1. When can proposals be submitted?
The application process is open; short proposals can be submitted at any time in accordance with the EIC Work programme. Full proposals are prepared after an invitation following a successful short proposal. Full proposals can be submitted on certain cut-off dates. They will be reviewed after the respective cut-off day.
2. What are the deadlines for submitting full proposals?
3. Until when can full proposals be submitted?
Full proposals may be submitted electronically, without exception, before the deadline (usually 17:00 CET). Proposals can be edited until the respective deadline.
4. Are there thematic guidelines for the EIC Accelerator?
There is an open call for proposals ("EIC Accelerator Open") and thematic calls for proposals ("EIC Accelerator Challenges"), which are published in the annual EIC work programme. In both cases, however, the innovative solution must serve civil purposes.
5. Should I choose the open (EIC Accelerator Open) or the thematic (EIC Accelerator Challenge) call?
When submitting the full proposal, you must decide whether you want to choose the open or the challenge call. If your innovation fits into one of the challenge calls, you should choose the challenge. The jury panels and the pool of evaluators are made up according to the challenge. There is also a separate budget for each challenge.
6. What technical requirements must be met at the start of the project?
7. Which types of organisation are eligible to apply?
8. Can newly founded companies participate in the EIC Accelerator?
Yes, it is possible for start-ups to apply. The company should be established in a Member State or Associated country and have legal entity status at the latest at the time of submission of the full proposal.
9. At which stage do I have to choose the financing option?
When preparing the full proposal, you must choose one of the financing options. The information provided in step 1 is purely indicative and for statistical purposes.
10. Is it possible to apply with partners?
In principle, you can only apply for individual funding. However, it is possible for a company to apply for funding together with an affiliated company.
11. Can subcontractors be involved in the EIC Accelerator?
The participation of subcontractors is possible, provided it is well justified, for example if the applicant is dependent on external expertise for legal aspects. Subcontractors can be represented in more than one project. There is no upper limit for subcontracts in terms of the share of the budget. Subcontracts must appear plausible, the costs must be reasonable and their financing must be compatible with the creditworthiness and capacities of the applicant SME. Conflicts of interest must be ruled out and the selection of subcontractors with the best price/quality ratio must be ensured and demonstrated.
12. Can the subcontractor be determined in advance?
Yes, this is allowed as long as the costs are reasonable. Whether the costs are reasonable is at the discretion of the evaluators. If the evaluators accept the costs, they are deemed to be approved. If sub-contractors have not yet been identified, tenders must be obtained in accordance with normal company practice. The budget for this must also be reasonable.
13. Can I submit several applications at the same time?
No, only one application or project implementation is possible in the EIC Accelerator and/or EIC STEP Scale-up. Applications to other Horizon Europe instruments are possible in parallel as long as there is no double funding.
14. What is meant by coaching? How do I get a coach?
A coach is made available to applicants through Business Acceleration Services (BAS) to assist in the preparation of the full proposal. Up to three days can be booked. The coach can help you, for example, with the orientation of your commercialisation strategy, but not with the actual writing of the full proposal. The coach is registered in a database of the European Commission. Coaching is not compulsory.
15. Will all proposals that receive a favourable review be funded?
No. For the best proposals, the remote evaluation rounds of the short and full proposals are followed by a third round of personal interviews in Brussels. All companies that receive a "go" in this round of interviews will be funded.
16. Who is invited to a personal interview?
First, a technology expert carries out a comprehensive pre-evaluation of the full application. An evaluation committee then assesses and scores the application. All teams whose applications reach the required threshold score are included in a ranking. Depending on the available budget, teams are invited to an interview.
17. When will I know if I will be invited for an interview?
The result of the remote evaluation of the full proposal will be announced approximately 8-9 weeks after the cut-off date. You will receive feedback and at the same time find out whether you have been invited to an interview.
18. How does the interview work?
Up to three people (C-level) can represent the team at the interview. Consultants are excluded. The panel will normally consist of up to six experts, with a lead expert informing the others in advance. EIC Programme Managers and EIC Fund representatives may attend the interview but are not members of the jury and have no decision-making power. Detailed information on the specifics of the interview will be provided in the invitation. The NCP EIC Accelerator will provide interview training for invited teams.
