Newsletter of the National Contact
Point EIC Accelerator for the EU-programme Horizon Europe (NKS EIC
Accelerator) Nr. 10 / 2025
Latest news
High demand for last EIC Accelerator cut-off
in 2025
By the cut-off on October 1, 2025, the EIC has received
923 full applications for the EIC Accelerator. The applicant companies
came from 32 countries, with the majority of applications originating from
Germany, Spain and France. The best-ranked companies will be invited to
pitch to a jury of investors and business experts between 19 and 23
January 2026. The final decision on which companies will receive funding
is expected at the end of February 2026.
Good to know
No submission of short proposals from October 28 to
November 5, 2025
Short proposals for the EIC Accelerator cannot be submitted
from October 28 to November 5. The 2026 call for proposals is expected to
open on November 6 when a new, slightly modified application template will
be available.
Dates
Webinar: “The EIC in Horizon Europe – Overview
& Innovations including EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges”
November 5, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (in German)
The NRW.Europa team and the National Contact Points EIC
(DLR Projektträger) invite you to a webinar presenting the current funding
opportunities offered by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as part of
the 2026 work program – with a special focus on the new EIC Advanced
Innovation Challenges.
The webinar is aimed at people interested in starting a
business, start-ups, CEOs, CTOs, R&D managers, and technical
executives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in
innovative industries, as well as universities and research institutions
in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Webinar: The EIC Accelerator – Insights into
the 2026 Work Program (in German language)
November 6, 2025, at 12 p.m
The EEN in Hesse and the NCP EIC Accelerator will present
the new features of the program and provide an outlook on the EIC Work
Program 2026: new challenges, available budget, and upcoming deadlines.
The new EU program EIC STEP Scale-up will also be presented, through which
the European Union is providing co-investments in the double-digit
millions for the scaling of groundbreaking innovations.
Webinar: Funding Booster: Innovative Ideas –
powered by EIC Accelerator and EIC STEP Scale-up (in German
language)
November 12, 2025, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
The EIC offers support across the entire innovation
spectrum – from research to market scaling. Its funding instruments
support companies with groundbreaking and forward-looking deep tech
innovations in a wide range of fields. Together with the National Contact
Point EIC Accelerator, the European Digital Innovation Hub Saarland and
the Enterprise Europe Network Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar present the EIC
Accelerator and EIC STEP Scale-up and show how innovative ideas can be
supported – whether in the form of funding or investment.
Online Info Day - EIC Work Programme
2026
November 13, 2025, 09:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) will present the new
Work Programme 2026 during an online Info Day on November 13, 2025,
showcasing upcoming funding opportunities and achievements from previous
work programmes.
Mittelstand-Digital Congress on 13 November
2025 in Berlin (in German)
November 13, 2025 in Berlin
The congress for SMEs is dedicated to key issues relating
to AI and cyber security. The congress aims to inform SMEs from all
sectors about AI and cybersecurity and support them in putting their
knowledge into practice.
Online seminar “The EIC Accelerator in EIC Work Programm
2026” (in German language)
November 21, 2025, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
The NCP EIC Accelerator will present the EIC Work
Programme 2026 in an online seminar on November 21, 2025 from 10:00-11:00
am. The focus of the seminar is on the updates that are expected for the
EIC Accelerator in 2026. Participation is open to all Deep Tech SMEs and
start-ups that are interested in the programme, are currently applying to
the EIC Accelerator or are planning to apply. Consultancies are excluded
from participation. Participation is free of charge.
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