Cascade funding, also known as Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP), is a financing mechanism by the European Commission. It enables funded projects to redistribute part of their funds to third parties, such as SMEs or startups.

This mechanism is designed to reduce bureaucracy and simplify access to funding for small entities, allowing them to benefit from a lighter application process compared to the main EU programs.

Clusters play a key role in managing and redistributing cascade funding. Acting as intermediaries for the communities they represent, they translate the overarching guidelines of European programs into project calls that are accessible to smaller businesses.

Two types of approaches can be implemented separately or jointly:

1. Direct funding: Funds are redistributed to SMEs through open calls.

2. Services: Selected SMEs receive free services provided by external experts, whose fees are covered by the project itself.

Examples of flagship projects in the blue economy that have implemented these mechanisms include: GALATEA, led by the Pôle Mer Méditerranée, aims to support innovation in the blue economy, particularly in the fields of Smart ports, Smart ships, Smart shipyards, and maritime surveillance. It provided financial support to 23 innovative projects (involving 42 SMEs), offered 49 services to 30 SMEs, and distributed €2.5 million in direct aid. MEDBAN, led by Fórum Oceano, seeks to mobilize SMEs in the EU's blue economy to adopt greener, more digital, and more resilient processes and technologies. 49 SMEs from 8 countries (Greece, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Malta, and Romania) received €1 million.

Some of these calls are open to non-European actors. You can access all the cascade funding open calls in the Funding & Tender portal of the European Commission.