SME Instrument Phase 1 vs. Phase 2 (EIC Accelerator) Posted on October 12, 2019March 20, 2020 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. Since Phase 1 (€50,000) of the EUs start-up grant will be discontinued after September 2019 but Phase 2 (€2,500,000) will remain open, here is an overview of the main differences between the applications. While Phase 1 &2 proposals do follow almost the exact same template, there are important variations to consider: Feasibility vs Implementation: Phase 1 is granted for a feasibility study of the project while Phase 2 is for the implementation of all technical and commercial developments. Grant amount and competitiveness: Due to the higher grant amount, Phase 2 is more difficult to achieve than Phase 1 Funding threshold: The official threshold for funding is 13/15 for Phase 1 and 12/15 for Phase 2 Interview: Phase 2 requires an in-person interview before the grant is approved Proposal length and additional sections: The main document is 10 pages for Phase 1 while Phase 2 is 30 pages. Value for money of subcontracting is rated: The subcontracting in the proposed project must be described and justified according to its best value for money. EIC Accelerator Horizon 2020 Phase 1 Phase 2 SME Instrument / EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator grantEIC Accelerator templateGrant AmountInvestorsSME Instrument Phase 1SME Instrument Phase 2
EIC Accelerator Why It Could Be Beneficial to Apply Early to the 2021 EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument) Posted on January 6, 2021January 1, 2021 The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) will be reinstated in 2021 under Horizon Europe (2021-2027) with an updated evaluation process (read: Proposed 2021 Process). This will likely present new challenges to the evaluation procedure as lead by European Agency for SME’s (EASME)… Read More
EIC Accelerator Finding Updates and News for the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on July 27, 2020February 19, 2023 The European Commission has a variety of channels where updates and news are published. For the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2), there is not a single, centralized source of information but a variety of fragmented channels which should be scanned periodically in order to remain up-to-date on recent developments…. Read More
EIC Accelerator Writing an EIC Accelerator Application: Microsoft Word vs. Adobe InDesign (SME Instrument Writing) Posted on May 23, 2020October 9, 2020 The EIC Accelerator application consists of the following major parts: Document 1 (Main proposal as PDF – 30 pages1 ≤ 10MB) Document 2 (Annexes as PDF – unlimited pages ≤ 10MB) Document 3 (Financial documents as PDF & XLS/ODS ≤ 10MB) Document 4 (Pitch deck as PDF – unlimited pages… Read More