
EIC Accelerator: Reimbursements, Briefings and Programme Managers (Recommendation Series)
The EIC Accelerator funding (grant and equity, with blended financing option) by the European Commission (EC) and European Innovation Council (EIC) awards up to €2.5 million in grant and €10 million in equity financing per project (€12.5 million total) and is designed for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME), often supported by professional writers, freelancers or consultants.
This article is part of a series that contains suggestions for the EIC and the EIC Board regarding various improvements to the evaluation process (see ChatEIC).
Interview Reimbursements
Applicants should be reimbursed for their travel expenses again if they are invited to Brussels. Germany, France, and central Europe in general are already dominating the EIC Accelerator winners lists, but they also have an unfair proximity advantage. Israel, Ukraine, Iceland, and many other deserving countries are simply very far away from Brussels.
The best way to accomplish this without using more funding is to make the Step 2 business coaching optional. Companies should be able to choose between getting a Step 2 coach or, if they are invited to the interview, getting the travel reimbursement.
Since the Step 2 business coaches are generally not EIC Accelerator writers and have usually not successfully written a proposal, they cannot adequately help with the writing process. This would be a very simple change to help make the application process fairer.
Any company that does not pick a business coach should have travel reimbursement by default. If they select a coach, they are notified that they will not be reimbursed for their travel in case they are invited to the interview.
Many companies in widening countries would likely prefer the travel reimbursements as will every company that is already working with a professional grant writer or consultant.
Programme Managers (PM)
Programme Managers who are thematic advocates for certain technologies as part of the EIC should be given a clear role if they participate in the interviews of EIC Accelerator challenges. They are neither Jury members nor EIB representatives or facilitators. They have to have a separate role that fits their capacity as technical experts.
First and foremost, there should be a rule of neutrality for PMs. They should not be allowed to undermine the applicants with their own bias, which, from experience, does happen on occasion.
One example of a clear role for the PM could be to give technical expertise to the Jury and contextualize information, but only if requested by the Jury. They are also able to interject if the interviewee made a factual mistake or misrepresents the science or technology.
The jury should be encouraged to involve the PM in their probing by asking them for clarification, if necessary. The PMs can act as technical advisors to the jury, but they are told to remain neutral and in service of the Jury.
An interview in which the PM remains silent is a good interview since they did not need to interject to correct false information, and the Jury did not need their clarifications since the interviewee explained everything well.
The same rule of neutrality should apply to EIC facilitators. They should likewise not undermine the applicants, which does happen as well on occasion.
Jury Briefing
The concept of having one Jury member brief the rest is good, but can be flawed if the briefing is insufficient. A simple workaround is to just feed the proposal into an LLM (EU-based, local) and give the Jury members access to summaries and a chat interface.
The Jury should be told that this chat interface is a tool for asking better questions. They can even ask the AI to generate good probing questions for them. Since the interviewee will always get the chance to answer, they will always be able to respond accurately, even if the AI makes a mistake.
Based on experience from being interviewed and interviewing, it is often not about the starting questions but about the discussions and follow-ups. An AI interface will create diverse starting questions that could potentially lead to the core of the company/technology faster, and can be a tool for the Jury to prepare more thoroughly.
Evaluator Focus
There needs to be a shift from how Steps 1 and 2 are graded by evaluators, since they often assess Projects while the Jury assesses Companies. A project can sound great and make sense, but the company behind it could be poor.
If Steps 1 and 2 are graded like essays, there will always be a way to game the evaluation. The evaluator should be a scout for the best companies and not akin to a teacher grading an essay (i.e., “you have forgotten to tell me which TRL this is, so you are rejected”).
In theory, the most amazing company that submits a poor proposal should still succeed in the EIC Accelerator because there should be sufficient facts to prove excellence. At least, this company should always make it to the interviews, even if their proposal writing skills are amateurish, since a good scout should recognize a diamond in the rough.
From experience, Juries prefer companies that have a strong corporate identity (i.e. nice slides, company branding, social presence), are focused on one thing (i.e. have a single technology with offices and employees at the same location), have a clear IP and technology origin story that shows their long-term dedication and are playing the VC game (i.e. active funding plans, engaging VCs).
Evaluators in Steps 1 and 2 almost always miss all of the quality markers above. They do not view a team that works remotely in different locations or has a US CEO as strange. They also do not assess the presentation from a funding perspective (i.e., pitch deck quality) because they are busy grading an essay (i.e., ESR checklist). When it comes to VC, the evaluators might not focus enough on the type of funding since Grantrepreneurs often slip through the cracks (i.e., companies that pivot from grant project to grant project with little to no private funding).
This is a difficult thing to integrate, but it could improve the switch from Step 2 to Step 3 by adding a Step 3 focus to the earlier stages. For that, the Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) criteria must be adjusted, and Step 2 evaluators must be briefed with a Jury focus.
Equity Expenditure
The equity expenditure should not be scrutinised on a cost-by-cost basis (i.e., CAPEX). In the end, the EIC will be a minor co-investor (i.e., crowd-in factor of 3-4), and the investment will be 12+ months from the interview date.
During this time, much will have changed, and any plan presented in the proposal will likely have evaporated already. Since the due diligence is conducted by the lead investor, the EIC should trust the EIB and the lead to make the right decisions when the time comes.
