The European AI Support Ecosystem

Europe’s deeply integrated AI support network accelerates the entire pipeline from lab to market. This cohesive ecosystem removes technical, financial, and regulatory barriers for businesses through four complementary initiatives:

• European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) serve as your regional entryway, offering free-of-charge digital maturity assessments, "test-before-invest" opportunities, and tailored guidance on the European AI Act.

• Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) act as large-scale physical and virtual reference sites where innovators stress-test and validate complex AI hardware and software prototypes under true operational conditions.

• AI Factories unlock vital technical infrastructure, connecting European EuroHPC supercomputers with shared industrial data spaces to grant startups the affordable raw computing muscle needed to train large foundation models securely.

• National Contact Points for Intellectual Property (NCP-IP) safeguard your innovations, providing ready-to-use English-language contract templates and connecting you to the IPR Helpdesk for expert guidance on protecting and licensing AI-related IP.

• Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) functions as the ultimate commercial highway, matching your market-ready AI solutions with cross-border partners, global supply chains, and international venture capital.