Pre-Requisites for an EIC Accelerator Application (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on May 30, 2020October 9, 2020 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. 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. This article was last modified on Oct 9, 2020 @ 11:16 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, closing 17:00 Brussels Time) 1st cut-off: - 2nd cut-off: - 3rd cut-off: - 4th cut-off: October 3rd 2024 Step 3 (interview) 1st cut-off: - 2nd cut-off: June 10th to 14th 2024 3rd cut-off: - 4th cut-off 2024: January 13th to 17th 2025 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) 1 The UK has officially left the EU and is only eligible for grant support but not blended financing for the remainder of 2020. 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EIC Accelerator Specific Buzzwords to be used in EIC Accelerator Applications (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on October 14, 2020October 9, 2020 The European Commission (EC) and the European Innovation Council (EIC) in particular have a variety of keywords (or buzzwords) that are often asked for in the official EIC Accelerator grant proposal template (SME Instrument Phase 2). Such keywords are not required to be part of a good business model but,… Read More
EIC Accelerator Choosing an Acronym for the EIC Accelerator Grant (SME Instrument Phase 2) Posted on June 17, 2020October 9, 2020 The acronym of the EIC Accelerator grant (SME Instrument Phase 2 for European startups) can be viewed as an even more condensed version of the proposal which should give the reader a memorable indication of what the project is about. If the abstract (see: Abstract Guide) summarizes the proposal and… 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