These tips are not only useful for European startups, professional writers, consultants and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) but are generally recommended when writing a business plan or investor documents.
Deadlines: Post-Horizon 2020, the EIC Accelerator accepts Step 1 submissions now while the deadlines for the full applications (Step 2) under Horizon Europe are listed below. The Step 1 applications must be submitted weeks in advance of Step 2. The next EIC Accelerator cut-off for Step 2 (full proposal) can be found here. After Brexit, UK companies can still apply to the EIC Accelerator under Horizon Europe albeit with non-dilutive grant applications only - thereby excluding equity-financing. Switzerland has resumed its participation in Horizon Europe and is now eligible for the EIC Accelerator.
EIC Accelerator Step 1 Deadline 2025
Contact: You can reach out to us via this contact form to work with a professional consultant.
AI Grant Writer: ChatEIC is a fully automated EIC Accelerator grant proposal writer: Get it here.
Eureka Network: The Eureka Network delivers various international collaborative R&D initiatives such as Network Projects, Clusters, Eurostars, Globalstars, and Innowwide, providing funding from €50K to €6.75M per project based on the specific initiative. This network emphasizes market-driven innovation and deep-tech advancement across multiple technology sectors including ICT/Digital, Industrial/Manufacturing, Bio/Medical Technologies, Energy/Environment, Quantum, AI, and Circular Economy. Eligible participants include SMEs, large enterprises, research organizations, universities, and startups, with Eurostars particularly focused on R&D-performing SMEs. Get Started
EIC Transition: EIC Transition delivers up to €2.5 million in funding to overcome the 'valley of death' gap between laboratory research and market deployment, emphasizing technology maturation and validation. The initiative supports single legal entities or small consortia of 2-5 partners including SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs, and research organizations. Key technology domains include Health/Medical Technologies, Green/Environmental Innovation, Digital/Microelectronics, Quantum Technologies, and AI/Robotics. Get Started
EIC STEP Scale-Up: EIC STEP Scale-Up delivers significant equity investments of €10-30 million for established deep-tech companies prepared for hyper-growth and large-scale expansion. The initiative targets SMEs or small mid-caps with up to 499 employees who have obtained pre-commitment from qualified investors. Primary focus areas include Digital & Deep Tech (Semiconductors, AI, Quantum), Clean Technologies for Net-Zero objectives, and Biotechnologies. Get Started
EIC Pre-Accelerator: EIC Pre-Accelerator represents a 2025 pilot initiative delivering €300,000-€500,000 in funding for early-stage deep-tech development and preparation for the EIC Accelerator program. This program is exclusively accessible to single SMEs or small mid-caps from 'Widening countries' to foster regional innovation development. The initiative encompasses deep-tech innovations across physical, biological, and digital domains. Get Started
EIC Pathfinder: EIC Pathfinder delivers 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 initiative requires research consortia with a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different countries, including universities, research organizations, and SMEs. Primary technology focus areas include Health/Medical, Quantum Technologies, AI, Environmental/Energy, and Advanced Materials. Get Started
EIC Accelerator: EIC Accelerator delivers 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 initiative targets SMEs, start-ups, and small mid-caps with up to 499 employees, with MedTech/Healthcare representing 35% of funded projects. Additional technology areas include Biopharma, Energy, AI, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials, and Semiconductors. Get Started
Innovation Partnership: Innovation Partnership enables collaborative innovation between public and private sectors with typical funding of €1-5 million per project. The initiative supports cross-sectoral strategic technologies through public-private partnerships and consortia. Projects concentrate on addressing societal challenges through collaborative innovation approaches. Get Started
Innovation Fund: The EU Innovation Fund delivers substantial funding of €7.5 million to €300 million for large-scale demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The initiative targets clean energy, carbon capture, renewable energy, and energy storage technologies to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Eligible participants include large companies, consortia, and public entities capable of implementing large-scale demonstration projects. Get Started
Innovate UK: Innovate UK delivers 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 emphasis on emerging technologies and supports UK-based businesses, research organizations, and universities. Programs are designed to drive economic growth through innovation and technology commercialization. Get Started
Industrial Partnership: Industrial Partnership delivers €2-10 million in funding for industrial research and innovation partnerships focusing on manufacturing, industrial technologies, and digital transformation. The initiative supports industrial consortia and research organizations in developing collaborative solutions for industrial challenges. Projects aim to strengthen European industrial competitiveness through strategic partnerships. Get Started
Eurostars: Eurostars represents a joint EU-Eureka initiative delivering €50K-€500K for international R&D collaboration specifically led by SMEs. The program adopts 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. Get Started
LIFE Programme: The LIFE Programme delivers €1-10 million in funding for environmental protection, climate action, and nature conservation projects across the European Union. The initiative supports environmental technologies, climate adaptation strategies, and biodiversity conservation initiatives. Eligible participants include public authorities, private companies, NGOs, and research institutions working on environmental and climate challenges. Get Started
Neotec: Neotec represents a Spanish initiative delivering €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. Get Started
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. Get Started
Any more questions? View the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.
Want to see all articles? They can be found here.
For Updates: Join this Newsletter!