As part of its ongoing commitment to advancing smart, sustainable, and inclusive heritage innovation, the MetaHeritage project was proud to support Match & Fund 2025: Cultural Heritage & Innovation Matchmaking, a pan-European online event organised by the Time Machine Organisation, a consortium member of the MetaHeritage project. 

The event took place on 3 June 2025 and connected innovators, researchers, cultural institutions, and policy actors across Europe. It animated to develop new cross-sector partnerships and provided practical guidance for accessing European funding in the fields of cultural heritage, creative industries, and digital innovation. 

Organised in collaboration with a broad alliance of European network partners, Match & Fund 2025 supported the ambitions of Horizon Europe Cluster 2 and beyond. The event offered participants a clear roadmap to relevant EU programmes and opportunities to connect with future collaborators from across disciplines and countries.

The event in numbers: 

  • Over 250 registrations from across Europe and beyond
  • Participants from 45 countries, representing a highly diverse international audience, including attendees from other continents
  • 209 organisations took part, spanning sectors such as academia, SMEs, start-ups, NGOs, GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums), and other cultural and research stakeholders
  • 86 matchmaking meetings were successfully scheduled through the B2Match platform

“At MetaHeritage, we believe that collaboration is the cornerstone of innovation in the cultural heritage sector. Match & Fund 2025 embodies this spirit — connecting actors from across Europe to co-create the future of digital and inclusive heritage.”
— Antonia Bobik, MetaHeritage Communication Lead 

A Day Filled With Opportunities 

The morning session (09:30–12:30 CET) featured expert insights into key EU programmes, including: 

  • Horizon Europe Cluster 2 
  • Digital Europe Programme 
  • Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) 
  • Creative Europe 
  • EIT Culture & Creativity 
  • Horizon Europe partnerships: Resilient Cultural Heritage and Virtual Worlds 
  • MetaHeritage and TMO Synergy Grants 

The afternoon session (from 13:00 CET) was fully dedicated to 1:1 matchmaking sessions hosted via the B2Match platform, allowing participants to explore collaborations and build partnerships with organisations across Europe. 

A Networked European Ecosystem 

Hosted by the Time Machine Organisation, and co-organised with the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Match & Fund 2025 was supported by MetaHeritage and a strong consortium of dissemination partners including the European Enterprise Network, EIT Co-Location Center and EIT Culture & Creativity, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and two consortium project member European Clusters Alliance and CRUSOE.