How the Future of the EIC Accelerator Could Look Like (SME Instrument) – Part 2 Posted on December 24, 2020December 18, 2020 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. This article is a continuation of Part 1 and presents a collection of areas that the EIC Accelerator might evolve towards in the future. The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) is a constantly evolving and growing funding arm of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Commission (EC). It aims to support startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) who are working on innovative technologies through extensive financial support of up to €17.5M and coaching support to simplify business development and scaling efforts (read: Introduction). While this article presents an exploration, it is also useful for both professional writers or consultants to stay up to date on new developments relating to the official proposal template, new funding decisions by the European Union (EU) and related developments (read: Finding Updates). 3. Adjusting the Evaluation Criteria Government funds will always have to adhere to politics, directives and bureaucracy which is the reason why EIC Accelerator evaluations are slightly easier for projects that have a focus on societal challenges, female CEO’s or a broader EU impact (read: Visual EIC Accelerator Narrative). While this is clearly valuable for politicians, it does obscure the focus that should be on innovation, business models and, ultimately, financial success. If the EIC wants to fund projects that support the environment then this should simply receive a dedicated call (read: Green Deal Call) and if it wants to fund more female CEO’s then this can also receive its own call instead of retrospectively adjusting the established ranking order based on gender (read: Why It’s Great to be a Female Entrepreneur in the EU). Creating a women-only call under the EIC Accelerator (i.e. “EIC Accelerator Female Founders Call”) is entirely feasible and it would create a better perception of the evaluation since each applicant under a specific call will be evaluated based on the same criteria. 4. Simplifying the Bureaucracy The sections for the costs, implementation, resources and KPI’s are important for tracking and budget allocation but their assessment could be streamlined more. If cost items, subcontractors and budget allocations per month were directly entered into the browser’s form fields, they could be assessed quickly by algorithms and could be tracked much more efficiently if the project is funded. This will also remove the need for evaluators to re-calculate all the given metrics of an application (i.e. if the resources fit to the workpackages or the hiring to the payroll) Just like it is already done on EU-platforms like Eurostat, the financial projections, costs and workpackages could be visualised with charts automatically so that the applications themselves become much leaner and especially the implementation section can focus on tasks, risks and team members rather than financials. In the same vein, the Impact section can focus on the users, commercial strategy and the market instead of detailing the financial projections. Summary Separating Grant & Equity: Allowing direct equity applications with an open budget through a pool of private investors Becoming a VC-Hub: Creating an online environment where past applicants can participate in pitch sessions outside of the normal process Adjusting the Evaluation Criteria: Establish fair evaluation criteria without exceptions and use separate calls to enforce political targets (i.e. Green Deal) Simplifying the Bureaucracy: Make more use of the online form fields to auto-generate and check financial information This article was last modified on Dec 18, 2020 @ 14:00 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 Step 2 (closing 17:00 Brussels Time) 1st cut-off 2025: - 2nd cut-off 2025: March 12th 2025 3rd cut-off 2025: - 4th cut-off 2025: October 1st 2025 Step 3 1st cut-off 2025: - 2nd cut-off 2025: TBD 3rd cut-off 2025: - 4th 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. Want to see all articles? They can be found here. For Updates: Join this Newsletter! by Stephan Segler, PhDProfessional 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) EIC Accelerator Horizon Europe Phase 2 SME Instrument / EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator equityEIC Accelerator financingEIC Accelerator grantEIC accelerator green dealEIC Accelerator hiringEIC Accelerator successEIC Accelerator templateEIC Accelerator womenInvestorsSME Instrument Phase 2TimelineWriting Tips
Horizon 2020 What Types of Companies Have Received Funding? Posted on March 19, 2019March 18, 2020 In 2018, the EC has published an annual report which contained some helpful statistics. It actually answers quite a few questions that I frequently receive from companies, so here are the bullet points: Of all funded companies, 84% (Phase 2) and 95% (Phase 1) applied as single entities Most… Read More
EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator: New Proposal Template from March 20th (2020) Posted on March 26, 2020October 14, 2020 The new proposal template for the EIC Accelerators Green Deal deadline on May 19th has recently been released and this article summarises the major changes. New Form Fields: The first change is found in the application forms under “Call Specific Questions” where it is now required to provide the gender of… Read More
EIC Accelerator Document Formatting Tips for the EIC Accelerator Grant pt.2 (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on June 11, 2020October 9, 2020 For part 1 of the EIC Accelerator grant formatting tips, please read this article. Hyper-links, cross-references and bookmarks It is recommended for a professional writer or consultant to use hyperlinks (i.e. for footnotes and for in-text references such as company names), cross-references (i.e. to sections in the same document) and… Read More