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).

DeepTech Definition

A good definition for DeepTech should allow applicants to self-filter and clearly communicate what the EIC is looking for:

• DeepTech must be all of the below (condition: AND)

• • A technology not prevalent in the market yet, and with only very few direct competitors
  • A technology base requiring deep domain expertise, often through PhDs, scientists, engineers, or similar
  • A technology with a large-scale impact that is not limited to a small market niche and that can become the gold standard in its industry worldwide
  • A level of market urgency that justifies the investment happening now
  • A clear moat that protects the business from emerging/incumbent competitors, such as patents, assets, or know-how
  • High capital requirements for product developments that are impossible to bootstrap

• DeepTech can be either of the below, but at least one (condition: OR)

• • Based on scientific discoveries in a field
  • Technological advancement that required interdisciplinary expertise across domains (i.e., a combination of scientific fields, engineering/software, etc.)
  • Based on deep domain expertise in IT, hardware, or other areas
  • Software (including IoT) is expected to have a complex backend that is based on new breakthroughs, scientific discoveries (i.e., AI, computer science, mathematics), or otherwise sophisticated technology components not currently or commonly found in the market

• DeepTech is none of the below (condition: IS NOT)

• • An innovative smartphone App, WebApp, or SaaS product with a simple backend and many similar competitors
  • A small business that is not designed to scale (i.e., a restaurant, farm, taxi/transport service, etc.)
  • A copycat product for existing technologies (i.e., telematics, e-hailing, hardware retrofitting, manufacturing, etc.)
  • An AI-wrapper that uses external LLM to generate value without providing significant breakthroughs or leveraging deep industry expertise (AI-wrapper = building SaaS on top of existing AIs, often via Anthropic/OpenAI)
  • A product that is already on the market but lacks customer interest, even if it has a scientific or technical base (i.e., trying to add features to make it more attractive)
  • Business model innovations that have no unique technology components

Applicants should use all three lists to assess themselves. For the first list, they should fit all criteria. For the second list, they should fit at least one criterion. For the third list, they must not fit into any criteria.

This definition is quite strict and might not cover all of the 700+ EIC Accelerator winners funded by the EIC since 2021.

Step 0: A Short Screener

When starting the Step 1 application, a simple questionnaire (checkboxes) should pop up that screens the general company profile. The EIC Accelerator Quiz also uses probing questions about the company based on the Jury interview experience and aims to filter them early on before even assessing the technology.

The questionnaire should not be an evaluation (i.e., no human evaluators) but should just follow a simple logic that gives a binary score:

• YES: Simply allow the applicant to start Step 1
• NO: “We have found some issues with your answers and do not think that you should apply for the EIC Accelerator. The issues we have identified are:” (list the points)

Applicants can choose to change their answers and apply anyway, but they would either have to lie or change their company to do so.

Here is a suggestion for the criteria where applicants can select either only one or multiple options, depending on the logic:

• Ownership held by the team actively working in the company (excluding outside investors, inactive employees, and hands-off shareholders)
  • You have raised €700,000 to €1.5 million, and your team holds at least 60% of the company equity
  • You have raised €1.5 million to €5 million, and your team holds at least 45% of the company equity
  • You have raised €5 million to €20 million, and your team holds at least 30% of the company equity
  • We have not raised that much
  • Our team holds less ownership than given
• Describe your current and past fundraising efforts. Investors can be: Venture Capital (VC), family offices, angel investors, industry venture arms, investment banks, private companies
  • We have not raised any funding
  • We have previously raised funding from investor types listed above
  • We have previously raised funding through government grants
  • We have previously raised funding through crowdfunding
  • We have previously raised funding through founder capital or friends and family
  • We are actively engaging investors (especially VC) now to raise funding in the near future
• Your company is registered in the EU or an associated country, and there is no holding company outside of the eligible territories
  • No, we have a holding company outside the EU or associated countries
  • Yes, there is no holding company outside the EU or associated countries
• You do not license your technology from another entity, but own all of your IP
  • Yes, we own all of our IP
  • No, we are licensing a core technology from another entity

The EIC can likewise use this form to define the minimum investment raised by applicants (i.e., €700,000 in this case). It can also filter out the companies that apply for grants because they do not want to engage VCs, which happens quite often.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)

TRLs are extremely subjective. The evaluators might consider the level to be 6, while the jury considers it to be 4. A failsafe way of assessing TRL6 is usually the validation of a prototype or component that contains the key innovation by a customer, end-user, or in an industrial setting (i.e., commercial testing facility, etc.). TRLs could be retained, but with clearer definitions that reflect what Jury members and evaluators care most about:

• Normal Starting Point (TRL6): Has a prototype or prototype component been tested by a customer, end-user, or in an industrial setting?
  • Pharma (TRL5): Has the device/drug been preliminarily tested for efficacy/safety in animals, humans, or qualified simulations?
• Normal Grant End (TRL8): All developments to create the final product are completed (R&D, pilots, demonstrators).
  • Pharma Grant End (TRL6-7): Made a meaningful advance towards human testing/validation (Phase 1 started or completed).
• Normal Equity End (TRL9): Scaling completed (production, manufacturing, deployment, distribution).
  •  Pharma Equity End (TRL7-8): Continued progress through Phases with a clear plan for commercialisation (Phase 2 started or completed)

Pharmaceuticals generally do not fit the TRL requirements if a funding ceiling of €2.5 million / €10 million is considered. The EIC has been careful not to publish TRLs for pharma and MedTech, but sometimes refers to other institutions that have. The general problem with pharma is that costs rise exponentially with every TRL, which does not fit the EIC Accelerator budget.

A solution could be to simply add a footnote for pharma companies that need extensive clinical trials in humans, allowing them to start earlier (TRL5) and finish earlier (TRL7-8) without requiring them to be ready to sell after a €2.5 million grant and one equity round.

This article was last modified on May 4, 2025 @ 09:22

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:

• 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)
  • 1^st cut-off 2025: -
  • 2^nd cut-off 2025: March 12^th 2025
  • 3^rd cut-off 2025: -
  • 4^th cut-off 2025: October 1^st 2025
• Step 3
  • 1^st cut-off 2025: -
  • 2^nd cut-off 2025: TBD
  • 3^rd cut-off 2025: -
  • 4^th cut-off 2025: TBD

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.

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.

EU, UK & US Startups: Alternative financing options for EU, UK and US innovation startups are the EIC Pathfinder (combining Future and Emerging Technologies - FET Open & FET Proactive) with €4M per project, Thematic Priorities, European Innovation Partnerships (EIP), Innovate UK with £3M (for UK-companies only) as well as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants with $1M (for US-companies only).

Any more questions? View the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.

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by Stephan Segler, PhD
Professional Grant Consultant at Segler Consulting

General information on the EIC Accelerator template, professional grant writing and how to prepare a successful application can be found in the following articles:

A Quick FTO Guide for EIC Accelerator Applicants in a Rush

2023 Budget Allocations for EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator

Developing the Unique Selling Points (USP) for the EIC Accelerator

Explaining the Resubmission Process for the EIC Accelerator

A Short but Comprehensive Explanation of the EIC Accelerator

EIC Accelerator Success Cases

Deciding Between EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator

A Winning Candidate for the EIC Accelerator

EIC Accelerator Interview Preparation Process: Scripting the Pitch (Part 1)