2023 Budget Allocations for EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator

The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity) by the European Commission (EC) and European Innovation Council (EIC) is designed for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). It awards up to €2.5 million in grant and €15 million in equity financing per project (€17.5 million total) and is the most well-funded funding instrument in the EIC portfolio.

Relevant for startups as well as professional writers, freelancers or consultants, the EIC renews its Work Programme annually with updates to the Challenges, budgets and cut-offs being common.

The previous articles on the draft of the 2023 EIC Work Programme have summarised key changes and aspects relevant to future applicants (see Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). This article presents an update following the official publication with regard to the EIC’s Challenges and budget which have undergone changes since the leaked draft of 2022.

Budget

The budgets for the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator have been set as follows:

Budget in M€ (cut-offs)	Open	Challenges
EIC Pathfinder	179.50 (1)	163.50 (1)
EIC Transition	67.86 (2)	60.50 (2)
EIC Accelerator	611.75 (4)	523.49 (3)

The EIC Accelerator remains the most popular and well-funded program in the EIC’s portfolio and the Challenges retain their strategic importance as is evident in the large budget allocated to specific technology areas.

The EIC Accelerator Challenges

Compared to the draft work programme, the specific Challenges for the EIC Accelerator have largely remained the same with the exception of semiconductor technologies being included in the Challenge for quantum computing technologies (i.e. at least 30% of the €100 million is allocated to each field).

This is likely based on the ongoing lack of semiconductor manufacturing capacities in the European Union and the negative impact on technology developments and climate goals.

The exact technology areas and restrictions of the EIC Accelerator Challenges are described in the Work Programme while they are summarised below:

Novel biomarker-based assays to guide personalised cancer treatment
Aerosol and surface decontamination for pandemic management
Energy storage
New European Bauhaus and Architecture, Engineering and Construction digitalisation for decarbonisation
Emerging semiconductor or quantum technology components
Novel technologies for resilient agriculture
Customer-driven, innovative space technologies and services

The budgets for the 2023 EIC Accelerator Challenges are:

Challenge	Budget in M€
Biomarkers for cancer	65
Decontamination for pandemic management	65
Energy storage	100
New European Bauhaus	65
Quantum or Semiconductor components	100
Resilient agriculture	65
Space technologies and services	65

Note: The budget for the individual EIC Accelerator Challenges total €525 million which approximates the €523.49 million allocated in the top-down budget.

This article was last modified on Feb 19, 2023 @ 23:38

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 (short proposal)
- open now
Step 2 (business plan)
- 1^st cut-off: -
- 2^nd cut-off: -
- 3^rd cut-off: -
- 4^th cut-off: October 19^th 2023 (extended)
Step 3 (interview)
- 1^st cut-off: -
- 2^nd cut-off: -
- 3^rd cut-off: October 2^nd to 6^th (extended)
- 4^th cut-off: November 27^th to December 8^th

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.

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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)