Meet the semi-finalists of the 2026 European Capital of Innovation Awards!

The twelve cities will now compete for the titles of European Capital of Innovation 2026 and European Rising Innovative City 2026. 

Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, iCapital recognises those cities that open their governance practices to experimentation and aim at being role models for other cities, by pushing the boundaries of innovation for the benefit of their citizens. Following a rigorous assessment by two panels of independent experts, the semi-finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
 

European Capital of Innovation category

•    Alicante (Spain)
•    Grenoble Alpes Métropole (France)
•    Liverpool (United Kingdom)
•    Riga (Latvia)
•    Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
•    The Hague (The Netherlands)

European Rising Innovative City category

•    Aalborg (Denmark)
•    Kranj (Slovenia)
•    Nicosia (Cyprus)
•    San Sebastian (Spain)
•    Stavanger (Norway)
•    Ulm (Germany)

What happens next?

Each city will be invited to a private hearing with the jury members, held remotely in the coming weeks. The hearings allow each city to present their application and answer potential questions related to the award criteria.
The jury members will then select three finalist cities for each category. On 3–4 December 2025, the winners and runners-up will be announced at the awards ceremony in the current European Capital of Innovation: Turin, Italy.

The prize includes substantial financial support:
•    The European Capital of Innovation winner will receive €1 million, while two runners-up will each get €100 000.
•    The European Rising Innovative City winner will receive €500 000, with €50 000 awarded to each of the two runners-up.

All finalists will also be invited to join the prestigious iCapital Alumni network, composed of previous finalists of the iCapital Awards.

Background

Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, this is the 11th edition of the European Capital of Innovation Awards, also known as iCapital.

Through the iCapital Awards, the European Union recognises cities with inclusive innovation ecosystems. The prize identifies cities that connect citizens with academia, businesses and the public sector to translate results into improved wellbeing, while boosting game-changing innovation.

Past winners as European Capitals of Innovation include Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), Aix-Marseille Provence Metropole (2022), Lisbon (2023) and Turin (2024-2025).
Past winners in the Rising Innovative City category include Vantaa (2021), Haarlem (2022), Linköping (2023) and Braga (2024-2025).

iCapital is one of the four EIC Prizes granted under Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation framework programme. The prize is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen following an assessment performed by two high-level juries of independent experts.

More information

The European Capital of Innovation Awards (europa.eu)
#iCapitalAwards