Applications open for MediaFutures, the European data-driven innovation hub & accelerator for the media value chain

Startups and artists can now apply for equity-free funding of up to €80,000 for innovative, creative and impactful ideas which address the issues of online misinformation and disinformation

MediaFutures, the data innovation hub bringing together startups, SMEs and artists to solve challenges in the media industry, has announced that applications opened on 28th June 2022 for its third accelerator and residency programmes. Startups, SMEs, artists and artistic companies as well as groups of individuals can now apply until 30 August 2022 (10am CEST) to become part of this European-funded project. Successful applicants will receive equity-free funding, mentoring and training.

From 2020 to 2023, MediaFutures will support 51 startups and SMEs, and 43 artists across three Open Calls, distributing a total amount of €2.5 million euros, equity-free. MediaFutures is looking for ideas related to quality journalism, transparency, democracy and science communications, all of which should counteract the negative impact of misinformation and disinformation within society. Artists can work with available, or their own, datasets, and react to current affairs, media stories and issues pertaining to media freedom and accuracy.?

Applications are being encouraged from groups who are not as well-represented in the art and start-up worlds, and/or face additional barriers to entry, including those from ethnic minorities, women and non-binary individuals, the LGBTQ+ community, those with disabilities and those in lower-middle income countries. Applicants should be based in or be willing to relocate to Europe, the UK or selected non-EU territories, for the six-month period that the funding covers, subject to travel restrictions due to Covid-19.?

MediaFutures has three programme tracks open for applications from artists and artistic companies, startups, SMEs and groups of individuals:?

1. Artists for Media - a six month Residency programme for artists with an innovative concept to explore data and technology, and its impact on individuals and society;
2. Startups for Citizens - a six month Accelerator programme for startups to build a product or service that encourages novel, meaningful ways to engage with media content;
3. Startup meets Artist - a six month mixed Residency and Accelerator support programme for teams of startups and artists to collaboratively develop new ideas around data technology and the arts.

A description of all graduated projects from Open Call 1 and Open Call 2 is available here.

For more information on how to apply, please visit: https://mediafutures.eu/opencall/.?

According to Alexandra Garatzogianni, Coordinator of MediaFutures and of other EU-funded projects at the Leibniz University of Hannover and Head of Tech Transfer at the Leibniz Information Center for Science & Technology, “via its completed two open calls and two cohorts, the H2020 MediaFutures accelerator has established a highly successful track record of providing equity-free funding as well as customised acceleration and residency programmes for richly diverse and innovative SMEs, startups and artists working on media innovation. Our third and final Open Call presents the unique opportunity for applicants to benefit from this cutting-edge programme, delivered by the prestigious MediaFutures consortium and co-funded by the European Commission. We welcome all applications and we are thrilled to work with our future 3rd Cohort”.?

About MediaFutures: MediaFutures is a three-year European innovation project that contributes to high-quality media activities. Through three Open Calls, startups and artists will encourage citizens to engage more meaningfully with high-quality journalism, science education, and digital citizenship by using different pilots, artworks, and experiences.?

For more information, please contact: [email protected] and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

The information reflects the authors' views. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

The MediaFutures project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 951962.

DISCOVER THE MEMBERS OF THE MEDIAFUTURES CONSORTIUM

Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH), L3S Research Centre (Consortium Coordinator)

The Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH) is one of the nine leading technical universities in Germany (TU9 consortium). The L3S Research Centre is a joint research institute of several universities in Lower Saxony. Work at L3S focuses on excellent AI-based research and the development of innovative and cutting-edge methods and technologies. More info: https://www.l3s.de/de

King’s College London (KCL) (Technical & Scientific Lead)

KCL is one of the top 10 UK universities in the world, and the Department of Informatics is in the top 10 of Computer Science departments in the UK. The department hosts research groups focusing on algorithms and data analysis, cybersecurity, distributed artificial intelligence, human centred computing, reasoning and planning, and software systems. More info: https://kcl.ac.uk/

The Open Data Institute (ODI)

The ODI was co-founded in 2012 by the inventor of the web Sir Tim Berners-Lee and artificial intelligence expert Sir Nigel Shadbolt to show the value of data, and to advocate for the innovative use of data to affect positive change across the globe. We’re an independent, non-profit, non-partisan company headquartered in London, with an international reach. More info: https://theodi.org/

IRCAM-Centre Pompidou?

IRCAM-Centre Pompidou is a non-profit research institution located in Paris, associated with Centre Pompidou. It was founded in 1977 as part of the Centre Pompidou project by Pierre Boulez as an institution dedicated to promoting collaborations between researchers, engineers and artists and has remained since then a unique Art-Tech-Science reference worldwide. More info: https://www.ircam.fr/

The Design Entrepreneurship Institute (DEN)

DEN is a non-profit think tank based in Brussels (Belgium), working at European level thanks to an extended network of experts participatory innovation practices, socio-economic impact assessment of research and innovation initiatives. More info: https://www.den-institute.org/

ZABALA

ZABALA is a Spanish SME (over 300 employees) that has a wide experience in supporting entities in the management of their RTD and innovation activities, as well as in technology transfer projects and initiatives. It is a consolidated RTD and Innovation consultancy firm working across Europe on these fields since 1986. More info: https://www.zabala.eu/en

Next Media Accelerator (NMA)

NMA is an independent accelerator funded by over 30 media outlets in Germany and Austria. NMA invests in early stage media tech startups from Europe, Israel and USA providing innovative solutions to disrupt the media. More info: https://NMA.VC

KU Leuven Centre for IT and IP Law (CiTiP)?

The Centre for IT & IP Law is a research center at the Faculty of Law of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), with currently a staff of over 70 researchers specialized in legal and ethical aspects of IT innovation and intellectual property. The Centre is dedicated to advancing and promoting legal knowledge about the information society through research and teaching of the highest quality in the areas of Data Protection, Privacy and Information Security Law, New Media and Communications Law, and Information Rights Management. More info: https://www.law.kuleuven.be/citip/en

LUISS University

Luiss Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli is an independent university that offers an innovative educational approach at its four Departments: Economics and Finance, Business and Management, Law, and Political Science. LUISS is well renowned for its research activities, aimed at producing knowledge and innovations, contributing to the scientific debate as well as to the benefit of economic, social and cultural development with an international perspective. More info: https://datalab.luiss.it/

Eurecat Technology Centre of Catalonia

Eurecat is the leading Technology Centre in Catalonia. The centre relies on an interdisciplinary perspective through the experience of over 650 professionals focused on R&D, innovation and training activities ranging from industrial technologies to digital technologies and biotech, generating an annual income of €50M.? More info: https://eurecat.org/en

About Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market. More info: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/what-horizon-2020?