How to Select an EU Grant Financing Program such as the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument) – Part 1 Posted on December 26, 2020December 20, 2020 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) program is an interesting opportunity for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) but it might not be suitable for all applicants (read: Introduction). There are a variety of considerations to be made in advance which can help companies to make an informed decision and assess if the EIC Accelerator is the correct funding project to choose or if alternatives such as FET Open, Pathfinder, the Green Deal Call or similar opportunities are more suitable. The European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Commission (EC) provide a variety of funding arms to support SME’s while the official Funding & Tenders Portal gives information and guidance on the details of such programs. A professional writer or consultant can support companies in investigating the suitability of a project for grant funding but startups can often initiate such an assessment themselves. The following list presents a few select criteria to assess a suitable funding opportunity since a successful application can only be prepared once the right conditions are met. 1. Budget What is the total budget available and how much can be requested per applicant? Prior to selecting a grant opportunity, the exact amount of available financing and the expected budget per project should be assessed since seed-stage companies might not warrant large financing rounds while scale-ups could have long exceeded smaller grants. Total budgets and request-amounts are often published in Work Programs or directly on the call page on the Funding & Tenders portal. The EIC Accelerator provides a budget of approximately €100M to €300M per call with up to €17.5M per project in grant and equity financing (read: EIC Accelerator Budget). 2. Covered Costs What percentage of the project’s costs are covered? Often, grant financing covers a percentage of the total project costs whereas the grant contribution will have to be supplemented with external financings such as revenues, investments or other sources. The exact conditions can vary by the type of grant chosen but the EIC Accelerator finances 70% of the total costs (read: Grant vs. Equity). 3. Competitiveness How many applicants will apply to a single call? It can be difficult to assess how competitive a grant will be but the total budget amount and the number of submission in previous calls are a good indicator. Such information is usually published on the call page or on social outlets like Twitter (read: Finding News). For one-off calls, it can be difficult to gauge the number of applications submitted per deadline but consultants and other funding experts are usually able to provide guidance in such cases based on similar or previous calls. For the EIC Accelerator, the budget and competitiveness has varied greatly over the past years and especially in 2020 but the success rate has historically been between 1% and 6% in most cases with 1,000 to 4,000 applications per call (read: EIC Impact Report). This article continues in Part 2. This article was last modified on Dec 20, 2020 @ 13:31 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 4th cut-off 2024: January 13th to 17th 2025 1st cut-off 2025: TBD 2nd cut-off 2025: TBD 3rd cut-off 2025: TBD 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. 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 consultantEIC Accelerator deadlineEIC Accelerator equityEIC Accelerator financingEIC Accelerator grantEIC accelerator green dealEIC Accelerator helpEIC Accelerator submissionEIC Accelerator successEIC Accelerator writerIndustries & CompaniesInvestorsSME Instrument Phase 2Writing Tips
EIC Accelerator Work Packages for the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on October 31, 2020October 18, 2020 Work packages are an integral part of EIC Accelerator applications (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2) and are the key to specifying and quantifying the exact use of the grant or blended financing requested (i.e. a combination of grant and equity). Professional writers and grant consultants are well aware of their… Read More
EIC Accelerator Should a Company Hire a Professional Consultant or Write an EIC Accelerator Grant Application Internally? (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on October 12, 2020February 19, 2023 The EIC Accelerator Grant financing (SME Instrument Phase 2) is an interesting opportunity for both early-stage startups and established Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) that aim to further develop an innovative product. Many prospect applicants ask themselves if they should write an application on their own or if they should… Read More
EIC Accelerator How to Prepare for an EIC Accelerator Pitch Interview (SME Instrument Phase 2) – Part 2 Posted on December 22, 2020December 15, 2020 This article is a continuation of Part 1 and presents a guide for practising the EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) pitch interview by the European Commission (EC) and European Innovation Council (EIC). Resources regarding the general questioning of the pitch and why… Read More