Single-company deeptech funding
An investment case with a grant wrapped around it.
The European Innovation Council funds individual companies rather than consortia, for deeptech with the potential to create or scale a market. It is the closest thing in European funding to a venture process, and it is assessed like one.
EIC Accelerator at a glance
- Applicant
- One company, no consortium required
- Structure
- Grant, with an optional equity component
- Assessment
- Written application, then remote evaluation, then a jury interview
- Readiness expected
- A working prototype, not a concept
- Cut-offs
- Fixed dates published each year
What applicants get wrong
Applicants write it like a research proposal, and it is not one
The evaluation asks whether this company can build a market and defend a position in it (commercial ambition, competitive moat, team, financing plan), assessed partly in a live interview with a jury. Applications that lead with scientific novelty and treat market and team as annexes score badly, however good the technology. The interview stage also means a written proposal that nobody in the company can defend out loud is a liability.
Who it is for
Formal eligibility is set by the call text and changes between rounds. This is the shape of a typical applicant.
- Single SMEs and small mid-caps
- Deeptech with a demonstrated prototype
- Companies ready to scale rather than to research
- Any sector: it is an instrument, not a theme
This funds part of the project, not all of it
Work out what you would need to fund yourself, and what typically covers the gap.
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