The applicant for the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument Phase 2) financing is a registered company which will need to create an account on the EU’s Funding and Tenders Portal in order to receive a Participant Identification Code (PIC). Once registered, the company can apply for a variety of grants and other support options provided on the platform. In order to be eligible for the funding, the following criteria must be met:
Registration Country
Other than the EU-27 member states which can apply without restrictions,1 third countries and selected countries associated with the Horizon 2020 (H2020) program are also eligible for applications. In summary, the list of non-EU countries that can apply for the EIC Accelerator are:
- Iceland,
- Norway,
- Albania,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- North Macedonia,
- Montenegro,
- Serbia,
- Turkey,
- Israel,
- Moldova,
- Switzerland,
- Faroe Islands,
- Ukraine,
- Tunisia,
- Georgia and
- Armenia.
Company Purpose
The EIC Accelerator is seeking for-profit businesses which are looking to scale their company on an EU or global level. As such, non-profits or companies with no ambitions for scaling are excluded from the application. All projects should likewise have a distinct innovation component which justifies the disruptive nature of the product and the business should typically have strong IP protection (i.e. DeepTech companies).
Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Classification
In order to be eligible for the EIC Accelerator grant, the applicant company must classify as a Small- and Medium-Sized Business (SME) which means that it meets the following requirements:
- The staff headcount is below 250
- The annual turnover is below or equal to €50m
- The balance sheet total is below or equal to €43m
Every applicant will likewise have to declare up- and down-stream relationships to other entities such as subsidiaries, shareholders or parent companies. If the relationship is to a natural person then the threshold that makes a declaration mandatory is 50% while a legal person (i.e. a parent company) must be declared when ownership is equal to or exceeds 25%. If a relationship is declared, financial data for the SME classification of associated businesses must be provided as well.
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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 (short proposal)
- open now
- Step 2 (business plan)
- 1st cut-off: -
- 2nd cut-off: -
- 3rd cut-off: -
- 4th cut-off: October 19th 2023 (extended)
- Step 3 (interview)
- 1st cut-off: -
- 2nd cut-off: -
- 3rd cut-off: October 2nd to 6th (extended)
- 4th cut-off: November 27th to December 8th
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.
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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
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
Deciding Between EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator
A Winning Candidate for the EIC Accelerator
EIC Accelerator Interview Preparation Process: Scripting the Pitch (Part 1)
1 The UK has officially left the EU and is only eligible for grant support but not blended financing for the remainder of 2020.