In an era where the internet defines how we connect, work, and live, the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative is charting a bold path forward. With over €140 million invested since 2019, NGI has empowered more than 1,000 projects and innovators to build a human-centric, trustworthy, and open internet rooted in European values and igniting cross-border private investments.

 “The challenge is not lack of talent or creativity, but the absence of a coordinated framework to transform open-source communities into sovereign solutions,” declared Thibaut Kleiner, Director, DG CNECT, European Commission.

This ambitious effort positions Europe as a global pioneer in redefining the internet, challenging the dominance of tech giants and prioritising privacy, inclusion, and innovation. In a fiercely competitive digital landscape, NGI’s strategic investments and partnerships, with organisations like FundingBox at the forefront, are driving a transformative vision for the internet’s future.

FundingBox’s Role in the NGI Ecosystem

Among others, FundingBox has become a key partner in NGI’s mission, simplifying funding access and amplifying Europe’s digital innovation. As a trusted partner, FundingBox participated in high-impact Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) like NGI Pointer, NGI Assure, eSSIF Lab, and NGI Search, as well as Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) like NGI4ALL and its successor NGI4ALL.E, both created to manage the NGI Outreach Office, coordinating the NGI initiatives’ overall communication and branding. It furthermore coordinated NGI’s first cascade funding project, NGI Ledger.

Through its work, FundingBox has supported transformative NGI beneficiary projects, including, just to name a few:

NGI Pointer

• Peergos: A decentralised platform for secure file storage and sharing with end-to-end encryption. It offers a privacy-focused alternative to centralised cloud services for individuals and organisations.
• Scuttlebutt: A decentralised, offline-first social networking protocol enabling secure, peer-to-peer communication. It fosters resilient, community-driven networks, even in low-connectivity environments.
  
• Libre-SOC: An open-source System-on-Chip (SoC) design promoting libre hardware and software. It reduces reliance on proprietary systems, advancing Europe’s technological sovereignty.

NGI Search

• Mastodon: A decentralised social media platform with over 8 million users across thousands of servers. It enables communities to control their data and governance, redefining social networking with user empowerment.
  
• Open Food Facts: A collaborative, open-source database of food products, promoting transparency in supply chains. With thousands of global contributors, it powers apps and research for healthier, sustainable choices.
  
• DATAMI: An open-source tool for collaborative data management, enabling communities to edit, visualise, and share data through interactive tables, maps, and dashboards. It supports civic tech and digital inclusion projects across France and is branching out into other countries.

eSSIF Lab

• Gattaca: A self-sovereign identity platform providing secure, user-controlled authentication and data sharing, fostering trust and compliance for digital services in Europe.
• BC Diploma: A blockchain-based certification system enabling universities and training providers to issue verifiable, tamper-proof diplomas and credentials worldwide.
• Zenlife: Digital identity and privacy solution integrating health and wellbeing data with SSI principles, giving users control over their personal information in sensitive domains.

NGI Assure

• Interpeer Wyrd: A peer-to-peer collaboration framework using conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) for real-time, decentralised editing. It supports offline-first workflows, ideal for distributed teams in low-connectivity settings.
• TauriApps: An open-source framework for building secure, lightweight applications across desktop and mobile. Using a Rust backend with any web-based frontend, Tauri delivers cross-platform apps with a minimal footprint (~600 KB) while reducing the attack surface. This fosters the creation of seamless, privacy-preserving tools.
  
• CryptPad: A privacy-first, end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite with secure document editing, Kanban boards, and whiteboards. Serving over 200,000 monthly users across 1,500 self-hosted instances, it empowers secure collaboration for educators, NGOs, and teams.

NGI Ledger

• NYM: A privacy-focused network infrastructure providing anonymous communication through a decentralised mixnet. It protects user data from surveillance, strengthening digital privacy across applications.
  
• Orvium: Spanish open-access publishing platform built for and by researchers, aiming to eliminate inefficiencies in scholarly publishing through decentralised tools. It offers features such as traceable peer review, community-governed journals, author control of copyright, use of DLT to support transparency, and reduced costs.

By supporting and funding more than 280 innovators through multiple NGI programmes, FundingBox has helped transform ideas into market-ready solutions, fostered collaboration across Europe’s digital ecosystem, and strengthened the foundations of open, sovereign, and sustainable internet technologies.

The path ahead for innovators is not without obstacles: market fragmentation, international competition, and the need for sustained public and private investment remain pressing challenges.

NGI’s strength lies in combining innovation with ethical regulation, in line with EU frameworks such as the GDPR and the Digital Markets Act. Initiatives like the NGI Commons project, launched in 2024, advance digital commons policies, while the NGI Forum 2025 highlighted collaboration on open infrastructure.

Thibaut Kleiner emphasised during his speech at the NGI Forum 2025: “This is the world’s largest public investment in open-source internet technologies.