BEL-COO (Trans-regional Innovation Project)

BEL-COO (Trans-regional Innovation Project)

Funds cross-regional Flemish cooperation by coordinating shared support routes for industrial projects.

BEL-COO is Belgium's trans-regional innovation programme, enabling companies and knowledge institutions from at least two different Belgian regions — Flanders, Wallonia, and/or Brussels — to jointly execute an R&D project and receive coordinated public funding from their respective regional agencies. The programme is sector-agnostic and open to both research-stage and development-stage activities. Projects with military or dual-use finalisation became eligible under the programme from 4 April 2025 in line with the Flemish Defence Plan reforms to state-aid guidelines.

Each consortium must comprise at least two independent companies drawn from at least two different Belgian regions, with no single partner holding more than 70% of the total project budget. All participating companies must perform genuine R&D tasks carrying clear technical risk and must participate in the economic results — subcontractor relationships do not qualify. Research institutions may participate as subcontractors or research partners but cannot be direct subsidy beneficiaries. Project duration spans 12 to 36 months. Flemish partners apply through VLAIO using either the Ontwikkelingsproject instrument (25–50% of costs, minimum EUR 25,000 to maximum EUR 3 million) or the Onderzoeksproject instrument (25–60% of costs, minimum subsidy equivalent EUR 100,000 to maximum EUR 3 million). Walloon partners apply through SPW Recherche and Brussels partners through Innoviris under their own regional rules.

Applications to the BEL-COO programme are accepted on a continuous rolling basis. The evaluation cycle runs continuously with a target turnaround of up to four months. The Flemish portion of each application is submitted through the VLAIO e-portal for whichever instrument (Ontwikkelingsproject or Onderzoeksproject) the Flemish partner intends to use. Consortium formation and project scoping typically require coordination with the partner agencies in Wallonia and Brussels before simultaneous submission. VLAIO business advisors provide free scoping support.