MediaFutures establishes a data-driven innovation hub to offer grant funding and support for startups and artists through three Open Calls.
Opened in November 2021 and managed by ZABALA Innovation, MediaFutures received 137 proposals from 39 different countries, which make it a very successful call compared to the last one. The countries amongst those proposals have been, in alphabetical order, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK and Ukraine.
MediaFutures second call got an interesting number of proposals which presented use cases across different domains, rather than the traditional sector. Selected companies will be made public after all legal details are sorted out.
The whole team is very happy with the response and the magnitude and impact across the world that this call has achieved.
Call for proposals
MediaFutures competition calls consist of three tracks of funding Startups for Citizens (SfC): Stand-alone startups/SMEs building a product or service that encourages novel, more meaningful ways to engage with content the focus will be on areas of public interest. Startups in this track will be funded with up to €65,000.
Startup meets Artist (SmA) consists of a startup and an individual artist or artistic company collaboratively developing a new concept of data technology and the arts aimed to lead to new experiences to make data exploration both entertaining and informative. It can be funded with up to €80,000 per startup and €40,000 per artist
Lastly, artists for Media (AfM) artists or artistic companies proposing an innovative artwork concept and production process. The submission should propose new ideas and experiences in visual and performing arts that critically and materially explore data and technology to question and comment on its impact on individuals and society. This are funded with up to €30,000.