SmartX has just made its final call for project applications, with companies having until February 15th, 2021, to secure up to €60,000 in funding each. SmartX is the European Smart Textiles Accelerator.
This call follows the successful second call, which opened in June 2020 and was met with a high-interest level from the textile and technology industries, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The call resulted in 29 completed applications,19 of which were submitted by consortia. In total, 56 SMEs from 16 different EU and associated countries applied. Most proposals addressed wellness markets, while the rest focused on health and protection.
Lutz Walter, secretary-general of Textile ETP, said, “After selecting 20 projects worth over €1.5 million during our first two SmartX calls, we are now looking for our third and final cohort of trailblazer projects ready to conquer attractive market niches in the protection, sports, health and industrial end markets with disruptive smart textile solutions.”
Alexander Behm, Stoll’s technical textiles product manager, explained how endless new smart fabric designs are possible on the company’s ADF flat knitting machine. This is achieved via intarsia, plating and interlaying techniques for integrating functional silver-coated polyamide or pure stainless steel or copper yarns to create flexible conductors for heating elements, sensors and actuators. A current medical application made with the Stoll system is a knitted gold mesh employed as an electrode within a device to transfer radio frequency (RF) energy in the treatment of menstrual pain.
Therefore, if you are a part of the knitting or embroidery industry, you should go for this grant for exciting ideas waiting to be commercialized.
