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EIC Accelerator Updates

Deadlines / EIC Accelerator Cut-Off Dates 2025, 2026 and 2027

  • Step 1
    • Open now: Apply as soon as possible to be eligible for the next Step 2 submission deadline
      • Proposals are sent for evaluation on the first Tuesday of every month
  • Step 2 (closing 17:00 Brussels Time)
    • 1st cut-off 2025: March 12th 2025
    • 2nd cut-off 2025: October 1st 2025
    • 1st cut-off 2026: January 7th 2026
    • 2nd cut-off 2026: March 4th 2026
    • 3rd cut-off 2026: May 6th 2026
    • 4th cut-off 2026: July 8th 2026
    • 5th cut-off 2026: September 2nd 2026
    • 6th cut-off 2026: November 4th 2026
    • 1st cut-off 2027: February 3rd 2027
    • 2nd cut-off 2027: April 1st 2027
    • 3rd cut-off 2027: September 1st 2027
    • 4th cut-off 2027: November 3rd 2027
  • Step 3
    • 1st cut-off 2025: June 2nd 2025
    • 2nd cut-off 2025: January 19th to 23rd 2026
    • 1st cut-off 2026: June 2026
    • 2nd cut-off 2026: October 19th to 22nd 2026
    • 3rd cut-off 2026: January 2027 (exact date TBD)

Deadlines / EIC Accelerator Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up Cut-Off Dates 2026 and 2027

  • EIC STEP Scale-up Call
    • 1st cut-off 2026: February 11th 2026
    • 2nd cut-off 2026: May 6th 2026
    • 3rd cut-off 2026: September 9th 2026
    • 4th cut-off 2026: November 25th 2026
    • 1st cut-off 2027: January 28th 2027
    • 2nd cut-off 2027: April 29th 2027
    • 3rd cut-off 2027: September 6th 2027
    • 4th cut-off 2027: November 22nd 2027
  • EIC STEP Scale Up Defence
    • 1st cut-off 2027: June 1st 2027

Deadlines / EIC Pre-Accelerator 2027

  • EIC Pre-Accelerator Widening via WIDERA
    • 1st cut-off 2027: November 18th 2027

Deadlines / EIC Transition Cut-Off Dates 2025, 2026 and 2027

  • EIC Transition Open
    • 1st cut-off 2025: September 17th 2025
    • 1st cut-off 2026: September 16th 2026
    • 1st cut-off 2027: September 16th 2027

Deadlines / EIC Pathfinder Cut-Off Dates 2025, 2026 and 2027

  • EIC Pathfinder Open
    • 1st cut-off 2025: May 21st 2025
    • 1st cut-off 2026: May 12th 2026
  • EIC Pathfinder Open
    • Stage 1 cut-off 2027: February 25th 2027
    • Stage 2 cut-off 2027: September 16th 2027
  • EIC Pathfinder Challenges
    • 2nd cut-off 2025: October 29th 2025
    • 2nd cut-off 2026: October 28th 2026
    • 2nd cut-off 2027: September 29th 2027

Deadlines / EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges 2026

  • EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges
    • Stage 1 cut-off 2026: February 26th 2026
    • Stage 2 cut-off 2027: June 18th 2027

EIC Work Programme

EIC Accelerator Challenges

  • EIC Accelerator Challenges 2026
    • Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage System
    • Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants
    • Biotech for Regenerating Agricultural Soils
    • Boosting the European Critical Raw Materials value chain
    • Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation
  • EIC Accelerator Challenges 2027 (draft)
    • Advanced in-situ Ocean Observation Technologies for Scalable, High-Resolution Marine Monitoring
    • Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
    • Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants
    • Carbon removal and circularity for climate change mitigation and EU industrial resilience

EIC Accelerator STEP Scale-Up Topics

  • EIC Accelerator STEP Scale-Up Topics
    • Digital technologies, and deep tech innovations
    • Clean and resource-efficient technologies, including net-zero technologies
    • Biotechnologies, including medicinal products on the Union's list of critical medicines and their components.

