Internet technology provider Google opened applications today for its €150m ($168m) DNI Innovation Fund, which will award grants to startups developing technology for the news industry.
DNI Innovation Fund will provide the cash over the next three years in the form of grants to people, startups or established publishers in Europe’s digital news industry which are developing new ways of consuming, practicing or organising digital journalism.
The fund will form part of Google’s Digital News Initiative (DNI), which now encompasses more than 120 European news organisations including Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Financial Times, BBC, La Stampa and Les Echos, in a bid to support the industry by aiding innovation and technology.
The establishment of DNI comes in the wake of some friction between Google and the news industry, which is increasingly struggling against large internet companies that effectively enable their users to source news without going to a story’s source.
DNI Innovation Fund will supply up to €50,000 for very early-stage, still unformed projects and ideas, and as much as €300,000 to cover up to 70% of the funding for medium-sized projects.
Funding will generally be capped at €1m for up to 70% of the cost of large-scale projects, though the fund may give larger amounts for collaborative projects that “significantly benefit the broad news ecosystem”.
Applications will be accepted until December 4, 2015, with a second round set to open in spring 2016. DNI Innovation Fund will begin awarding cash early next year.