EU Cascade Funding Impact: CORTEX2 Open Call Success Story

CORTEX2 Open Call Structure and Selection Process

The CORTEX2 programme, funded under EU Horizon Europe grant agreement number 101070192, implemented a cascade funding mechanism enabling third-party SMEs and organisations to access consortium-developed technologies through competitive Open Calls. Track 2 of Open Call 1 specifically targeted use case development demonstrating how cooperative real-time extended reality technologies could address challenges in sectors including humanitarian response, healthcare, education, manufacturing, and cultural heritage, with awarded organisations receiving financial support and technology access for proof-of-concept development. Nuwa's XRisis proposal competed against numerous submissions from across Europe, evaluated against criteria including innovation potential, technical feasibility, market relevance, team capability, and alignment with CORTEX2's vision of advancing real-time cooperation through XR technologies. The selection process combined expert panel assessment with consortium strategic priorities, identifying proposals that would both validate CORTEX2 enabling technologies in realistic application contexts and generate compelling demonstration cases strengthening the consortium's overall impact narrative. XRisis's selection in July 2024 reflected several strengths: partnership with Action Contre la Faim provided access to genuine operational requirements and end-user validation rather than speculative market assumptions, humanitarian emergency response represented an under-explored application domain where XR could potentially deliver substantial social impact, the technical team demonstrated relevant experience and credible capability to execute ambitious integration work, and the three-pilot structure promised comprehensive validation across different training modalities generating rich evaluation evidence. The cascade funding model delivered multiple value dimensions beyond direct financial support: access to Rainbow CPaaS (Alcatel Lucent Enterprise), Video Call Alternative Appearance (DFKI), Conversational Virtual Agent (CEA), and meeting summarisation (Linagora) technologies that would have cost hundreds of thousands of euros to license commercially or develop independently, consortium mentoring providing technical guidance and troubleshooting support throughout development, and integration with European XR research networks expanding partnership and dissemination opportunities. This structure addressed a critical gap in innovation funding: whilst programmes like ERC and Marie Curie support fundamental research and programmes like EIC Accelerator support late-stage commercialisation, cascade mechanisms specifically target the intermediate validation stage where concepts transition from laboratory demonstrations to operational deployment, a phase that often lacks adequate support despite being essential for research-to-market progression. The Open Call process required detailed proposal submission documenting use case requirements, technical approach, validation methodology, exploitation plans, and consortium contribution strategies, forcing applicants to thoroughly consider commercial viability and user value rather than merely technical novelty. The competitive selection created quality filtering: organisations receiving cascade funding had survived expert evaluation suggesting their proposed approaches possessed genuine merit rather than merely interesting but impractical ideas, providing credibility signal that supported subsequent partnership and investment discussions. The CORTEX2 experience demonstrated that well-designed cascade funding mechanisms can effectively democratise access to advanced technologies, enabling SMEs without major research budgets to incorporate cutting-edge capabilities whilst providing technology developers with real-world validation contexts that inform capability refinement.

Consortium Mentoring and Technical Support Value

Weekly mentoring sessions with CORTEX2 consortium members throughout the eleven-month project duration provided guidance worth substantially more than equivalent consulting fees through combination of technical expertise, strategic perspective, and relationship facilitation. Mentors helped Nuwa navigate the consortium structure, identifying appropriate technical contacts within DFKI, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise, CEA, and Linagora organisations for specific integration questions, protocol clarifications, and troubleshooting support, dramatically reducing the time required to resolve issues compared to attempting independent research through documentation alone. The mentoring relationship created accountability structures encouraging regular progress against project milestones: knowing that weekly sessions would review achievements and challenges motivated consistent advancement rather than episodic bursts of activity followed by extended quiet periods that often characterise projects with less structured oversight. Mentors provided strategic guidance about validation methodology design, ensuring evaluation approaches would satisfy both CORTEX2 technical integration requirements and the humanitarian training effectiveness assessment that Action Contre la Faim needed for operational decision-making, preventing the need for separate validation exercises that would have multiplied participant burden and complicated result integration. Technical discussions during mentoring sessions addressed integration architecture decisions, helping Nuwa understand which CORTEX2 components could realistically integrate within XRisis timeline and which required deferral to future development phases given API maturity, documentation completeness, and complexity of required adapter development. Mentors facilitated connections between XRisis and other CORTEX2 use case projects, enabling knowledge sharing about common challenges, successful integration patterns, and lessons learned that benefited multiple parallel development efforts, creating informal community of practice among organisations pursuing similar objectives in different application domains. The mentoring structure maintained appropriate boundaries: mentors provided guidance and support without attempting to control project direction or impose technical decisions, respecting that XRisis team retained ultimate responsibility for design choices and implementation approaches whilst ensuring consortium invested in project success through active engagement rather than passive funding. Quarterly review sessions with broader CORTEX2 leadership supplemented weekly mentoring, providing governance oversight ensuring projects remained on track against contract deliverables whilst creating opportunities to showcase progress and gather feedback from consortium-wide technical experts beyond assigned mentors. This mentoring model proved far superior to purely transactional funding relationships where organisations receive money but limited additional support: the ongoing engagement, relationship building, and knowledge transfer created lasting value beyond immediate project outputs, positioning Nuwa for potential participation in future European research consortia through demonstrated capability to effectively collaborate within complex multi-partner initiatives. The mentoring experience highlighted an important principle for cascade funding design: whilst financial resources prove essential, access to expertise, networks, and ongoing guidance often delivers equal or greater value for SMEs attempting to bridge from research concepts to operational deployment, suggesting that effective programmes should budget substantial consortium time for active participant support rather than merely administering fund disbursement and contract compliance monitoring.

