European Innovation Council

EIC Accelerator is one of the tools of the European Council for Innovation, which for the seven-year 2021-2027 can count on a budget of 10 billion euros to be used on Horizon Europe.

Features


Fundable projects

  • ​​​​Innovative projects in all technological sectors and application fields;
  • Innovations must be based on scientific or technological discoveries (deep tech) which have difficulty in attracting investments;
  • Projects that require large and risky long-term funding before they can generate returns.


Beneficiaries

  • A single SME or startup based in the Member States or associated countries;
  • A small mid-cap (up to 500 employees) based in the Member States or associated countries, for rapid scale-up of the project and only for the investment component;
  • One or more natural persons (including individual entrepreneurs) or legal entities intending to create or invest in an SME or a small mid-cap established in the Member States or associated countries. Individuals from non-associated third countries who intend to found an SME / startup or relocate an existing one in a Member State or country can also participate.


Financing provided

Mixed financing scheme, with two components:

1.

The grant component with a contribution of up to 70% of eligible costs, for a maximum of € 2.5 million. The remaining 30% of the project costs, the costs for the introduction on the market of the product / service and the scale-up operations, will not be reimbursed by the grant component but can be financed through the investment component;

2.

The investment component is in the form of equity or quasi-equity (between 500 thousand and 15 million euros). This component is implemented through an investment fund, the EIC Fund whose objective is to attract co-investors and private investments.


Timing for project proposals

Two-step procedure:

  1. Short applications: it is always open, so project proposals can be submitted at any time through the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal, which will direct participants to the EIC artificial intelligence platform. The project proposals that pass the first phase, on the other hand, can access the second step;

  2. Full applications: in this second phase it will be possible to submit the complete proposal within the following 12 months, within the foreseen intermediate deadlines.

For 2021 there are two cut off dates:

  • 9 June 2021 (17.00 CET)
  • 6 October 2021 (17.00 CET).