The EIC Accelerator funding (grant and equity, with blended financing option) by the European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Commission (EC) has supported 563 companies between 2021 and 2024 in a variety of different industries. It is a key program for DeepTech entrepreneurs in the EU and countries associated with Horizon Europe (2021-2027) since it provides funding for high-risk innovations to scale operations globally.

Designed for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) and startups, it awards up to €2.5 million in grant and €15 million in equity financing per project (€17.5 million total). Winning EIC Accelerator companies often use the support of professional writers, freelancers or consultants to prepare a successful grant proposal due to the complexity and effort required in the process.

This article presents an overview of the industries, countries and funding types supported through the EIC Accelerator between 2021 and 2024. It aims to illustrate the DeepTech nature of the program which generally prefers scientific projects over the support of broad or more general innovations.

EIC Accelerator By Country

The EIC Accelerator is accessible to a variety of different countries including all 27 EU member states while it is also including non-EU countries that are associated with Horizon Europe such as Ukraine, Israel or Tunesia (see: All Eligible EIC Accelerator Countries (including the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Ukraine)). Still, it is not a secret that participation rights do not correlate well with success rates since there is a great discrepancy in the funding rates between eligible countries under the EIC Accelerator.

The success of any individual country often depends on its scientific prowess as well as its entrepreneur-friendly environment which includes the availability of funding. The EU and EIC have long committed to supporting widening countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Czechia but such commitments remain difficult to execute since there is a general lack of excellent companies compared to other regions. If fewer companies apply then fewer companies will be funded.

Nonetheless, 30 different countries have been successful in the EIC Accelerator between 2021 and 2024. While this result is not perfect considering the long list of associated countries, it shows that there is at least an opportunity for companies to receive funding if they can display their DeepTech character adequately to the evaluators and are lucky enough to dodge the randomness in the selection process (see: Steering the EIC Accelerator: Lessons Learned from the Pilot Program).

The fact that the top 10 countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and others have obtained nearly 80% of all the EIC Accelerator awards remains a concerning statistic since it shows that the EIC Accelerator is reinforcing the wealth of the top countries rather than aiming to fund areas where funding is less available.

While funding based on merit is a positive strategy and is generally preferable over socialist alternatives where everything is shared equally regardless of contribution, this approach might not be the right strategy for the EIC Accelerator which has defined its mission as crowding in external investors.

If the EIC Accelerator funds companies that would have (or actually have) raised funding independently then the EIC Accelerator budget might be better spent on the weakest countries which do not have that luxury (see: Digging Deep: The New DeepTech Focus of the EIC Accelerator and its Funding Bottlenecks and Investing in Well-Funded Projects: How the EIC is Breaking its Own Rules (EIC Accelerator)).

Another key factor can be the cost of consultancy services which can exceed the budgets of many eligible startups in low-GDP countries and can impede success chances. Since the EIC Accelerator is continually gaining in complexity (i.e. the originally single-step program now encompasses 3 steps and submission documents keep expanding), there is a high degree of dependency on consultants who can act as gate-keepers in a variety of ways.

The full list of countries funded by the EIC Accelerator:

1. France (88 companies and 15.6%)
2. Germany (77 companies and 13.7%)
3. Netherlands (61 companies and 10.8%)
4. Spain (42 companies and 7.5%)
5. Sweden (33 companies and 5.9%)
6. Israel (32 companies and 5.7%)
7. United Kingdom (32 companies and 5.7%)
8. Finland (28 companies and 5%)
9. Ireland (24 companies and 4.3%)
10. Denmark (23 companies and 4.1%)
11. Belgium (21 companies and 3.7%)
12. Italy (21 companies and 3.7%)
13. Norway (15 companies and 2.7%)
14. Portugal (14 companies and 2.5%)
15. Austria (12 companies and 2.1%)
16. Estonia (8 companies and 1.4%)
17. Poland (7 companies and 1.2%)
18. Bulgaria (6 companies and 1.1%)
19. Iceland (3 companies and 0.5%)
20. Lithuania (2 companies and 0.4%)
21. Slovakia (2 companies and 0.4%)
22. Czechia (2 companies and 0.4%)
23. Romania (2 companies and 0.4%)
24. Luxembourg (2 companies and 0.4%)
25. Croatia (1 company and 0.2%)
26. Greece (1 company and 0.2%)
27. Slovenia (1 company and 0.2%)
28. Latvia (1 company and 0.2%)
29. Cyprus (1 company and 0.2%)
30. Hungary (1 company and 0.2%)

EIC Accelerator By Industry

Note: To determine the industry of the project, AI was used to analyze the project description and assign it to a specific industry. In approximately 11% of cases, the project was at the intersection of 2 different industries which is a typical result considering the often interdisciplinary nature of scientific discoveries and product innovations. In such cases, the more suitable industry classification was selected.

Due to the EIC Accelerator’s focus on DeepTech and scientific discoveries, it comes as no surprise that MedTech is a key winner in the EIC Accelerator funding realm. Healthcare and medical technologies often rely on strong Intellectual Property (IP) and have high funding requirements which are difficult to allocate in private markets. Such technologies are therefore a natural fit for the program and it is unsurprising that 43.5% of all winners between 2021 and 2024 fall into the MedTech, Healthcare and Biopharma industries.