Integration with European XR Research Networks

Participation in CORTEX2 positioned Nuwa within European XR research networks providing access to conferences, publications, collaboration opportunities, and market visibility that SMEs typically struggle to access independently. The project generated multiple dissemination outputs contributing to XR research knowledge base: peer-reviewed conference papers submitted to EuroXR 2025 and IDRC 2025 analysing validation results and implications for humanitarian training technology, Zenodo publications providing open-access documentation of platform architecture and evaluation methodology, technical reports documenting integration approaches and lessons learned from assembling multi-partner capabilities, and presentation opportunities at XR Expo Stuttgart, Immersive Tech Week Rotterdam, and Stereopsia Brussels sharing practical implementation experience with practitioner audiences. These research outputs established credibility beyond vendor marketing claims: peer-reviewed publication demonstrates that platform development followed rigorous methodology and generated findings meeting academic quality standards, positioning Nuwa as legitimate contributor to XR research discourse rather than merely commercial entity pursuing sales objectives. Participation in CORTEX2 networking events connected Nuwa to potential partners including component technology providers, complementary use case developers, research institutions seeking industry collaboration, and policy makers shaping European XR strategy, relationships that could generate future project partnerships, investment opportunities, or market access beyond what independent networking could achieve. The CORTEX2 affiliation provided instant credibility in European technology circles: being selected through competitive evaluation and successfully completing deliverables within a prestigious Horizon Europe programme signals technical competence and execution capability that open doors for subsequent opportunities. Integration into European Digital Innovation Hub networks through CORTEX2 consortium members created pathways for engaging regional innovation support organisations, accessing national and EU-level innovation funding programmes, and participating in technology transfer initiatives connecting research outputs to commercial deployment. The research network engagement generated unexpected benefits: presenting at academic conferences attracted interest from universities seeking industry partners for student projects, providing access to talent pipeline and potential recruitment opportunities for rapidly growing team. Publishing open-access research outputs created visibility among policy makers evaluating how EU research investments generate impact, strengthening Nuwa's positioning for future competitive funding applications by demonstrating clear track record of converting public investment into operational outcomes with sustained value. The network integration experience validated cascade funding programmes as not merely financial mechanisms but structured pathways into research ecosystems that SMEs cannot easily access independently, with relationship capital and credibility benefits potentially exceeding monetary value for organisations pursuing innovation-driven growth strategies.

Pathway from Research to Commercial Exploitation

The XRisis trajectory illustrates systematic progression from research demonstration through validation to commercial exploitation that European innovation programmes deliberately design their funding structures to enable. Initial CORTEX2 cascade funding covered the high-risk proof-of-concept development phase where commercial investors would not engage due to unproven market demand, unclear technical feasibility, and uncertain user acceptance, providing essential de-risking that makes subsequent commercial investment viable. The validation evidence from May 2025 Paris workshop transformed speculative technology concept into demonstrated capability with quantified outcomes, enabling confident conversations with potential clients, investors, and partners grounded in empirical results rather than projections. Unity for Humanity Grant recognition provided independent third-party validation strengthening credibility whilst delivering additional financial resources supporting platform refinement addressing issues identified during initial validation. Action Contre la Faim's commitment to continued collaboration through Service Level Agreement negotiations demonstrated market demand from a sophisticated buyer with actual budget authority and operational deployment capability, not merely enthusiastic interest from organisations without resources to convert interest into purchases. The exploitation plan developed during Phase 3 outlined business model, market positioning, competitive differentiation, revenue architecture, partnership strategy, and go-to-market approach transforming research output into commercial operation with structured planning rather than optimistic improvisation. Intellectual property management through trademark protection and confidentiality agreements established defensible market position, though Nuwa deliberately chose open publication of research findings recognising that contributing to knowledge commons builds credibility and network relationships worth more than attempting to protect every technical detail as proprietary secret. Negotiations with CORTEX2 component providers for extended exploitation licences enabled continued use of Rainbow, VCAA, CoVA, and summarisation technologies beyond research project conclusion, bridging gap until commercial revenue could justify licensing fees whilst demonstrating technologies' commercial potential to providers who might not have pursued humanitarian market segments independently. The exploitation pathway required balancing public funding reporting obligations (deliverable completion, dissemination activities, progress documentation) against commercial development priorities (market validation, sales pipeline building, business operations establishment), with Nuwa successfully managing both dimensions through clear separation of responsibilities and timeline coordination ensuring consortium obligations were satisfied whilst commercial preparation progressed in parallel. The experience validated EU innovation funding theory: strategic public investment in early high-risk development enables subsequent commercial activity that would not occur without that initial support, creating additionality where public funding catalyses private investment rather than merely subsidising development that would happen anyway. The research-to-market transition required maintaining relationships with consortium partners beyond formal project conclusion, recognising that ongoing collaboration delivers sustained mutual value through continued capability refinement, joint dissemination expanding market visibility for all parties, and potential future research partnerships building on XRisis foundations. This pathway demonstrates successful execution of intended programme outcomes: EU research funding generating commercially viable platforms delivering measurable social impact through accessible humanitarian training whilst creating employment, strengthening European competitive position in emerging XR markets, and establishing foundations for continued innovation beyond initial grant periods, exactly the multiplier effects that justify public investment in pre-commercial technology development.