EIC Accelerator Interviewees from March Deadline Unable to Apply for May Cut-Off Posted on April 29, 2020October 9, 2020 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. 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 the subsequent Green Deal deadline for the EIC Accelerator on May 19th since the applicants who have been invited to step 2 (the interview) will not receive their evaluation result in time to reapply for the May cut-off. This has been announced by the European Innovation Council (EIC) on twitter: This is unfortunate and will put all the applicants who are invited to interviews at a disadvantage since the proposals who are rejected in step 1 will have enough time to reapply while step 2 rejections have to wait 5 months until October. There is still a possibility that the EU will postpone the May deadline as was done for the March call due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is also curious that the interview week is scheduled for 10 days instead of the regular 5 even though remote video calls (due to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic) should not take any more time. It is likely that there will be a significantly larger number of applicants who will be invited for the step 2 interviews and that the success rates for the recent March call will be below 1% or close to it. This article was last modified on Oct 9, 2020 @ 12:07 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 1st cut-off 2025: - 2nd cut-off 2025: TBD 3rd cut-off 2025: - 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 2020 Phase 2 SME Instrument / EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator deadlineEIC accelerator green dealEIC Accelerator successEIC Accelerator videoTimelineWriting Tips
EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator Interview Preparation Process: Jury Considerations (Part 3) Posted on October 30, 2021December 23, 2024 One could argue that the Question & Answers (Q&A) session that is part of the EIC Accelerator interviews requires a significant amount of the overall preparation time. With a length of up to 35 minutes after the 10-minute pitch by the startup or Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME), it can… Read More
Horizon 2020 What Is the H2020 SME Instrument Phase 1 Funding? Posted on August 29, 2017May 23, 2020 The SME Instrument is a €3 billion funding scheme that is part of the largest EU research and innovation programme in of the EU called Horizon 2020 (€80 billion budget). By the end of 2020, 7500 Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) will have received funding over a period of 6… Read More
EIC Accelerator Proposed Application Process for the EIC Accelerator 2021 (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on December 11, 2020March 7, 2021 Attention: A new article is available detailing the changes for the 2021 EIC Accelerator Work Program. The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) will be reinstated in 2021 with a higher budget, a new structure and a different evaluation process. For startups and… Read More