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NGI TALER Open Call

Cost-recovery donation of EUR 5,000–50,000 per proposal, with a cumulative EUR 60,000 hard limit per individual or organisation over the TALER programme lifetime. At least EUR 676,000, or 15% of the pilot budget, is reserved for third-party grants. · NLnet Foundation / European Commission

NGI TALER Open Call is a grant programme from NLnet Foundation / European Commission for Individuals and organisations worldwide proposing free and open-source work aligned with NGI TALER Current lifecycle: closed. Real economics: Cost-recovery donation of EUR 5,000–50,000 per proposal, with a cumulative EUR 60,000 hard limit per individual or organisation over the TALER programme lifetime. At least EUR 676,000, or 15% of the pilot budget, is reserved for third-party grants..

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Key facts

FunderNLnet Foundation / European Commission
AmountCost-recovery donation of EUR 5,000–50,000 per proposal, with a cumulative EUR 60,000 hard limit per individual or organisation over the TALER programme lifetime. At least EUR 676,000, or 15% of the pilot budget, is reserved for third-party grants.
Decision timeNLnet says selection normally takes three to five months from the call deadline through written review, clarification and independent validation. The conservative comparable duration is 150 days.
EligibilityAny individual or formal or informal organisation worldwide proposing English-language R&D clearly tied to privacy-preserving digital payments or the GNU Taler ecosystem. The project must show technical feasibility, strategic NGI impact, value for money and a European dimension, release full open outputs, and avoid consortium conflicts; EU/Horizon-associated applicants receive tie-break priority.
RestrictionsThe grant is not paid up front. The MoU assigns amounts to milestones, and recipients request payment after completing each milestone. Default delivery is 12 months with possible exceptions; outputs must be publicly released under recognised open licences, accessibility and audit issues must be addressed, and significant changes need NLnet agreement before repeat or amended funding. Eligible work includes scientific research; free/open software and hardware; Taler wallets, exchanges, merchant backends, integrations and auxiliary tools; validation, formal proofs, security audits, testing and CI; documentation; standards; usability and inclusive design; packaging; technical events directly tied to R&D; project management; and essential infrastructure. General event sponsorship and unrelated operating or hosted-service costs are excluded; exceptional F&A is capped at 25%.
Statusclosed

Always confirm on the official page before applying — dates and terms change.

Application process

  1. Wait for a confirmed TALER call and submit the short English proposal by its deadline
  2. Pass TALER topic, R&D, European-dimension and conflict-of-interest screening
  3. Receive first-stage scoring weighted 30% technical feasibility, 40% relevance and impact, and 30% value for money
  4. Meet the weighted 5-of-7 threshold to enter the second stage
  5. Answer written reviewer questions and revise or clarify the plan, sustainability and budget
  6. Enter the ranked list subject to remaining budget
  7. Pass independent validation by at least two review-committee members
  8. Complete identity and compliance checks and negotiate the milestone-based MoU
  9. Publish open deliverables and request payment after each completed milestone
  10. Use optional audits and integration-community support and complete work normally within 12 months

Background

NLnet Foundation / European Commission operates NGI TALER Open Call. This pass separates direct cash, repayable finance, credits, incentives and umbrella programs so later ranking does not compare unlike instruments. NGI TALER reserves at least EUR 676,000 for independent third-party projects through its current August 2027 horizon The first open call selected five projects covering wallet discovery, accessible interfaces, non-fiat payments, a MirageOS exchange and Odoo integration Later official portfolios document integrations across F-Droid, Fastify, ERPnext, Kivitendo, point-of-sale, open banking and iOS automation

How the application really works

Wait for a confirmed TALER call and submit the short English proposal by its deadline → Pass TALER topic, R&D, European-dimension and conflict-of-interest screening → Receive first-stage scoring weighted 30% technical feasibility, 40% relevance and impact, and 30% value for money → Meet the weighted 5-of-7 threshold to enter the second stage → Answer written reviewer questions and revise or clarify the plan, sustainability and budget → Enter the ranked list subject to remaining budget → Pass independent validation by at least two review-committee members → Complete identity and compliance checks and negotiate the milestone-based MoU → Publish open deliverables and request payment after each completed milestone → Use optional audits and integration-community support and complete work normally within 12 months

Tips

Watch out for

Track record

TALER publishes selected projects but no program-wide application denominator or acceptance rate. The first open call selected five teams; later combined pilot announcements do not isolate a comparable TALER denominator.

Frequently asked questions

Is this actionable now?
closed. The fourteenth NGI TALER call opened 1 June and closed 1 August 2026 at 12:00 CEST. NLnet's general calls resume 3 September with a first deadline on 3 November, but no fund-specific TALER reopening was confirmed; the current main page extends the programme horizon to August 2027 subject to budget.
What is the real economic value?
Cost-recovery donation of EUR 5,000–50,000 per proposal, with a cumulative EUR 60,000 hard limit per individual or organisation over the TALER programme lifetime. At least EUR 676,000, or 15% of the pilot budget, is reserved for third-party grants.
Who is eligible?
Any individual or formal or informal organisation worldwide proposing English-language R&D clearly tied to privacy-preserving digital payments or the GNU Taler ecosystem. The project must show technical feasibility, strategic NGI impact, value for money and a European dimension, release full open outputs, and avoid consortium conflicts; EU/Horizon-associated applicants receive tie-break priority.
How does selection work?
Wait for a confirmed TALER call and submit the short English proposal by its deadline; Pass TALER topic, R&D, European-dimension and conflict-of-interest screening; Receive first-stage scoring weighted 30% technical feasibility, 40% relevance and impact, and 30% value for money; Meet the weighted 5-of-7 threshold to enter the second stage; Answer written reviewer questions and revise or clarify the plan, sustainability and budget; Enter the ranked list subject to remaining budget; Pass independent validation by at least two review-committee members; Complete identity and compliance checks and negotiate the milestone-based MoU; Publish open deliverables and request payment after each completed milestone; Use optional audits and integration-community support and complete work normally within 12 months. NLnet says selection normally takes three to five months from the call deadline through written review, clarification and independent validation. The conservative comparable duration is 150 days.
What burden and restrictions apply?
The grant is not paid up front. The MoU assigns amounts to milestones, and recipients request payment after completing each milestone. Default delivery is 12 months with possible exceptions; outputs must be publicly released under recognised open licences, accessibility and audit issues must be addressed, and significant changes need NLnet agreement before repeat or amended funding. Eligible work includes scientific research; free/open software and hardware; Taler wallets, exchanges, merchant backends, integrations and auxiliary tools; validation, formal proofs, security audits, testing and CI; documentation; standards; usability and inclusive design; packaging; technical events directly tied to R&D; project management; and essential infrastructure. General event sponsorship and unrelated operating or hosted-service costs are excluded; exceptional F&A is capped at 25%.
What evidence exists?
NGI TALER reserves at least EUR 676,000 for independent third-party projects through its current August 2027 horizon The first open call selected five projects covering wallet discovery, accessible interfaces, non-fiat payments, a MirageOS exchange and Odoo integration Later official portfolios document integrations across F-Droid, Fastify, ERPnext, Kivitendo, point-of-sale, open banking and iOS automation TALER publishes selected projects but no program-wide application denominator or acceptance rate. The first open call selected five teams; later combined pilot announcements do not isolate a comparable TALER denominator.

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