19. How many projects will be funded after the interview?
The number of funded projects depends on the available budget per cut-off date.
20. Where can I find the dates of the interview weeks?
21. Is it possible to resubmit rejected proposals?
Yes, each team has three attempts to submit a proposal, regardless of the application step (short proposal, full proposal or interview). If all three attempts fail, the company will be blocked until the end of Horizon Europe.
22. When will applicants be informed of the funding decision and when can a project start at the earliest?
The funding decision will be communicated 2-3 weeks after the interviews after the cut-off. Contract negotiations for the grant and investment components will then start in parallel. The project will start as soon as the grant agreement has been signed - this should normally be 7 months after the cut-off date. Negotiations for the investment component are individual, so no general statement can be made here about the time to completion.
23. What is blended finance?
In blended finance, the grant component is combined with an investment component from the EIC Fund, generally up to EUR 10 million, for close-to-market activities (from Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL9)) but also for lower TRL activities. It is important to note that a 50% co-investment is generally required for the investment component.
24. What is the minimum / maximum amount of funding that can be requested for the Accelerator?
Up to €2.5 million can be applied for. The funding rate is 70%. This means that companies must provide 30% of the total amount from their own resources. The amount of the investment depends on the activity and the financial needs of the company and can range from EUR 1 million to EUR 10 million.
25. What is the funding rate?
The funding rate for the non-repayable grant is 70% of eligible direct costs and a flat rate of 25% for indirect costs. This means that up to 87.5 cents of funding is available for every euro of eligible expenditure.
26. Which costs are eligible for reimbursement for Accelerator projects?
The reimbursement of costs in the EIC Accelerator for projects from the Work Programme 2024 onwards is based on the so-called "lump sum grant" model with flat-rate grant amounts. In accordance with the Horizon Europe Rules of Participation, direct costs are eligible for reimbursement. Direct costs include personnel costs, travel expenses and costs for other goods and consumables. In addition, a flat rate of 25% will be added to the direct costs to cover indirect costs. Subcontracting and other costs (e.g. resources purchased from third parties) are also reimbursed at 70%, but the 25% flat rate for indirect costs does not apply. Details can be found here.
27. Is it possible to finance the 30% own contribution via the investment component?
The applying company must raise its own contribution of up to 30% of the total costs from its turnover or other financial sources, e.g. equity capital, private investments. From 2024, the application must explain in more detail that the 30% can be raised from own funds (not EIC Fund Investment). Double funding with EU grants is excluded. Complementary national or regional funding is permitted.
28. Are marketing costs eligible for funding?
Costs for communication with potential investors or customers and for dissemination of results are only eligible if these activities are necessary for the realisation of the project. This does not apply to activities aimed purely at commercialising the products, but these activities may be financed by the investment component of the EIC Fund. For reasons of distortion of competition, the EU cannot fund marketing activities through grants. You should therefore use alternative wording in your application and describe in detail what you plan to do to prepare for the market launch. We will be happy to advise you on possible wording.
29. How will the funds be disbursed?
The sum of the pre-financing and the interim payments of the grant component amounts to a maximum of 90% of the total grant. Interim payments will be made within 90 days of receipt of interim reports. The amount of pre-financing and interim payments, as well as the frequency of interim payments, will depend on the economic situation of the SME and will be specified in the Grant Agreement. In the case of blended finance, the investment component is disbursed according to a pre-negotiated individual financing plan.
30. What are the reporting obligations?
Interim reports must be submitted on a regular basis. The reporting period is usually one year. In the case of blended finance, separate rules apply to the grant and investment components. In this case, the nature and frequency of reporting on the investment is negotiated individually between the SME and the EIC fund and other VCs.
31. What is the Business Acceleration Service (BAS) and what support does it provide?
The BAS is open to teams that are or have been involved in an ongoing or recently completed project or holders of a "Seal of Excellence (SoE). The BAS offers support measures to facilitate market entry. The measures include a range of free services in the form of training, contacts with investors, networking with other SMEs or larger companies.
