The beginning of 2021 marked the start of a new financial strategy for Horizon Europe, where funding is distributed directly at the European Commission level. The programme, like its predecessor Horizon 2020, continues to focus on breakthrough innovations developed by entrepreneurs and scientific-industrial consortia. This article is the first in a series in which we focus on explaining the principles of financing in the EIC programme, with a substantial budget of EUR 10 billion. The first call for proposals has already been announced, so it is worth learning more about the key assumptions of the programme in order not to miss the chance for development. Detailed information about the planned calls, such as dates, budgets and planned thematic calls is presented in the so-called work programmes published each year. We already know details of the planned calls for this year and will find out more about the ones planned for 2022 at the end of 2021.

3 instruments, 3 project phases

The EIC programme is divided into three instruments (Pathfinder, Transition, Accelerator), which makes it possible to obtain support at every stage of project development - from the idea to market implementation. In order to choose the appropriate instrument, it is worth using the levels of technological readiness TRL (more information on TRL can be found, for example, HERE), which in an objective way indicate the degree of development of a given solution.

EIC Pathfinder - an instrument with a total budget of EUR 168 million for 2021. It is addressed to entities whose solution is at an early stage of development. EIC Pathfinder is a route to obtain financing for creating a Proof of Concept (PoC), i.e., development of an idea from level 1 to 4 of TRL. Support is granted in the form of a non-refundable grant for projects worth approximately EUR 4 million. The instrument is aimed primarily at scientific and industrial consortia from at least three different EU countries. The competition is open to all types of enterprises - large, Mid-Caps and SMEs.

EIC Transition - an instrument with a total budget of EUR 59.6 million for the year 2021. It is addressed to entities that have completed projects implemented within the EIC Pathfinder phase and whose solution is in the Proof of Concept (PoC) phase. The instrument is designed to help qualifying entities take the development of their solution to the pre-commercial phase, i.e., development from level 4 to 5/6 of TRL. Support is granted in the form of a non-refundable grant for projects worth approximately EUR 2.5 million. The instrument is addressed to both single enterprises and consortia of up to 5 entities.

EIC Accelerator - an instrument with a total budget of EUR 592.5 million for 2021. It is addressed to entities whose solution is at the pre-commercial stage and is meant to help obtain support for full market implementation, i.e., development from level 5/6 to level 9 TRL. Support is awarded in a mixed form depending on the level of readiness of the solution, including:

  • for development up to TRL level 8 in the form of a non-refundable grant from EUR 0.5 to a maximum of EUR 2.5 million (support intensity 70%);
  • for full commercialization and reaching TRL level 9 in the form of equity investment (support up to EUR 15 million)

What is important is that one can apply for financing in three variants: mixed variant (grant and capital investment - up to EUR 17.5 million in total, addressed exclusively to SMEs), grant variant (grant only, up to EUR 2.5 million, addressed exclusively to SMEs) or investment variant (capital investment only, up to EUR 15 million, addressed to SMEs and Mid-Caps).

Who can benefit?

The EIC programme is specifically designed to support breakthrough socio-economic innovations with a high potential for scalability. It targets projects that are too risky for private investors (due to their uncertainty) and therefore require additional EU funding to develop and commercialize.

Support is addressed to SMEs (which in the EIC programme were extended to include the so-called Mid-Caps - enterprises employing up to 500 people), scientists and their consortia - depending on the selected aid instrument. The available resources are divided into thematic undertakings focusing on priority areas designated by the European Commission (e.g., digitization, green transformation, health), as well as general ones intended for all types of projects.

A tabular comparison of the instruments is shown below.

Instrument EIC Pathfinder  EIC Transition EIC Accelerator
Beneficiary Consortia of entities from at least 3 different EU countries (except for some thematic programmes in which you can participate individually or in a smaller consortium) Single entities or consortia (up to a maximum of 5 entities) SMEs or Mid-Caps independently
Subject Projects at TRL Level 1 to 4 Projects at TRL level 4 to 5/6 Projects at TRL level 5/6 to 9
Intensity of support 100% of eligible costs 100% of eligible costs 70% of eligible costs for the grant part

100% of eligible costs for the equity part
Financing Grant funding for projects up to EUR 4 million. Grant funding for projects up to EUR 2.5 million. Blended financing in the form of grants or equity up to EUR 17.5 million, including up to EUR 2.5 million in grants for solution development (up to TRL level 8) and up to EUR 15 million in equity investment for commercialization.

Why it’s worth it?

Financing from the EIC programme is primarily a chance to develop the proposed innovation, but there are also a number of soft benefits directly related to joining the prestigious group of the biggest innovators in the EU.In the following posts we will focus on EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator. We will present the type of competition entries covered by the calls, the evaluation process and the evaluation criteria.