EIC Accelerator Results: Funding Rates and Circu Li-ion & Iris.AI Success Cases Posted on December 21, 2022February 28, 2024 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity) has recently closed its last funding round of 2022 (see Deadlines). Following the multi-step grant application process, the last Step 2 deadline was set on October 5th while the interviews for Step 3 were being conducted in December (see Interview Preparation Process). Designed for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME), the EIC Accelerator awards up to €2.5 million in grant and €15 million in equity financing per project (maximum of €17.5 million total). This article provides an overview of the latest cut-off results as well as useful information for professional writers, freelancers or consultants (see Eligible Applicants). While the previous cut-off’s have seen high levels of competitiveness with success rates of approximately 5% for all three evaluation steps, this article analyses the success rates for the latest cut-off (see June 2021 & May 2022). The October 2022 Cut-Off In general, the total success rates are obscured through the 3-step application process where not all steps are associated with a deadline and not all applicants successively apply to the next steps. Since there is a possibility for re-submitting proposals and skipping application deadlines, the calculations in this article should be viewed as approximate (PDF, article). Presenting the #SMEs and #startups selected from the last #eicAccelerator cut-off of 2022! 🙌 📝 1092 applicants🚀 78 companies selected💰 €470 M in EU funding Learn more about the companies and #EUeic funding opportunities here 👉 https://t.co/jU5HzcM2qc pic.twitter.com/d9wrt55VZS — European Innovation Council (@EUeic) December 19, 2022 Step 1 The exact success rates are difficult to assess but based on past data, an average success rate of 67% can be assumed (June 2021). Step 2 & 3 Out of 1,092 Step 2 applicants, 240 were invited to the Step 3 interviews (22%) while a total of 78 companies were successfully selected for funding. This yields a total EIC Accelerator success rate of 7.1% starting at Step 2 and an interview selection rate of 32.5% for Step 3. Multiplying the Step 2 and 3 success rates with the average success rate for Step 1 yields an approximate total success rate for the complete EIC Accelerator application process of 4.8%. Funding Breakdown Grant-only: 12 funded companies (15.4%) Grant-first: 21 funded companies (26.9%) Equity-only: 1 funded company (1.3%) Blended finance: 44 funded companies (56.4%) The total budget allocated to the 78 winners is €470 million which corresponds to an average EIC Accelerator ticket size of €6.03 million. Circu Li-ion Receives the EIC Accelerator Funding Circu Li-ion (Luxembourg) is addressing one of the greatest challenges of the coming decade: Sustainable battery energy storage. Renewable energy installations, electric vehicles, power tools, micromobility and utility systems all depend on battery storage but Lithium is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. With large quantities of batteries reaching their end-of-life after only a few years of operation, Circu Li-ion has identified that there is an urgent need to establish an upcycling ecosystem that is able to scale with the exponential industry growth. By reusing end-of-life batteries and giving them a second life, Circu Li-ion is addressing a major industry pain point through its automated, data-driven and AI-controlled upcycling technology. Note: Circu Li-ion was supported by Segler Consulting throughout the entire application process. Iris.AI Special congratulations to Iris.AI (Norway) which has received the EIC Accelerator financing as well and was supported by Segler Consulting in some of the application stages. This article was last modified on Feb 28, 2024 @ 10:58 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 Success EIC Accelerator 2021EIC Accelerator deadlineEIC Accelerator equityEIC Accelerator financingEIC Accelerator grantEIC Accelerator resultsEIC Accelerator successIndustries & CompaniesInvestorsSME Instrument Phase 2Writing Tips
EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator Interviewees from March Deadline Unable to Apply for May Cut-Off Posted on April 29, 2020October 9, 2020 Due to the record number of applications for the EIC Accelerator’s March 2020 deadline (almost 3,968 applications instead of the regular ~1,900), the interview week for step 2 of the evaluation process has been postponed from the initial May 4-8th to May 11-20th. This will lead to an overlap with… Read More
EIC Accelerator Structuring an EIC Accelerator Pitch Deck for the Jury Interview (SME Instrument) Posted on December 31, 2020December 30, 2020 Under Horizon Europe (2021-2027), the EIC Accelerator blended financing program (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) will reprise its use of pitch interviews after they have been successfully applied in previous years. In these interviews, startups and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) are questioned in accordance to… Read More
EIC Accelerator Designing Images for an EIC Accelerator Application (SME Instrument Phase 2) – Part 1 Posted on October 22, 2020October 18, 2020 The EIC Accelerator grant or blended finance program (incl. equity option, formerly SME Instrument Phase 2) is a highly competitive funding scheme by the European Union and the European Innovation Council (EIC). While the formatting and proposal design should not be the first thing to focus on, without it, the… Read More