32. What is the difference between the EIC Accelerator and Eurostars?
Unlike the EIC Accelerator, Eurostars is primarily aimed at innovative SMEs developing a product, process or service in international project collaborations with at least two partners from two different countries. Research institutes or large companies can also participate as partners. In Germany, however, research institutes only receive funding if a German SME is involved; large companies do not receive funding in Germany. While the EIC Accelerator focuses on innovation (up to market readiness - Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL 9)), Eurostars focuses on experimental development (up to completion of demonstrator development - TRL 6). The Eurostars funding programme is based on a joint initiative of EUREKA and the European Commission and is therefore funded at national level. For applicants from Germany, the general Eurostars conditions for participation are supplemented by the funding regulations of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
What is Horizon Europe?
"Horizon Europe” is the European Union's funding programme for research and innovation for 2021 to 2027. The programme aims to better align the EU's research and innovation activities with the needs of society and citizens and to increase the effectiveness of funding.
Horizon Europe defines five areas for the implementation of so-called missions:
climate change adaptation including societal transformation, cancer, climate-neutral and smart cities, healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters, and soil health and nutrition.
"Horizon Europe” has a budget of around €95.5 billion (current prices) for the period 2021 to 2027. This includes €5.4 billion (current prices) from "NextGenerationEU" to support the recovery and make the EU more resilient for the future, as well as an additional increase of €4.5 billion (current prices).
"Horizon Europe” is also implemented through the European Defence Fund and complemented by the Euratom Research and Training Programme.
"Horizon Europe" is divided into three pillars, with Pillar 3, "Innovative Europe", focusing entirely on stimulating and supporting market-creating, breakthrough innovations. This pillar consists of three components: the European Innovation Council (EIC), the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
The EIC focuses on supporting breakthrough innovations that are too risky for private investors, either through "Pathfinder" grants (for early-stage technologies), "Transition" or "Accelerator" funding (for pre-commercial work). The EIE will focus on developing networks for interaction between innovators. The EIT will complement the EIC by bringing together key players from research, education and business around a common goal.
What is the European Innovation Council?
The EIC is a one-stop-shop for innovators, providing support from idea to market. The EIC covers the two most important phases of the innovation process: basic research and the commercialisation and scale-up phase. The EIC was launched on 18 March 2021 as part of the EU's new research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. With a budget of over €10 billion, the European Innovation Council is the most ambitious innovation programme ever launched in Europe, according to the EU Commission. The EIC is unique in the world in combining a high-tech programme with an "accelerator programme" for start-ups. The advanced technology programme leverages the experience of US agencies such as DARPA and ARPA E and supports breakthrough technologies with civilian applications. To cover all phases of the innovation process, the EIC consists of three funding instruments: EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator.
- The EIC Pathfinder targets high-risk, cutting-edge research projects that break new ground and aim to develop radical and innovative technologies.
- The EIC Transition finances innovation activities that go beyond experimental proof of principle in the laboratory. It supports both the maturation and validation of novel technologies in the laboratory and in relevant application environments (through the use of prototypes, formulations, models, user tests or other validation tests) and the development of a business case / business model with a view to the future commercialisation of the innovation.
- The EIC Accelerator aims to create and foster co-investment by initiating support where the market does not or only insufficiently respond. It includes an optional blended finance component (combination of grant and equity from the EIC Fund). The EIC Accelerator is aimed at SMEs with a radically new, high-risk and therefore unbankable idea that is underpinned by a business plan for the introduction of marketable innovation solutions and with the potential to scale up.
In addition, the EIC Business Accelerator Service (BAS) offers mentoring, events with investors and companies, and partnership opportunities for all companies. BAS are tailored services for members of the EIC community aimed at commercialising EIC innovations and scaling EIC companies through access to: coaches, mentors, expertise and training, global partners (leading companies, investors, intermediaries, distributors, customers) and the innovation ecosystem and peers. In 2018, the European Commission launched the "European Innovation Council Pilot" (EIC) as a "flagship" under Horizon 2020.