It is likewise an interesting observation that the long tail of less frequently funded industries displays rather diverse areas such as Winery, Textiles, Forestry, Music and others which illustrates that many companies can be successful with an unconventional or not obviously DeepTech product.

If DeepTech is the EIC Accelerator’s wife then disruptive innovations are its mistress. The long tail of less-funded industries (i.e. 10 or below) might seem negligible but they make up over 22% of all funded companies.

Disruptions can occur in any industry but they are not necessarily DeepTech or scientific. While future statistics might change this focus, it can be assumed that disruptive companies will always have a chance in the program if they can present an excellent technology during the evaluation process.

The full list of industries funded by the EIC Accelerator:

1. MedTech / Healthcare (197 companies and 35%)
2. Biopharma (48 companies and 8.5%)
3. Energy (41 companies and 7.3%)
4. Agriculture (25 companies and 4.4%)
5. Quantumtech (19 companies and 3.4%)
6. Aerospace (18 companies and 3.2%)
7. Advanced Materials (18 companies and 3.2%)
8. AI (18 companies and 3.2%)
9. Semiconductor (17 companies and 3%)
10. Environment (16 companies and 2.8%)
11. Battery (12 companies and 2.1%)
12. Clean Tech (11 companies and 2%)
13. Food Tech (10 companies and 1.8%)
14. Construction (9 companies and 1.6%)
15. Automotive (9 companies and 1.6%)
16. Biotechnology (8 companies and 1.4%)
17. Recycling (8 companies and 1.4%)
18. Photonics (7 companies and 1.2%)
19. Automation (6 companies and 1.1%)
20. Packaging (6 companies and 1.1%)
21. Marine Tech (6 companies and 1.1%)
22. Telecommunications (6 companies and 1.1%)
23. Logistics (5 companies and 0.9%)
24. Chemicals (5 companies and 0.9%)
25. Transportation (4 companies and 0.7%)
26. Robotics (4 companies and 0.7%)
27. Electronics (3 companies and 0.5%)
28. Aquaculture (3 companies and 0.5%)
29. IT (3 companies and 0.5%)
30. Cybersecurity (3 companies and 0.5%)
31. Entertainment (2 companies and 0.4%)
32. Music Tech (2 companies and 0.4%)
33. Meteorology (2 companies and 0.4%)
34. Geotech (2 companies and 0.4%)
35. Biometrics (2 companies and 0.4%)
36. Textile (2 companies and 0.4%)
37. Metrology (1 company and 0.2%)
38. Mining (1 company and 0.2%)
39. Wine (1 company and 0.2%)
40. Aviation (1 company and 0.2%)
41. Consumer Products (1 company and 0.2%)
42. Forestry (1 company and 0.2%)

EIC Accelerator By Funding Type

The EIC Accelerator has provided a variety of different funding options between 2021 and 2024 such as grant-only, grant-first, equity-only and blended finance (see: A Short but Comprehensive Explanation of the EIC Accelerator (2024 Update)).

More than half of all EIC Accelerator success cases have opted for blended finance while grant-first was the second most popular option with over 30%. Grant-only was often dominated by UK companies due to their equity-restriction while equity-only was by far the least popular option. The latter is likely due to the general restrictions on who can apply for equity-only financing as well as the low interest of companies to spend months or years in the application process just to potentially gain the EIC Fund as a co-investor while still having to gather lead investors themselves.

The full list of funding types under the EIC Accelerator:

1. Blended finance (320 companies and 56.8%)
2. Grant first (171 companies and 30.4%)
3. Grant only (65 companies and 11.5%)
4. Equity only (7 companies and 1.2%)

Crossover

This section of the article presents a variety of breakdowns of the particular funding types whereas the industries funded under the grant-only, grant-first and equity-only schemes are investigated.

EIC Accelerator Equity-Only

Only 7 companies have received equity-only support under the EIC Accelerator which leads to an overseeable breakdown of the respective industries. MedTech and Healthcare top the list once again, followed by Quantum technology, electronics, agriculture and advanced materials.

The full list of industries receiving equity-only funding under the EIC Accelerator:

1. MedTech / Healthcare (3 companies and 42.9%)
2. Quantumtech (1 company and 14.3%)
3. Electronics (1 company and 14.3%)
4. Agriculture (1 company and 14.3%)
5. Advanced Materials (1 company and 14.3%)

EIC Accelerator Grant-Only

Grant-only is a remarkably unpopular option under the EIC Accelerator, likely due to it being more difficult to justify in a proposal and the increased scrutiny placed on it by the evaluators. With 32 UK companies having received EIC Accelerator support and a total of 65 companies having received grant-only funding, the UK is making up almost 50% of the total funding allocation.

With grant-first support being phased out in 2024, it will be interesting to observe how the popularity of grant-only funding will change in the upcoming years.

