NGI Sargasso Newsletter - December 2025: €4.8M Distributed to 53 Transatlantic Teams to Create a Human-Centric Next Generation Internet
As NGI Sargasso officially comes to an end in December 2025, we look back with pride on three years of intensive collaboration, experimentation and community building across Europe, the United States and Canada. Funded by the European Union, NGI Sargasso set out with an ambitious goal: to strengthen Transatlantic cooperation around disruptive technologies and to help shape a more open, trustworthy and human-centric Next Generation Internet.
Our initiative was designed as a partner programme to support collaborative experiments between EU teams and their US and/or Canadian counterparts. Beyond offering equity-free funding, our aim was to catalyse long-term relationships, foster shared innovation cultures and encourage contributions to standards and open-source communities capable of shaping the future of the Internet commons.
5 Open Calls Attracting Applications from 31 Countries
Our program was able to expand our international visibility and succeeded in building an active, distributed ecosystem of innovators, researchers, startups and institutions. Five Open Calls were launched in just three years, attracting a total of 394 applications from across the globe. The first Open Call alone received submissions from 31 different countries, while subsequent calls consistently attracted proposals from 21 to 26 countries, confirming sustained international interest. Applicants ranged from SMEs and universities to NGOs and foundations, highlighting our inclusive and multidisciplinary nature.
In total, we funded the experiments of 53 NGI Sargasso Innovators, with strong representation in areas such as security, interoperability, decentralisation and digital governance. All selected projects addressed core challenges for the Next Generation Internet, including trust and data sovereignty, digital identity, Internet architecture renovation, decentralised technologies, interoperability and standardisation, and the development of new Internet commons. The supported teams explored a wide range of technology domains, from Artificial Intelligence and blockchain to cybersecurity, IoT, 6G and novel networks, open-source hardware and software, and new software architectures.
A cornerstone of NGI Sargasso was its commitment to equity-free funding and concrete support: €50,000, €75,000 and €100,000 were the amounts that projects received, depending on their duration of three, six or nine months. In total, €4.8 million was distributed.
https://youtu.be/QoVUJTsIv9Q?si=zMHPdBAauE0vU_Ej
The NGI Sargasso OnCampus Programme: Nurturing NGI Innovation
Once selected as NGI Sargasso Innovators, our beneficiaries entered the NGI Sargasso OnCampus Programme, which accompanied all funded teams throughout their journey. Across the five Open Calls, 46 training and support webinars were delivered, covering topics such as pitching, communication and marketing strategies, GDPR, intellectual property management, standardisation and public funding. Each project also benefited from tailored coaching, with up to 21 coaching sessions for the longest experiments.
In addition, the grantees took part in Inspirational Talks led by high-level experts on Next Generation Internet technologies, the NGI initiative and the broader startup and open-source ecosystem, including sessions with the Linux Foundation Europe, StandICT, CrabNebula and other recognised experts.
Brokering System and Matchmaking Sessions to Facilitate EU + US/CA Collaboration
To actively facilitate Transatlantic collaboration, NGI Sargasso developed a dedicated brokering and matchmaking system hosted on SPLORO’s platform. More than 700 entities applied to join this system, with 352 accepted. The platform enabled candidates to present their ideas and ambitions, search for complementary partners and connect directly with teams on the other side of the Atlantic. This effort was complemented by ten matchmaking sessions organised across the five Open Calls, bringing together more than 560 participants and enabling meaningful exchanges between European, US and Canadian organisations.
Many collaborations forged under NGI Sargasso are continuing beyond the project’s lifetime, with 29 partnerships expected to persist at academic or business level. Eight projects have already led to the creation of spin-offs or new ventures, and three have initiated joint ventures, demonstrating our tangible impact on innovation and entrepreneurship.
NGI Sargasso also played an active role in promoting a sustainably open Internet environment, and for that, we engaged 15 open-source communities through the NGI Sargasso InnoConnect Hub.
The NGI Sargasso Internet: an Internet of Trust
Visibility and ecosystem building were further reinforced through participation in 35 international events, including three editions of 4YFN, the startup event of Mobile World Congress. At 4YFN 2025, we hosted the panel “Next-Generation Internet: Bridging Continents, Innovating Together” and a pitching session featuring nine of our NGI Sargasso Innovators, showcasing concrete outcomes of EU–North American collaboration.
https://youtu.be/tOzvedKYJjg
Behind this collective effort during the past three years, stood a consortium led by the European Science Foundation (ESF), and partnered by Sploro, Mobile World Capital Barcelona and AUSTRALO, with the support of US Ignite as an associated partner in the United States.
As the project officially concludes, NGI Sargasso leaves behind far more than 53 funded experiments. It leaves a vibrant Transatlantic network, ongoing partnerships, new ventures and a shared vision for the evolution of the Internet: one that places people, trust and openness at its core, following the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative values. Our project may be ending now, but the collaborations and ideas it sparked will continue to shape an Internet of Trust for our future generations.
Keep an eye on our social media to discover all the NGI Sargasso Innovators, and watch their interviews:
That is all for our ninth and final wave of NGI Sargasso news, to which we invite you to subscribe here. Together, let's shape the future of the Next Generation Internet!
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This newsletter was originally published on NGI Sargasso LinkedIn.
