EIC Accelerator
Define the scope of the project and check the call objectives to meet the criteria. Start the work at least 3-4 months before the call deadline to ensure a good quality. Register to the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and open application. If you are currently a participant in an eligible project funded by Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 then you may be able to apply through your existing project under the Fast Track scheme.
You may submit a short application (including video, pitch deck, and 5-page form) at any time via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal that will direct you to the EIC Artificial Intelligence based IT platform. Within 4-6 weeks, you will receive feedback from expert evaluators specifying whether or not your application met the criteria to proceed to a full application.
You must prepare your full application on the EIC platform, which includes a number of automatic checks and feedback to guide you through the process. The full application consists of a full business plan and full information on you company’s finances and structure. To support the development of your full application, you will receive 3 days of coaching from one of the business coaches from the EIC Business Acceleration Services. Within 5-6 weeks you will be informed about the result of the remote evaluation and if successful, you will be invited to attend a face-to-face interview with an EIC jury.
Next step is a face-to-face interview with an EIC jury. At the interview you may be represented by a maximum of three persons. Only individuals mentioned in the proposal and involved in the future project implementation can represent your proposal at the interview. During the interview you should convincingly pitch your proposal to the jury, who will ask you questions aimed at clarifying various aspects of your proposal in line with the evaluation criteria.
You will be informed about the result of the interview within approximately 2-3 weeks. If you are successful at the interview, you will be invited to negotiate and then sign an initial contract that will initially provide for the grant component, which will include a first pre-financing payment.
In parallel, if your application included an investment component, the EIC Fund will start the due diligence process in order to proceed with the negotiation of the investment component.
EIC Transition
Define the scope of the project and decide whether you want to apply as single entity or as a consortium. Check the call objectives in order to meet the criteria. Start the work at least 2-3 months before the call deadline to ensure a good quality. Your proposed activities must include further research and development on the results achieved in your previous projects. Register to the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and open application.
Prepare application and required annexes. You must submit your application via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal before the given deadline. Your application will be evaluated first by expert evaluators. You will be informed about the result of this evaluation, including feedback on your proposal, within 5-6 weeks. If your proposal successfully passes this first evaluation phase, you will be invited for a face-to-face interview, which will be organised approximately 8-9 weeks after the call deadline.
The third step is a face-to-face interview with an EIC jury. At the interview you may be represented by a maximum of five persons. Only individuals mentioned in the proposal and involved in the future project implementation can represent your proposal at the interview. During the interview you should convincingly pitch your proposal to the jury, who will ask you questions aimed at clarifying various aspects of your proposal in line with the evaluation criteria.
You will be informed about the result of the interview within approximately 2-3 weeks. If you are successful, your grant agreement will be signed within 6 months from the call deadline. Once the grant agreement has been signed with the EC, the project will get a starting date.
EIC Pathfinder
Define the scope of the project and decide whether you want to apply as single entity or as a consortium. Check the call objectives in order to meet the criteria. Start the work at least 2 months before the call deadline to ensure a good quality. Your proposed activities must include further research and development on the results achieved in your previous projects. Register to the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and open application.
Prepare application and required annexes. You must submit your application via the European Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal before the given deadline. Your proposal will be first evaluated and scored remotely with respect to the evaluation criteria by expert evaluators. The remote score for each evaluation criterion will be the median of the evaluators’ scores. The overall remote score will be the weighted sum of the three median scores from the three evaluation criteria.
A rebuttal procedure after the remote phase will provide you with the opportunity to reply within seven calendar days to the evaluators’ comments. Your replies cannot be used to alter or add to the content of the proposals, but must strictly focus on responding to potential misunderstandings or errors by the evaluators. The evaluation committee will decide on the final score on the basis of the remote score and the outcome of its consensus discussions.
You will be informed about the outcome of the evaluation within 5 months from the call deadline, and your grant agreement should be signed by 8 months after call deadline. Once the grant agreement has been signed with the EC, the project will get a starting date.