There is a stronger participation of aerospace, AI and environmental technologies:

The full list of industries receiving grant-only funding under the EIC Accelerator:

1. MedTech / Healthcare (18 companies and 27.7%)
2. Environment (5 companies and 7.7%)
3. AI (5 companies and 7.7%)
4. Aerospace (5 companies and 7.7%)
5. Energy (4 companies and 6.2%)
6. Recycling (2 companies and 3.1%)
7. Quantumtech (2 companies and 3.1%)
8. IT (2 companies and 3.1%)
9. Food Tech (2 companies and 3.1%)
10. Biopharma (2 companies and 3.1%)
11. Agriculture (2 companies and 3.1%)
12. Advanced Materials (2 companies and 3.1%)
13. Telecommunications (1 company and 1.5%)
14. Semiconductor (1 company and 1.5%)
15. Photonics (1 company and 1.5%)
16. Packaging (1 company and 1.5%)
17. Marine Tech (1 company and 1.5%)
18. Logistics (1 company and 1.5%)
19. Cybersecurity (1 company and 1.5%)
20. Construction (1 company and 1.5%)
21. Clean Tech (1 company and 1.5%)
22. Biotechnology (1 company and 1.5%)
23. Battery (1 company and 1.5%)
24. Automotive (1 company and 1.5%)
25. Automation (1 company and 1.5%)
26. Aquaculture (1 company and 1.5%)

EIC Accelerator Grant-First

The grant-first option under the EIC Accelerator shows a strong preference for MedTech and Healthcare which is understandable since these companies generally require extensive clinical trials and developments that present a high risk. It has also been common for blended finance applicants in the healthcare sector to be converted into grant-first projects on the fly due to their high-risk profile.

While this might seem nonsensical since the EIC Accelerator should only fund high-risk projects, it has introduced grant-first to further protect its equity portfolio from excessive risks if important milestones need to be met in the future to attract private investors (see: How Grant-First Projects get Equity Investments (2023 EIC Accelerator Work Programme Part 2)).

171 Companies have received grant-first funding with over 43% being allocated to MedTech and healthcare innovations or over 51% if Biopharma is added.

The full list of industries receiving grant-first funding under the EIC Accelerator:

1. MedTech / Healthcare (74 companies and 43.3%)
2. Biopharma (14 companies and 8.2%)
3. Energy (13 companies and 7.6%)
4. Semiconductor (6 companies and 3.5%)
5. Environment (6 companies and 3.5%)
6. Automotive (5 companies and 2.9%)
7. AI (5 companies and 2.9%)
8. Quantumtech (4 companies and 2.3%)
9. Clean Tech (4 companies and 2.3%)
10. Battery (4 companies and 2.3%)
11. Recycling (3 companies and 1.8%)
12. Photonics (3 companies and 1.8%)
13. Food Tech (3 companies and 1.8%)
14. Chemicals (3 companies and 1.8%)
15. Agriculture (3 companies and 1.8%)
16. Advanced Materials (3 companies and 1.8%)
17. Robotics (2 companies and 1.2%)
18. Marine Tech (2 companies and 1.2%)
19. Cybersecurity (2 companies and 1.2%)
20. Biotechnology (2 companies and 1.2%)
21. Aerospace (2 companies and 1.2%)
22. Transportation (1 company and 0.6%)
23. Textile (1 company and 0.6%)
24. Telecommunications (1 company and 0.6%)
25. Packaging (1 company and 0.6%)
26. Logistics (1 company and 0.6%)
27. Forestry (1 company and 0.6%)
28. Construction (1 company and 0.6%)
29. Aquaculture (1 company and 0.6%)

Conclusion

These EIC Accelerator statistics encompass 3 years and 563 beneficiaries and can inform potential applicants regarding their eligibility based on their country of origin as well as industry.

The top three countries in the EIC Accelerator are France (88 companies and 15.6%), Germany (77 companies and 13.7%) and the Netherlands (61 companies and 10.8%) while the top 3 industries are MedTech / Healthcare (197 companies and 35%), Biopharma (48 companies and 8.5%) and Energy (41 companies and 7.3%).

The top 3 countries have gathered 40.1% of all beneficiaries while the top 3 industries have seen 50.8% of the total EIC Accelerator winners.

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This article was last modified on Jun 8, 2024 @ 13:01

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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)
  • 1^st cut-off 2025: -
  • 2^nd cut-off 2025: March 12^th 2025
  • 3^rd cut-off 2025: -
  • 4^th cut-off 2025: October 1^st 2025
• Step 3
  • 4^th cut-off 2024: January 13^th to 17^th 2025
  • 1^st cut-off 2025: TBD
  • 2^nd cut-off 2025: TBD
  • 3^rd cut-off 2025: TBD
  • 4^th 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!

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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

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2023 Budget Allocations for EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator

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Developing the Unique Selling Points (USP) for the EIC Accelerator

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Explaining the Resubmission Process for the EIC Accelerator

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A Short but Comprehensive Explanation of the EIC Accelerator

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EIC Accelerator Success Cases

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Deciding Between EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator

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A Winning Candidate for the EIC Accelerator

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EIC Accelerator Interview Preparation Process: Scripting the Pitch (Part 1)

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