Why It Could Be Beneficial to Apply Early to the 2021 EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument) Posted on January 6, 2021January 1, 2021 By Stephan Segler, Ph.D. The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) will be reinstated in 2021 under Horizon Europe (2021-2027) with an updated evaluation process (read: Proposed 2021 Process). This will likely present new challenges to the evaluation procedure as lead by European Agency for SME’s (EASME) and the European Innovation Council (EIC) but it can also present improved opportunities for startups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). Consultants and professional writers should be aware that such a new process can artificially tilt the success chances of grant applications since a continuously open call (i.e. Step 1) can lead to a bottleneck in Step 2 which makes the timing of the application essential. The following presents a list of considerations and assumptions that can impact the evaluation process: Open deadline: Since Step 1 will be continuously open, each applicant that applies early and receives a YES will have a guaranteed spot for the Step 2 evaluation YES or NO grading only: Since there is no numeric scoring, it is likely that proposals will not be ranked which means that every YES will have to be invited to Step 2 (i.e. no retrospective rejection due to rankings) Limited spots for Step 2: If the EIC and EASME realize in April or May 2021 (i.e. the next deadline for Step 2 is in June 2021 – see Cut-Off) that there are too many YES gradings for Step 1 already, this might significantly impact the success chances of late Step 1 applicants. The above reasoning is highly speculative but it is likely that the new evaluation process will undergo an equilibration phase during which the thresholds need to be adjusted in some way. In the past, a score of 13 acted as the official funding threshold while the unofficial threshold (i.e. 13.5 to 14.1) was determined through rankings enabled by the scoring system. Without such a scoring system to determine the rankings, the EIC has no way of limiting the numbers of applications other than to increase the strictness of the YES/NO evaluations dynamically which can lead to unfair results. Assuming that the EASME will not, in secret, employ an internal ranking system with scores (i.e. without communicating this to applicants) then the same logic would apply to Step 2. A single evaluation round of the full step 2 proposals could lead to an excess of applications for step 3 and, since there is no ranking, the Step 2 evaluation process must be repeated but more strictly. What strictly would mean in this case is not clear but it seems like a less transparent method of evaluating proposals compared to the 2020 process. Conclusion It is impossible to estimate the impact of the 2021 EIC Accelerator grant application process but this uncertainty could be mitigated through clear communication from the EASME and the EIC as to how certain thresholds are set and enforced (i.e. by providing real-time updates on YES and NO counts and thresholds). This extends to clear communication if evaluation steps are repeated internally in case applications exceed the capacities for subsequent evaluation steps. This is especially useful if an applicant can choose less competitive EIC Accelerator topics or if the timing of the application is not fixed (i.e. postponing an application to avoid the freezing period). In summary, it could be beneficial for applicants to apply to Step 1 of the EIC Accelerator in 2021 as soon as possible since an early YES will guarantee a spot to the Step 2 evaluation while this might be significantly more difficult the later one applies. This article was last modified on Jan 1, 2021 @ 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 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 4th cut-off 2024: January 13th to 17th 2025 1st cut-off 2025: TBD 2nd cut-off 2025: TBD 3rd cut-off 2025: TBD 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 Europe Phase 2 SME Instrument / EIC Accelerator EIC Accelerator 2021EIC Accelerator deadlineEIC Accelerator equityEIC Accelerator financingEIC Accelerator grantEIC Accelerator rejectionEIC Accelerator resultsEIC Accelerator successInvestorsSME Instrument Phase 2TimelineWriting Tips
EIC Accelerator How to Interpret the Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) of an EIC Accelerator Application (SME Instrument) – Part 2 Posted on October 28, 2020October 18, 2020 This article is a continuation of Part 1 which can be found under the provided link. The Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) provides the EIC Accelerator blended financing applicant (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) with feedback regarding the proposal quality. While separating and grading the central sections of… Read More
EIC Accelerator How the Future of the EIC Accelerator Could Look Like (SME Instrument) – Part 1 Posted on December 23, 2020December 18, 2020 The EIC Accelerator blended financing (formerly SME Instrument Phase 2, grant and equity financing) program, as it has been published in 2019, is quickly becoming a popular target for scale-ups and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) that seek public or private financing to complete their technological developments (read: Technology Readiness… Read More
Horizon 2020 What Types of Industries Receive Funding? Posted on August 29, 2017May 23, 2020 The detailed topic descriptions can be found here. When you are unsure if a specific topic applies to your project, please read the detailed description carefully. To gain an overview of the topics, continue reading. To find out if your company can receive funding by the EU, please read Can… Read More