EU funding for AI in manufacturing in Lithuania: up to €70,000 and 50% (applications until 8 Dec 2026)

Lithuanian manufacturing companies can receive EU funding for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. The Innovation Agency administers call No. 02-126-K “Implementation of AI solutions”. On 7 October 2026 the call was updated: the budget was raised to €7.5 million and applications (project implementation plans) can be submitted until 8 December 2026, 17:00.

Key numbers

• Up to €70,000 per project (minimum €15,000).
• Up to 50% of all eligible costs; the company funds the rest (at least 50%).
• Total budget €7.5 million: €5 million for the Central and Western Lithuania region, €2.5 million for the Capital region.
• Project duration up to 12 months from contract signing, activities start within 3 months.
• Applications are submitted through the EU investment data exchange website (DMS).

Who can apply

• micro, small and medium-sized industrial companies (main activity manufacturing or mining, industrial revenue at least 51% for at least two years);
• operating for at least 2 years with average annual sales of at least €145,000 over the last 2 financial years;
• located in the Capital or Central and Western Lithuania region (under the EU regional split, that is Vilnius county and all other counties, including Kaunas).

Which AI solutions are supported

AI must be the main element of the solution and aimed at digitalising production processes. Supported areas: machine learning, computer vision, robotics and automation, natural language processing and digital twins. Not supported are solutions aimed at personnel management, finance, marketing, project or document management, IT services and other administrative areas, and subscriptions to AI platforms.

Where AI can be used in production: 6 examples

Below are examples that can serve as a basis for an application. Whether your specific project fits the call is decided by the official documents and the agency’s evaluation.

1. An AI agent for equipment monitoring and wear prediction

Sensors (vibration, temperature, current, pressure) and a machine-learning model continuously monitor machines and lines. The AI agent spots deviations from the norm, notices early signs of part wear and sends alerts: when something is wrong, when inspection is needed or when a part is worth replacing before it fails. Fewer surprise stops and planned maintenance.

2. ERP with AI integration for production processes

A manufacturing app (for example Odoo MRP) provides clean order, bill-of-materials and stock data, and AI works on top of it: forecasts demand, suggests purchases and flags anomalies. Note: an ERP implementation by itself is not an AI project. What is supported is its AI part applied to production processes, and the integration with production or information systems. More: integrating AI into business systems.

3. An AI agent for production planning

From incoming orders the agent calculates raw-material needs, suggests what to order and when, and sequences production by equipment load and deadlines. This is a direct production-planning use case, which appears among the supported examples.

4. Shift and capacity planning

AI can optimize equipment and line load and shift capacity based on order volume. Be careful: solutions aimed at personnel management are not supported, so such a project must be framed and justified as production capacity planning, not employee schedule management, and checked with the agency in advance.

5. Computer vision for quality control

Cameras and an AI model detect defects, dimensional deviations or packaging errors in real time so scrap is stopped earlier. Equipment (cameras, lighting, edge devices) is an eligible cost if used only for this solution.

6. An operator and foreman AI assistant

A natural-language assistant answers workers about production instructions, technical descriptions and fault history, so they do not have to search documents. It can be combined with the monitoring agent.

What to know before applying

• Do not start the project before submitting the application. If the first legal commitment (an order, a contract) is signed earlier, the whole project becomes ineligible.
• The AI product or solution must be available on the market on the application day.
• Eligible costs: AI solution purchase or licence, implementation (integration with production systems, configuration, model training, data preparation, pilot operation, training), software rental and 7% indirect costs.
• Equipment (sensors, cameras) is eligible only if used solely for this solution, and at most 50% of the AI solution’s eligible costs.
• You cannot receive other state or EU funding for the same activity.

How to prepare: 5 steps

• Check eligibility: activity, 2 years of operation, revenue, region.
• Pick one production process with a clear problem (downtime, scrap, planning time).
• Define a measurable result: hours saved, less scrap, fewer stops.
• Get a solution description and a cost estimate (AI, integration, equipment, training).
• Submit through DMS by 8 December, 17:00, and only then start implementation.

Our experience with an EU-funded AI project

We are currently delivering an EU-funded project in Latvia in which artificial intelligence monitors industrial production equipment and warns about deviations. The solution combines:

• real-time data from equipment controllers and sensors;
• a time-series store and predictive-maintenance logic (detecting deviations from the norm);
• local AI models that write a clear alert text and translate it into the local language;
• email notifications, because operators rarely look at a screen;
• tidy user management and a monitoring dashboard.

We use that experience for Lithuanian companies’ projects too: from the solution description and cost estimate to implementation, integration with production systems and training, and we know what has to be justified technically in an application.

How we can help

We help prepare the technical part of the solution: we assess where AI will bring the most benefit in your production, describe the solution and its integration with your ERP or production systems (Odoo and others), and prepare an estimate and a prototype. The company submits the application itself, we do not guarantee funding, and eligibility is finally assessed by the Innovation Agency (contacts are in the call). More about our AI solutions and AI “employees”.