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.
