EIC Accelerator Open 2025
Quick Facts
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for EIC Accelerator Open 2025 offering max €634.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description for “EIC Accelerator Open 2025”
What the Grant Funds
* Innovation Stage: Supports single start-ups and SMEs (including ‘small mid-caps’) that are developing breakthrough, market-creating innovations which have passed proof-of-concept (TRL ≥ 5) and need funding for demonstration, market-validation and scale-up (up to TRL 8).
* Financial Support Mix
* Grant component: up to €2.5 million (lump-sum) for activities bringing the technology from TRL 5-8.
* Equity/Quasi-equity component (optional): up to €15 million (blended finance) managed by the EIC Fund for TRL 9/scale-up costs.
* Overall call budget: €634 million (shared across both 2025 cut-offs).
Eligibility Snapshot
* Applicants: Single for-profit legal entity established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Mid-caps (≤500 FTE) may apply only for the investment component.
* Geographic scope: All countries listed as eligible in _[Annex B of the Horizon Europe General Annexes](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2024/general-annexes_horizon-euratom_en.pdf)_.
* TRL Entry Level: ≥5 (validated prototype in relevant environment).
* Intellectual Property: Applicants must have, or have options to acquire, the IP necessary to commercially exploit the results in the EU/Associated Countries.
Cut-off Calendar (Single-Stage Full Proposal)
* Opening of submission system: 26 November 2024
* 1st cut-off: 12 March 2025, 17:00 (Brussels time)
* 2nd cut-off: 01 October 2025, 17:00 (Brussels time)
Key Features
* Lump-sum grant: simplified cost reporting; payment triggered by milestone achievement.
* Non-dilutive + equity option: Unique EU instrument combining grant and patient capital from the EIC Fund.
* Business Acceleration Services (BAS): All funded companies gain access to EIC coaching, mentoring, corporates and investors.
* Seal of Excellence: High-quality but unfunded proposals may receive a label to facilitate alternative financing at national/regional level.
For the full legal conditions consult _[Horizon Europe Work Programme – EIC 2025](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2025/wp_horizon-eic-2025_en.pdf)_ and the specific topic page on the _[Funding & Tenders Portal](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-eic-2025-accelerator-02-open-01)_.
📊 At a Glance
🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities – EIC Accelerator Open 2025 (HORIZON-EIC-2025-ACCELERATOR-02-OPEN-01)
1. Strategic EU-level Financing Power
• Largest EU innovation instrument for deep-tech scale-ups – up to €2.5 M non--dilutive grant (TRL 5-8) plus €0.5–15 M equity via the _EIC Fund_ gives unrivalled leverage compared with national schemes.
• Lump-sum simplicity lowers administrative burden and facilitates rapid cash-flow, critical for fast-moving SMEs.
• Blended-finance signalling effect de-risks private co-investment, often unlocking 3–5× additional capital from VCs and corporates EU-wide.
2. Seamless Market Expansion in the EU Single Market
• Passport your innovation across 450 million consumers without customs/friction.
• EIC support team offers regulatory coaching to navigate CE-marking, MDR, REACH, GDPR, AI Act, etc., accelerating pan-EU commercialisation.
• Grant reviewers value scalability across Member States, giving applicants with clear EU roll-out a competitive edge.
3. Cross-border Collaboration & Supply-chain Resilience
• The programme rewards multi-country subcontracting & piloting, enabling access to Europe’s diverse R&D hubs, testbeds and living labs.
• Build resilient supply chains by sourcing components/services from multiple EU regions, mitigating geopolitical risk.
4. Fast-Track to Complementary EU Instruments
• EIC Plug-in: Projects with a Seal of Excellence can jump directly into InvestEU, European Investment Bank (EIB) Venture Debt or Innovation Fund calls.
• Cascade-funding networks (e.g. NGI, Euroclusters) favor EIC-labelled SMEs for follow-on vouchers and procurement pilots.
5. IP & Standardisation Leverage
• Enjoy pan-European patent cost reductions via the new Unitary Patent & UPC system.
• EIC provides vouchers for European IP Helpdesk and standardisation bodies (CEN/CENELEC/ETSI)—speeding alignment with emerging EU standards.
6. Talent Mobility & Skills Pipelines
• EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) connect awardees to Marie-Skłodowska Curie fellows and Erasmus Mundus graduates, easing recruitment of top STEM talent.
• Participation enables access to the EU Talent Pool pilot for highly-skilled third-country nationals.
7. Alignment with EU Green, Digital & Resilience Agendas
• Projects advancing the Green Deal, Digital Decade, or Open Strategic Autonomy receive strong evaluators’ traction and potential policy visibility.
• EIC portfolio-level synergies open doors to joint public procurement with cities/regions engaged in the _Mission_ programmes (Climate-Neutral Cities, Adaptation, Oceans, Soil, Cancer).
8. Timing Opportunities (2025 Multi-Cut-off)
• Two cut-offs (12 Mar & 01 Oct 2025) let consortia iterate based on evaluator feedback; early submission secures a second chance within the same Work Programme year.
• TRL window (5-9) allows both late-stage prototypes and pre-scale industrial pilots—broadening eligibility across sectors.
9. Competitive Advantage for Underserved Regions
• Success rates for applicants from Widening countries improved by 40 % in 2024 following new geographic balance policy—momentum likely to continue in 2025.
• Optional co-investment agreements with national promotional banks (e.g., Bpifrance, KfW, CDP, BGK) provide match-funding leverage.
10. Practical Next Steps
1. Validate eligibility of your SME/start-up via the [_EU Funding & Tenders portal_](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal).
2. Book EIC Accelerator online pitching training offered by Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) nodes.
3. Conduct an FTO and ESG gap analysis; integrate into Part B for higher Impact scores.
4. Engage at least one cross-border pilot customer to evidence EU-wide commercial appetite.
5. Prepare short video pitch & 10-slide deck early—needed at Step 1 of the three-stage application.
> Leveraging these EU-wide advantages not only boosts the probability of winning the EIC Accelerator Open 2025 but also maximises the long-term competitiveness and investment attractiveness of your innovation across the European Union.
🏷️ Keywords
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for EIC Accelerator Open 2025 offering max €634.0M funding