The European Union has invested more than €5 million (around $6 million) in startups that are working on various projects involving blockchain.

So far, six startups developing or researching applications of the tech have received funding through the Horizon 2020 innovation initiative, according to publicly available data.

Last week, the European Commission's Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Group detailed the work being done by three startups – Signaturit, Authenteq and The Billon Group – to develop services around digital identity and payments, among other use cases.

Horizon 2020 data indicates that the EU has contributed €5,471,131 in funding to the group of startups. Of those, three startups received more than €1 million apiece, while three others received €50,000 each.

The initiative has become one of the focal points for the bloc's work with blockchain. Last month, the European Commission (the EU's executive arm) said that it was planning to create a "Blockchains for Social Good" competition that would operate in conjunction with Horizon 2020. Researchers in Europe have also looked to the program to fund cryptocurrency-related projects.

Earlier this year, the European Commission also began laying the foundation for a so-called Blockchain Observatory that would act as a research and outreach office for its work with the tech.

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