Frequently Asked Questions

The primary limitation is its budget. The program receives many high-quality applications, but due to limited funds, many eligible companies are rejected. This makes the EIC Accelerator extremely competitive, even for excellent companies with promising innovations.

The EIC Accelerator program, formerly known as the SME Instrument Phase 2, offers blended financing (grant and equity) to scale-ups and SMEs. It aims to support the completion of technological developments and the commercialization of innovations. The program is becoming a key innovation driver in the European market, providing crucial funding for companies looking to scale.

Grant financing comes from the European Commission, while equity financing is managed by the EIC Fund. Currently, grant and equity are linked, but the program may evolve to allow separate applications. This would streamline the process, especially for equity applications, by removing the need for extensive justifications required for government funding.

This blog post is part one of a series. Look for Part 2 to continue exploring potential directions for the EIC Accelerator beyond 2021. Part 2 will likely delve deeper into specific strategies and considerations for the program's evolution.

The Seal of Excellence (SoE) is a quality label awarded to projects that meet the EIC's high standards but cannot be funded due to budget constraints. Companies with the SoE can be contacted by private investors, providing them with alternative funding opportunities even if they don't receive direct EIC funding.

Separating the application processes for grants and equity could make the EIC Accelerator more agile. It would allow for different evaluation processes and success criteria tailored to each type of funding. This could also reduce the administrative burden and speed up the overall financing process, particularly for equity investments.

By introducing the equity component, the EIC aims to attract private investors. This allows for external funding to supplement the EIC Accelerator budget. The EIC can act as a facilitator, leveraging private investment to potentially double or even tenfold the available funding for innovative companies.

The '10-second rule' involves practicing rapid-fire answers to difficult questions, aiming for concise responses within 10 seconds. Use a stopwatch during practice sessions and move quickly to the next question. This helps develop the ability to think on your feet and provide quick, precise answers during the actual interview.

Select presenters based on their roles in the company and their areas of expertise. Ensure a balanced representation of skills, including finance, sales, and engineering. Ideally, your top management team (CEO, founders, owners) should present, providing diverse perspectives.

Practice answering difficult questions rapidly and precisely, ideally with people unfamiliar with your project. Treat these practice sessions as real-life jury questions, aiming for concise, on-the-spot answers. Start with 10-second answers and quickly move to the next question, refining your responses later.

Focusing on the 'big picture' means reviewing each slide of your pitch and identifying the key ideas you want the jury to understand. For example, on one slide, you might want the audience to grasp the significance of a market problem. On another, you might want them to realize the strength of your commercial strategy.

Practicing with people unfamiliar with your project simulates the jury's perspective, forcing you to explain your ideas clearly and concisely. This helps identify areas where your pitch may be unclear or confusing, allowing you to refine your messaging and ensure everyone understands your key points.

The best way to prepare is to re-read the entire application, memorizing key numbers, strategies, and partner information. This ensures you can answer targeted questions confidently and demonstrate a deep understanding of your project. This should be in addition to, not instead of, pitch practice.

If the presenters didn't write the application, they must thoroughly familiarize themselves with it. Re-read the entire application and memorize relevant numbers, strategies, and partners. This knowledge is crucial to answer targeted questions and avoid appearing unprepared.

On the day of the pitch, focus on the big picture, such as your vision and key messages. Review each slide and identify the core ideas you want to communicate. Avoid getting bogged down in minor details, as these should have been addressed during prior preparation.

Presenters must speak fluent English and understand questions, even with strong accents or quiet voices. Clear communication is essential to avoid wasting time on clarifications. Being easily understood and quickly grasping the jury's concerns is crucial for a smooth and efficient interview.

During practice, avoid saying "Let me think about this first" or giving lengthy, wordy answers. Instead, aim to provide a quick, on-the-spot response, even if it's not perfect. The goal is to demonstrate your ability to think under pressure and provide a reasonable answer within a short timeframe.

No, the EIC should not scrutinize equity expenditure on a cost-by-cost basis. The EIC is a minor co-investor, and the investment occurs well after the initial proposal. The due diligence is conducted by the lead investor, and the EIC should trust their judgment in making investment decisions.

