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 4-8^th to May 11-20^th.

This will lead to an overlap with the subsequent Green Deal deadline for the EIC Accelerator on May 19^th 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.

---

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:

• January 11^th 2023 (only EIC Accelerator Open)
• March 22^nd 2023
• June 7^th 2023
• October 4^th 2023

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, 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:

• • • EIC Accelerator Interviews: Pitch Deck vs. Proposal Documents (SME Instrument)
    • Choosing a Good Project for the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2)
    • The EIC Accelerator Budget: Grant vs. Blended Finance (SME Instrument Phase 2)
    • EIC Accelerator – Introduction and Blended Finance (SME Instrument Phase 2)
    • EIC-Accelerator Writing: Providing the Missing Link (SME Instrument Phase 2)
    • The Biggest Mistakes When Applying to the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2)
    • Identifying a Broad Vision for an EIC Accelerator Project (SME Instrument Phase 2)