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges 2026

  • Accelerating Physical AI: Embodied Intelligence for the Next Frontier of AI-Powered Robotics
  • Translating Disruptive New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) into Practice

EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026

  • Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems
  • Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing
  • DeepRAP: Deep Reasoning, Abstraction & Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI Systems

EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2027 (draft)

  • Breakthroughs in Advanced Materials for Electricity Generation, Storage and Transmission
  • Safe and Controlled Continual Learning in Open World for Reliable AI Agents (CLOWAI)
  • Quantum Energetics

EIC Fund Guidelines (Equity)

EIC Accelerator and EIC STEP Scale-Up Call Page, Proposal Templates and Submission Links

EIC Accelerator Jury Members

List of Eligible EIC Accelerator Countries

  • All Eligible EIC Accelerator Countries
  • EU-27 Member States
    1. Austria
    2. Belgium
    3. Bulgaria
    4. Croatia
    5. Republic of Cyprus
    6. Czech Republic
    7. Denmark
    8. Estonia
    9. Finland
    10. France
    11. Germany
    12. Greece
    13. Hungary
    14. Ireland
    15. Italy
    16. Latvia
    17. Lithuania
    18. Luxembourg
    19. Malta
    20. Netherlands
    21. Poland
    22. Portugal
    23. Romania
    24. Slovakia
    25. Slovenia
    26. Spain
    27. Sweden
  • Association Agreements with Legal Effect
    1. Albania
    2. Armenia
    3. Bosnia and Herzegovina
    4. Faroe Islands
    5. Georgia
    6. Iceland
    7. Israel
    8. Kosovo
    9. Moldova
    10. Montenegro
    11. North Macedonia
    12. Norway
    13. Serbia
    14. Tunisia
    15. Turkey
    16. Ukraine
  • Transitional Association Arrangements
    1. Morocco
    2. United Kingdom (grant but no equity)
    3. Switzerland
  • Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) Linked to Member States
    1. Aruba (Netherlands)
    2. Bonaire (Netherlands)
    3. Curação (Netherlands)
    4. French Polynesia (France)
    5. French Southern and Antarctic Territories (France)
    6. Greenland (Denmark)
    7. New Caledonia (France)
    8. Saba (Netherlands)
    9. Saint Barthélemy (France)
    10. Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)
    11. Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
    12. St. Pierre and Miquelon (France)
    13. Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)

Widening Countries (EIC Pre-Accelerator Eligibility)

The less advanced countries in terms of R&I performance eligible under the Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area (WIDERA) programme:

  • EU Member States
    1. Bulgaria
    2. Croatia
    3. Cyprus
    4. Czechia
    5. Estonia
    6. Greece
    7. Hungary
    8. Latvia
    9. Lithuania
    10. Malta
    11. Poland
    12. Portugal
    13. Romania
    14. Slovakia
    15. Slovenia
  • Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance
    1. Albania
    2. Armenia
    3. Bosnia & Herzegovina
    4. Faroe Islands
    5. Georgia
    6. Kosovo
    7. Moldova
    8. Montenegro
    9. North Macedonia
    10. Serbia
    11. Tunisia
    12. Türkiye
    13. Ukraine
    14. Morocco (once associated)
  • Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU)

Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Status

  • SME definition
    • Staff headcount < 250
    • Turnover ≤ €50 million
    • Balance sheet total ≤ €43 million

This page contains all the relevant and up-to-date information about the EIC Accelerator. You can find the latest EIC Accelerator cut-off dates for the submission deadlines, the current EIC Accelerator submission links, information on EIC Accelerator templates, the EIC Accelerator Challenges, the EIC Accelerator Budget, the Eligible EIC Accelerator Countries and other general requirements here.

Eureka Network

Eureka Network offers multiple international collaborative R&D programs including Network Projects, Clusters, Eurostars, Globalstars, and Innowwide, with funding ranging from €50K to €6.75M per project depending on the specific program. The network focuses on market-driven innovation and deep-tech development across diverse technology sectors including ICT/Digital, Industrial/Manufacturing, Bio/Medical Technologies, Energy/Environment, Quantum, AI, and Circular Economy. Applicants include SMEs, large enterprises, research organizations, universities, and startups, with Eurostars specifically targeting R&D-performing SMEs.

EIC Transition

EIC Transition provides up to €2.5 million in funding to bridge the 'valley of death' between laboratory research and market deployment, focusing on technology maturation and validation. The program supports single legal entities or small consortia of 2-5 partners including SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs, and research organizations. Technology areas include Health/Medical Technologies, Green/Environmental Innovation, Digital/Microelectronics, Quantum Technologies, and AI/Robotics.

