EIC Funding Services
€10 billion in grants-funding available for SMEs and small midcaps via the European Innovation Council (EIC), the European Commission’s flagship innovation funding programme for the period 2021-2027.
Funding is provided through three main instruments addressing all stages of the innovation lifecycle:
- Pathfinder for advanced research on breakthrough / game-changing technologies;
- Transition for transforming research results into innovation opportunities; and
- Accelerator for companies to develop and scale up breakthrough innovations.
The EIC Accelerator is by far the largest funding instrument with a 70% share of the total (€10 billion) budget. The EIC Accelerator has a total budget allocation of €7.2 billion, split between the “Open Call” (€3.7 billion) and “Challenges” (€3.5 billion). The expected yearly total budget allocation is approximately €1 billion per year.
Approximately half of the EIC Accelerator's budget will be allocated as grants, and the remainder will be invested as equity via the EIC Fund.
The EIC Accelerator supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly Startups and spinout companies, to develop and scale up game-changing innovations. The EIC Accelerator provides substantial financial support with:
- grant funding (non-dilutive) of up to €2.5 million for innovation development costs,
- investments (direct equity investments) of up to €15 million managed by the EIC Fund for scale-up and other relevant costs.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund is the investment vehicle of the EIC Accelerator programme. With a budget of €3 billion from 2021-2027, the EIC Fund is positioned to be one of Europe's largest deep-tech venture capitalists (VCs) during this period. Through the structure of the fund, a minimum of €3 billion of private funds will be invested alongside the EIC Fund during this period. The EIC aspires to crowd in a further €30bn-€50bn as one of its six strategic goals.
Click below for more details about the funding programme:
The EIC Application Process
The application process starts with the "short application" phase. If successful with the short application (first stage of the process), you will be invited to submit a full application. The full application is the one that results in a funding decision (after a shortlisting/ interviewing round).
Our support options are designed to help you along your entire EIC journey.
Click here for more details on the application process: EIC Accelerator - Application Process.
At Winnovart, we can support you in various ways:
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Expert advice and feedback during the proposal development and submission phase.
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Expert support during the evaluation phase/ interview/ pitch preparation.
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Grant management during the implementation phase, after grant-funding approval.
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Support with your private fundraising strategy/ equity investment via the EIC Fund, including access to lead investors (VC and similar)