Changes in the EIC Accelerator during 2019

January 13, 2020 • By Stephan Segler, PhD

EIC Accelerator Funding Horizon Europe SME Instrument / EIC Accelerator

Since 2019 has come to an end, here is a summary of the main changes that have occurred regarding the EUs startup grant - the EIC Accelerator:

1. Equity Finance: The most significant change was the discontinuation of Phase 1 (€50,000 grant financing) and the introduction of the new blended financing option for Phase 2 (now up to €17,500,000 with grant and equity).

2. Phase 2 Template: The template for the Phase 2 application has been reworked and includes new additions such as detailed financial information, listed KPIs, explicit need for EU support and the addition of specific summaries to the proposal introduction instead of the previously introduced executive summary.

3. Pitch Deck: The pitch deck for the required presentations and interviews will now need to be uploaded with the application and cannot be modified later on.

These and other minor changes will need to be considered when submitting (or re-submitting) your next proposal.

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:

EIC Accelerator Step 1 Deadline 2025

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

EIC Accelerator Step 2 Deadline 2025

March

October

EIC Accelerator Step 2 Deadlines: March 12^th 2025 and October 1^st 2025

EIC Accelerator Step 3 Deadline 2025

June

January

EIC Accelerator Step 3 Interview Dates: Week of June 2^nd 2025 and January 2026

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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