran 12 workshops with around 1,000 experts to define priorities, submitting five call topics to the European Commission in early 2025.
Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda: At the Annual Meeting 2025, Work Group workshops launched the process to develop a new SRIA in preparation for FP10.
Photonics market study: Published at the 2024 Annual Meeting, showing Europe’s photonics industry grew at 6.5% CAGR (2019–2022) to €124.6bn maintaining second place globally with 15%.
Thematic reports: Four reports published in autumn 2024 highlighted photonics in Defence, Virtual Worlds, High-Performance Computing, and Energy (fusion).
Objective 1b: Strategic collaboration with other initiatives
End-user R&I programming: Phorwards21 supported the €380m Chips JU Pilot Line call, ensuring photonics inclusion in the ECS SRIA. It also contributed to a joint RIA call with the Virtual Worlds partnership and an advanced materials call.
Objective 2: Empower investment in photonics
Smart Specialisation Community of Practice (S3 CoP): Consultations with authorities, clusters, and end-users mapped photonics relevance across regions, identifying four application domains and areas for interregional collaboration.
Objective 3: Improve financing opportunities for start-ups and SMEs
Start-up database: Now 556 entries, with most under 10 years old. Health (20%), Components and Materials (16%), and Industry 4.0 (14%) are key markets. Contact information was secured for 497 to engage in Tech Tour, with 39 start-ups selected for investor access and coaching.
Tech Tour Photonics 2025: Held in Brussels with 157 participants. A 54-member panel selected 34 start-ups, with expert coaching provided. Six pitching sessions and 100+ one-to-one meetings fostered investor connections.
Objective 4: Engage the community and promote photonics
Success stories and press campaigns: Seven articles in tier 1 media achieved wide reach. An INPHOMIR story alone reached 15.1m readers via Reuters, while Les Echos published a six-article series on photonics.
Phorwards21 has made substantial progress in advancing European photonics research, innovation, and industry visibility. For the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Photonics21 coordinated a large-scale consultation process involving approximately 1,000 experts. This resulted in the submission of two core call topics, two joint call topics, and one Coordination and Support Action to the European Commission in early 2025. In parallel, the Photonics Partnership Annual Meeting 2025 marked the launch of a community-driven process to prepare a new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for FP10.
The sector’s economic significance was highlighted by the publication of a new photonics market study in May 2024. The report confirmed that Europe’s photonics industry grew by 6.5% annually between 2019 and 2022, reaching €124.6 billion and maintaining a 15% global market share, ranking second after China. Four additional thematic reports further underlined the strategic importance of photonics in defence, virtual worlds, high-performance computing, and energy.
Phorwards21 has also supported strong links with end-user industries, contributing to the Chips JU Photonics Pilot Line and initiating joint research calls with the Virtual Worlds and Advanced Materials partnerships. To strengthen the innovation ecosystem, the photonics start-up database expanded to 556 entries, and Tech Tour Photonics 2025 in Brussels successfully connected 34 selected start-ups with investors, resulting in more than 100 one-to-one meetings. Finally, communication activities achieved broad impact, with press campaigns and success stories reaching an estimated global readership of over 15 million.
The sector’s economic significance was highlighted by the publication of a new photonics market study in May 2024. The report confirmed that Europe’s photonics industry grew by 6.5% annually between 2019 and 2022, reaching €124.6 billion and maintaining a 15% global market share, ranking second after China. Four additional thematic reports further underlined the strategic importance of photonics in defence, virtual worlds, high-performance computing, and energy.
Phorwards21 has also supported strong links with end-user industries, contributing to the Chips JU Photonics Pilot Line and initiating joint research calls with the Virtual Worlds and Advanced Materials partnerships. To strengthen the innovation ecosystem, the photonics start-up database expanded to 556 entries, and Tech Tour Photonics 2025 in Brussels successfully connected 34 selected start-ups with investors, resulting in more than 100 one-to-one meetings. Finally, communication activities achieved broad impact, with press campaigns and success stories reaching an estimated global readership of over 15 million.