Last week, the European Innovation Council held the EIC Info Day, packed with key updates from the 2025 Work Programme. Alongside changes to the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition, and EIC Accelerator schemes, they also announced a new STEP scale-up call targeting strategic technologies.
What’s New for the EIC Accelerator in 2025?
Interest in the EIC Accelerator is at an all-time high—and it’s easy to see why. With a unique blend of grant and equity support, the program helps start-ups and SMEs with market-disrupting technologies scale up and access new markets. As a result, competition has become fierce.If you couldn’t tune into the EIC Info Day, here’s a quick catch-up:
- Full Application 2025 Cut-Off Dates: The cut-offs remain unchanged from the confirmed dates in the EIC 2025 Work Programme. There will be only two EIC Accelerator Full App cut-offs in 2025: March 13th and October 1st.
- Short Application Evaluation Windows: For applicants targeting the next Full Application cut-off, Short applications will now be evaluated in batches on the first Tuesday of every month. To receive feedback and prepare for the March cut-off, you’ll need to submit by either December 3, 2024, or January 7, 2025.
- New Maximum EIC Equity Request & 2025 Budget: Blended finance applicants can now request up to €10 million, down from the €15 million limit set during the EIC Accelerator pilot. The 2025 budget has also been slightly reduced, with €634 million allocated compared to €675 million in 2024. These adjustments are linked to the launch of the STEP call, which offers investment support ranging from €10 million to €30 million, with a total budget of €300 million for 2025.
- No More Travel Reimbursement for Interviewed Companies:
Companies invited to the last step of the selection process — pitch and interview sessions in Brussels will no longer receive travel or accommodation reimbursements.
Updates to Eligibility & Evaluation Criteria
One of the key changes announced by the EIC is raising the minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) requirement to 6. This means any work at TRL 5 must be completed first, as it’s no longer eligible for grant funding under the EIC Accelerator’s project work plan.
Another big update is about Equity Only support. In the past, only companies that had previously won Horizon Europe grants could apply. That requirement has been dropped, so now companies can apply for Equity Only funding without needing to prove they’ve received a grant before
Evaluation Updates
During the EIC Info Day, there was a strong focus on backing deep-tech innovations and truly groundbreaking technologies—not just incremental changes or purely research-focused projects. Here are a few more key updates:
- Company Excellence Sub-Criterion Removed: This evaluation criterion for EIC Accelerator applicants has been taken out and is now used for the STEP call instead.
- Revised Risk Level of Investment Criterion: This has been reworded to assess whether a company can attract further investment with EIC support over the next two years.
- New Question for STEP Call Objectives: A new question has been added to specifically evaluate how projects impact STEP call objectives.
Lastly, it’s been clarified that when Full Applications for Open and Challenge calls are reviewed in consensus meetings (where two evaluators approve and one rejects), the final decision to proceed must be unanimous for an interview invitation to be issued.
Seal of Excellence and Sovereignty Seals
The Seal of Excellence (SoE) will now be awarded only to companies that reached the Interview stage but didn’t receive funding due to EIC budget constraints. This recognition is meant to help these companies access other funding opportunities more easily. In addition, SoE awardees will have access to the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services.
A new addition to the 2025 Work Programme mentioned during the EIC Info Day, is the Sovereignty Seal, also known as the STEP seal. This seal will be given to both STEP call proposals and Accelerator Challenge proposals that align with STEP objectives. It will be awarded to projects that received funding and even those that missed out due to budget limitations.
2025 Open & Challenge Calls
The Open call will be available annually, designed to support projects from any scientific field, provided they demonstrate novel, deep-tech, breakthrough solutions. The total budget allocated for the Open call is €384 million.
A total budget of €250 million has been allocated for the 2025 Challenge calls, which include:
- Acceleration of Advanced Materials Development and Upscaling along the Value Chain
- Biotechnology-Driven Low Emission Food and Feed Production Systems
- GenAI4EU: Creating European Champions in Generative AI
- Innovative In-Space Servicing, Operations, Robotics, and Technologies for Resilient EU Space Infrastructure
- Breakthrough Innovations for Future Mobility
Whether you’re aiming for the Open call or have a project that fits within one of the strategic Challenge calls, preparing a strong application is critical to maximising your chances of success.
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