To enhance Jury briefings, consider using an EU-based Large Language Model (LLM) to summarize proposals and provide a chat interface for Jury members. This AI tool can help the Jury ask more probing questions and prepare more thoroughly, leading to a more effective evaluation of the applicant's potential.

Yes, applicants invited to Brussels for interviews should be reimbursed for travel expenses. This helps level the playing field for companies located far from Brussels, ensuring fair access to the EIC Accelerator program. A potential solution is to make Step 2 business coaching optional, allowing companies to choose between coaching or travel reimbursement.

The focus should shift from grading projects like essays to scouting for the best companies. Evaluators should prioritize identifying companies with strong potential, even if their initial proposals are not perfectly written. The goal is to recognize 'diamonds in the rough' and ensure promising companies make it to the interview stage.

Programme Managers should act as technical experts and advisors to the Jury during interviews. Their role should be neutral, providing technical expertise and clarifying information only when requested by the Jury or to correct factual inaccuracies. They should not undermine applicants with personal biases, ensuring a fair evaluation process.

A 'Grantrepreneur' is a company that primarily relies on grant funding and pivots from one grant project to another with little to no private investment. Evaluators should be aware of them because they may not have the same long-term viability or commitment as companies that attract private funding. Identifying and avoiding Grantrepreneurs is crucial for ensuring the EIC Accelerator supports sustainable innovations.

The EIC Accelerator is designed for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) with breakthrough innovations. It offers grant and equity financing to help these companies scale up and bring their innovations to market. The program is funded by the European Commission (EC) and European Innovation Council (EIC).

Juries often prefer companies with a strong corporate identity, a clear focus on a single technology, and a well-defined IP and technology origin story. They also look for companies that are actively engaged in seeking venture capital funding. These factors indicate a company's long-term dedication and potential for success.

The Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) is used to assess the quality of applications in Steps 1 and 2. To improve the transition to Step 3 (the interview stage), the ESR criteria should be adjusted to align with the Jury's focus. Step 2 evaluators should be briefed with a Jury focus to ensure they are scouting for companies with strong potential for success.

A successful applicant can receive up to €2.5 million in grant funding and up to €10 million in equity financing. This blended financing option provides a total of up to €12.5 million per project. This substantial funding aims to support high-risk, high-impact innovations.

The EIC STEP Scale-Up Fasttrack allows the jury to invite companies that have raised substantial funding but are deemed strategically important directly to the STEP Scale-Up interviews. This allows the EIC to invest equity even if the company doesn't need a grant, streamlining the process and aligning with larger funding rounds.

The declaration emphasizes the importance of providing accurate information. It states that misrepresenting any details will make the company ineligible for EIC funding, regardless of evaluation results or interview performance, ensuring transparency and accountability.

The time gap between the Step 2 submission and the Step 3 interviews can lead to outdated pitch decks and financials. Companies, especially fast-moving scaleups, may not revise their entire proposal, resulting in outdated information. A short update questionnaire helps provide the jury with the most current information.

EIC Accelerator offers blended finance (grant and equity), suitable for companies where a grant is still impactful. STEP Scale-Up provides pure equity investment, better aligning with larger funding rounds. The choice depends on the company's funding needs and the strategic goals of the EIC.

Companies should answer 'yes' to this question. The EIC finds companies more attractive if they demonstrate the potential to succeed independently. However, this doesn't mean they shouldn't be considered for funding, especially if the EIC investment can provide strategic value.

A company's runway should be assessed in the context of their overall funding plans, including potential loans or bridge rounds. It shouldn't be viewed as a definitive bankruptcy date, but rather as a factor to consider alongside their fundraising strategy.

The jury should first determine if a grant is still life-changing for the company despite the equity raise, considering a funding size threshold. If a grant is not suitable due to the funding size, they should assess if there's a strategic reason for the EIC Fund to invest, potentially through the STEP Scale-Up program.

