EIC Accelerator

About EIC Accelerator

The EIC Accelerator is part of Horizon Europe - EU's framework programme for innovation and research. The EIC Accelerator offers opportunities for start-ups and SMEs with breakthrough, market-creating innovations including radically new products, services, processes or business models. The EIC Accelerator helps you develop your deep-tech business concept into a market-ready product, service or process in line with your company’s growth strategy.

The Open Call

The EU has set aside €630.96 mil. this call has no predefined thematic priorities. It is open to projects in all technologies and industries. However, projects should be based on scientific discovery and breakthrough technologies with a long timeframe for generating revenue.

The Challenge calls

Alongside the open call €537 mil. are dedicated for so called challenges within areas of strategic relevance. For 2022 two specific challenges have been announced:

Technologies for Open Strategic Autonomy:

This challenge is specifically aimed at strategic technologies that aid Europe in maintaining its autonomy and avoid being dependent on other regions for these strategic technologies. This can be:

• Components, technologies and systems for the pharmaceutical industry
• Strategic healthcare technologies
• Sustainable and innovative approaches, including circular approaches to critical raw materials (CRM)
• New applications of quantum technologies
• Edge computing applications
• Innovative applications making use of data and signals from EU space infrastructures
• Development of space technologies
• Critical security technologies
• Technologies for innovative financial and payment infrastructures and services

Technologies for “Fit for 55”:

The “Fit for 55” proposal package aims to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use and transport fit for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. To support this green transition this EIC Accelerator Challenge will fund projects that boost breakthrough innovations that strengthen the green transition by impacting the following goals:

• Higher clean energy conversion and use
• Decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries
• Energy efficiency and safety in the built environment
• Zero emission mobility solutions
• Climate neutrality in the land use
• Water, gas and indoor air management/monitoring systems
• Green digital technologies

Possibilities with the EIC Accelerator

Eligible applications can receive funding between €0.5 mil. and €15 mil. The funding can be granted as

• Blended finance, consisting of an equity investment component or convertible loan as well as a grant component. Max. equity is 25%.
• Investment only
• Grant only or Grant first of €2,5 mil.

Furthermore, the grant includes the EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) providing access to mentors and coaches, global partnerships with leading corporations, investors, distributors and clients and access to EICs peer community.

Requirements for applications

Applications are judged by three main criteria: Excellence, Impact and Implementation. Each criterion is specifically judged by the following indicators:

Excellence

• Breakthrough and market creating nature
• Timing
• Technological feasibility
• Intellectual property

Impact

• Scale up potential
• Broader impact
• Market fit and competitor analysis
• Commercialisation strategy
• Key partners

Implementation

• Team
• Milestones
• Risk level of the investment
• Risk mitigation

The application process

The application process consists of three stages: a short application, a full application and a face-to-face interview with the EIC jury.
The short application consists of filing in a proposal form, a pitch deck of up to 10 slides and a 3-minute video pitch presenting the core team members and their motivation for applying.
If the short application is successful, you are invited to submit the full application. Here you will have the possibility of using a mentor or coach from EIC Accelerator BAS.
If your full application is approved, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview with a panel of six members of the EIC jury.
Finally, if your project is approved by the jury panel, you will be invited to negotiate the grant.