Up to €3M funding opportunity to implement free-form micro-optical components
To advance Europe’s competitiveness and support advanced technical developments, the European Commission is providing 3 million euros of funding to early adopters of the Phabulous pilot line services for the implementation and integration of free-form micro-optical components.
Free-form micro-optics open up new possibilities to create products that are more energy efficient, more reliable, and/or more aesthetically pleasing at competitive costs. To make the implementation and integration of free-form micro-optics easily accessible, Phabulous has opened up the one-stop-shop for free-form micro-optical components offering all services through a single entry point.


Phabulous represents the full value chain and consists of Europe’s leading companies and research and technology organizations in the field of micro-optics. The pilot line offers a full range of services from optical design and origination to pilot and volume production, including tooling, material selection and quality control. All synchronized to ensure a smooth process and to reduce lead times from several months to several weeks.
Funding of total €3M is available to support the implementation and integration of free-form micro-optics and the scale up to pilot production. The pilot line services are available to all European companies, preferably SMEs, that have an existing design or prototype at any TRL. Up to 90 % of funding per pilot case is available, depending on company size, excellence, impact and implementation.
Free-form Micro-optics are micro-optical components designed with no symmetry constraints, enabled by innovative modelling and they require ultraprecision machining. Use cases of the Phabulous pilot line include applications addressing microdisplays for AR, solid-state lighting, automotive functional lighting, transportation interior lighting, and luxury.
This open call has been enabled through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Grant Agreement nº 871710, in Public Private Partnership with Photonics 21 and will run continuously until November 2023. The open call works with regular cut-off dates, at which time the applicants are evaluated and chosen to participate. For all information, deadlines, and requirements, please check the Phabulous website at www.phabulous.eu/open-call or contact the open call helpdesk at helpdesk@phabulous.eu.
Company
Photonics21c/o VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH
40468 Duesseldorf
Germany
most read

Ziehl-Abegg achieves sales of over one billion euros
This corresponds to growth of over 12% compared to the previous year. The global workforce increased from 5,300 to 5,800 employees.

Engineering labor market under pressure: shortage of skilled workers despite the crisis
Unemployment in IT and engineering professions rose by 17.6 percent, while the total number of vacancies fell by 23 percent to 99,470.

Sonair wins Best Product Award 2026
The Norwegian company was honored at LogiMAT in the category "Identification, packaging and loading technology, load securing".

Helukabel becomes Helu
Managing Director Marc Luksch emphasizes that the future of connection technology lies in the integration of ready-to-connect systems.

New Sales Manager EMEA at Lapp
Ad van de Noort has taken over the position of Chief Sales Officer (CSO) EMEA at the Lapp Group as of January 1, 2026.





