The Digital News Initiative has been officially launched by Google.

Google has officially launched a new grant system, as part of the wider £109M fund for European news publishers.

The Digital News Initiative was founded by Google in April 2015, to help publishers "develop more sustainable models for news".

Only now, however, has Google opened the Digital News Initiative (DNI) Innovation Fund for applications.

"The ambition and intent of the Fund is bold: to spark new thinking, which could come from anywhere in the news ecosystem, to give news organisations - of all sizes - the space to try some new things. We’ve set aside up to €150 million for that purpose, which we’ll make available in the form of no-strings-attached awards over the next three years.

"We’re looking for projects that demonstrate new thinking in the practice of digital journalism; that support the development of new business models, or maybe even change the way users consume digital news.

"Projects can be highly experimental, but must have well-defined goals and have a significant digital component.

"There is no requirement to use any Google products.

"Successful projects will show innovation and have a positive impact on the production of original digital journalism and on the future sustainability of the news business."