EIC STEP Scale-Up

EIC STEP Scale-Up offers substantial equity investments of €10-30 million for established deep-tech companies ready for hyper-growth and large-scale expansion. The program targets SMEs or small mid-caps with up to 499 employees who have secured pre-commitment from qualified investors. Focus areas include Digital & Deep Tech (Semiconductors, AI, Quantum), Clean Technologies for Net-Zero goals, and Biotechnologies.

EIC Pre-Accelerator

EIC Pre-Accelerator is a pilot program providing €300,000-€500,000 in funding for early-stage deep-tech development and preparation for the EIC Accelerator program. The initiative is exclusively available to single SMEs or small mid-caps from 'Widening countries' to support regional innovation development. The program covers deep-tech innovations across physical, biological, and digital domains.

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges is a new pilot program offering €300,000 (Stage 1) and up to €2.5 million (Stage 2) for breakthrough deep-tech solutions through ARPA-style staged funding with demand-side integration. The program targets single entities or small consortia (2-3 partners) including SMEs, start-ups, and research organizations. Focus areas include Physical AI for autonomous robotics and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for animal-free biomedical testing, requiring TRL 4 entry with end-user commitment.

EIC Pathfinder

EIC Pathfinder offers up to €3 million for Open calls and up to €4 million for Challenge-based calls to support early-stage research and development with proof-of-principle validation. The program requires research consortia with a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different countries, including universities, research organizations, and SMEs. Technology focus areas include Health/Medical, Quantum Technologies, AI, Environmental/Energy, and Advanced Materials.

EIC Accelerator

EIC Accelerator provides flexible funding options including blended finance (€2.5M grant + €0.5M-€10M equity), grant-only (up to €2.5M), or equity-only arrangements for scale-up and market deployment of breakthrough innovations. The program targets SMEs, start-ups, and small mid-caps with up to 499 employees, with MedTech/Healthcare representing 35% of funded projects. Other technology areas include Biopharma, Energy, AI, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials, and Semiconductors.

Innovation Partnership

Innovation Partnership facilitates collaborative innovation between public and private sectors with typical funding of €1-5 million per project. The program supports cross-sectoral strategic technologies through public-private partnerships and consortia. Projects focus on addressing societal challenges through collaborative innovation approaches.

Innovation Fund

The EU Innovation Fund provides substantial funding of €7.5 million to €300 million for large-scale demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The program targets clean energy, carbon capture, renewable energy, and energy storage technologies to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Applicants include large companies, consortia, and public entities capable of implementing large-scale demonstration projects.

Innovate UK

Innovate UK offers various programs with funding ranging from £25K to £10M depending on the specific initiative, supporting business-led innovation, collaborative R&D, and knowledge transfer. The organization funds projects across all sectors with particular focus on emerging technologies and supports UK-based businesses, research organizations, and universities. Programs are designed to drive economic growth through innovation and technology commercialization.

Industrial Partnership

Industrial Partnership provides €2-10 million in funding for industrial research and innovation partnerships focusing on manufacturing, industrial technologies, and digital transformation. The program supports industrial consortia and research organizations in developing collaborative solutions for industrial challenges. Projects aim to strengthen European industrial competitiveness through strategic partnerships.

Eurostars

Eurostars is a joint EU-Eureka program offering €50K-€500K for international R&D collaboration specifically led by SMEs. The program takes a bottom-up approach, accepting projects from all technology fields without predefined thematic restrictions. R&D-performing SMEs must lead the consortium and demonstrate significant R&D activities.

LIFE Programme

The LIFE Programme provides €1-10 million in funding for environmental protection, climate action, and nature conservation projects across the European Union. The program supports environmental technologies, climate adaptation strategies, and biodiversity conservation initiatives. Applicants include public authorities, private companies, NGOs, and research institutions working on environmental and climate challenges.

Neotec

Neotec is a Spanish program offering €250K-€1M in funding for technology-based business creation and development, supporting the growth of innovative Spanish SMEs and start-ups. The program covers all technology sectors and aims to strengthen Spain's technology ecosystem. Funding is specifically targeted at Spanish technology-based SMEs and start-ups to enhance their competitiveness and market presence.

Thematic Priorities

EU Thematic Priorities encompass various programs aligned with EU strategic priorities including green transition, digital transformation, health, and security initiatives. Funding amounts vary based on the specific program and call requirements, with projects designed to address key European challenges. Applicant eligibility varies by specific program and call, with different requirements for different thematic areas.
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