Even if a company has raised significant funding, it might still be strategically important for the EIC to invest in them. The STEP Scale-Up program can be used as a catch-all for strategically important technologies or companies, irrespective of their funding status or specific technology focus.

Raising funding during the application process should not automatically disqualify a company. The jury should consider the amount of funding raised and the strategic position of the EIC. A threshold for grant eligibility could be established, while equity investment can still be considered through the STEP Scale-Up program.

The questionnaire should include concise details about the company's current financial status (burn rate, cash balance, debt), team size, any changes in company structure or ownership, fundraising efforts, recent revenue figures, and any legal proceedings. This information helps the jury assess the company's current situation accurately.

To qualify as DeepTech, your technology must meet specific criteria. It should be novel with few competitors, require deep domain expertise, have large-scale impact potential, demonstrate market urgency, possess a clear competitive moat, and demand high capital for development. Additionally, it should be based on scientific discoveries or interdisciplinary expertise, and not be a simple app, small business, or copycat product.

The typical starting point for EIC Accelerator projects is TRL6, meaning a prototype or key component has been tested in a relevant environment. The goal is usually to reach TRL8 by the end of the grant phase, indicating that all developments for the final product are complete. For equity funding, the aim is TRL9, signifying completed scaling activities.

The EIC Accelerator prioritizes companies where the active team holds a significant portion of the equity. This demonstrates commitment and alignment of interests between the founders and the company's success. It also ensures that the team has the incentive and control to drive the company forward, which is crucial for long-term growth and innovation.

Pharmaceutical projects often have different TRL requirements due to the extensive clinical trials needed. A footnote for pharma companies allows them to start earlier (TRL5) and finish earlier (TRL7-8) in the funding cycle. This acknowledges that they may not be ready for commercial sales after a €2.5 million grant and one equity round due to the lengthy and costly clinical trial process.

The short screener includes questions about ownership structure, fundraising efforts, company registration location, and intellectual property ownership. For example, it may ask about the percentage of equity held by the active team, the types of investors involved, and whether the company owns its core technology. These questions help the EIC assess the company's readiness and alignment with the program's goals.

Clear TRL definitions are crucial for consistent evaluation and understanding between applicants, evaluators, and jury members. Subjectivity in TRL assessment can lead to discrepancies and unfair evaluations. Standardized definitions that focus on key milestones, such as customer validation or progress in clinical trials, ensure a more objective and transparent process.

The EIC Accelerator assesses TRLs to understand the maturity of the technology being developed. A key indicator of TRL6 is whether a prototype or component has been tested by a customer, end-user, or in an industrial setting. Clear definitions of TRLs are crucial to ensure consistent evaluation by both evaluators and jury members.

If your answers in the short screener indicate potential issues, you'll receive a notification stating that the EIC doesn't recommend applying. The notification will list the specific issues identified. You can choose to change your answers and apply anyway, but you should be aware of the potential impact on your application's success.

The short screener is a questionnaire designed to filter companies early in the application process. It uses simple logic to assess the general company profile and determine if the applicant should proceed with Step 1. This helps to identify potential issues and ensure that only suitable candidates invest time and resources into the full application.

The EIC Accelerator funding, offered by the European Commission and European Innovation Council, provides up to €2.5 million in grant and €10 million in equity financing for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). It supports projects with high-risk, high-impact potential, aiming to scale up innovative technologies and solutions. The blended financing option allows companies to tailor the funding to their specific needs and growth plans.

Companies often fail because they insufficiently address key areas. The most common shortcomings are related to Impact (commercial strategy, business model), Excellence (market-creating potential, financial planning), and Implementation (team capability, team motivation, right timing). Make sure to thoroughly cover these aspects in your pitch and proposal.

'Excellence' refers to the innovation's potential to create a new market or have a significant impact on existing ones. The jury will assess the degree of novelty or disruptiveness of your innovation. They will also consider if the timing is right for your innovation, considering feasibility and market readiness.

Implementation refers to the team's capability and motivation to bring the innovation to market. It also considers whether the company can leverage sufficient investments from the market. For blended finance, it assesses if the company is considered non-bankable by the market.