What this call funds
Expected Outcome
This call will increase the innovation potential of deep-tech startups in the Widening countries and enable them to better attract private investments and scale up. It will further strengthen the innovation dimension of the widening component and increase the overall competitiveness of these countries.
The specific outcome expected of this action is increased business, investor, and technology readiness of high potential deep-tech startups in Widening countries to a level where they will:
- be successful in applying and attracting the EIC Accelerator funding and/or;
- manage to secure other private investment and/or;
- attract successfully national or regional funding as alternative funding sources (e.g. through Seal of Excellence programmes).
Scope
This action focuses on early-stage deep-tech startups which 1) have high-impact innovation technology, product, service, or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones, and 2) have the ambition and commitments to scale up.
The successful applicants need to work on deep tech innovation. Such companies often struggle to attract financing because the technology and investment risks are too high.
In the framework of this call, deep-tech[1] is technology that is based on cutting-edge scientific advances and discoveries and is characterised by the need to stay at the technological forefront by constant interaction with new ideas and results from the lab. Deep-tech innovations are understood to be those that have the potential to deliver transformative solutions, rooted in cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering, including innovation that combines advances in the physical, biological and digital spheres. Deep-tech is distinct from ‘high-tech’ which tends to refer only to R&D intensity[2].
This EIC Pre-accelerator - Widening call is designed to enable promising deep-tech startups to develop further their innovations (from TRL 4 to TRL 5/6)[3], attract the investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe and successfully apply and attract funding from EIC Accelerator or other sources.
The applicants are expected to demonstrate in their application that they:
- have completed all elements of TRL 3 (Experimental proof of concept) and therefore the technology is currently at TRL 4 (Technology validated in lab);
- possess the necessary Intellectual Property Rights to ensure freedom to operate and adequate protection of the idea;
- have a clear vision on the intended pathway and route to market. This includes specific milestones together with concrete and verifiable KPIs to assess progress towards the market.
The support will be in awarded by grants max at 70% funding of the eligible costs. 30% co-funding to be covered by the beneficiary through its own resources.
An amount between EUR 500.000 and max EUR 1.000.000 in the form of a lump sum for a period of up to 2 years is considered appropriate.
The requested grant is expected to be used for:
- addressing the investor and market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, business case and business model, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) and if relevant, aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation, aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment ready and/or;
- the maturation and validation of novel technologies beyond proof of concept to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e., from minimum TRL 4 up to TRL 6).
At the end of the EIC Pre-accelerator project, it needs to:
- demonstrate that the technology component of their innovation has at least been validated in a relevant environment (e.g. at least completed all aspects of TRL 5);
- be ready to apply for EIC Accelerator and/or to seek other investors or sources of funding, to enter licensing or collaboration agreements with third parties, or other routes to market deployment.
Successful applicants and those awarded the Seal of Excellence will be granted free access to the EIC Business Acceleration Services[4], such as coaching and specific events tailored to their needs (e.g. for improving investor and market readiness).
This will be complemented by access to the EIC Accelerator Fast Track for submissions to the Accelerator programme following a project review in the second half of the project.
[1] Deep-tech ventures have the following characteristics: positioning at the knowledge frontier with long and uncertain R&I cycles; relates to tangible products and industrialisation processes; linked to the ecosystem and especially higher education institutions, problem orientated, or mission driven, focused on the creation of an option space and a dynamic de-risking cycle.
[2] Ratio of a firm’s R&D investment to its revenue.
[3] Completed TRL 5 (Technology validated in relevant environment – industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies) or TRL6 (Technology demonstrated in relevant environment -industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies). TRL 7+ activities are not eligible for funding, however the proposal remains eligible if the work plan reflects progression from at least TRL 3 completed to TRL 5 or 6 completed as only these activities are eligible for funding.
[4] See EIC Work Programme 2027. More information is available also here: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-funding-opportunities/business-acceleration-services_en.
Eligibility & conditions+
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
Part B of your proposal, corresponding to the evaluation criteria Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, must consist of a maximum of 22 A4 pages. Excess pages will be automatically made invisible, and will not be taken into consideration by the evaluators.
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
In WIDERA calls, the countries eligible for hosting coordinators of widening actions are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and all Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo7 , Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and once associated Morocco and Egypt), as well as the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU). Hereinafter, these countries, including the Outermost Regions, will be named 'Widening countries'.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
Applications may only be submitted by one legal entity (mono-beneficiary).
The following additional eligibility criteria apply:
Beneficiaries must be a small and medium enterprise (SME) established in a Horizon Europe Widening country.
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications exceeding all of the evaluation thresholds set out in this work programme but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
The following additions to the general award criteria apply:
The proposals will be evaluated by 3 independent evaluators following the award criteria for EIC Transition Open at first evaluation step, EIC Work Programme 2027. These are:
Excellence (Threshold: 4/5)
Technological breakthrough: Does the technology have a high degree of novelty and higher performance compared to other technologies available or in development? Does the technology indicate high commercial potential?
Objectives: How credible and feasible are the objectives for the planned technology development and maturation? How credible and feasible are the objectives and KPIs for the planned business development process?
Methodology: Is the timing right for this technology/innovation (i.g. feasibility, minimum technological readiness level (TRL), unique selling points)?
Impact (Threshold: 4/5)
Credibility of the impacts: To what extent the expected commercial impact(s) described in the proposal are credible and substantial within the project and beyond (e.g. one or several sectors, setting new standards, etc.)?
Economic and/or societal benefits: To what extent does the proposed innovation have scale up potential including high capacity to gain or create new European or global markets? To what extent is the proposed innovation expected to generate positive impacts for the European Union, Member States or Associated Countries (e.g. strategic autonomy, employment etc.)? To what extent does the proposal contribute (beyond the establishment of the beneficiary in a widening country) to enhancing the innovation potential of widening countries?
Investment readiness and go to market strategy: To what extent the proposal and its activities contribute to make the technology and the team investment ready (including through IP protection and market validation)? Is there a well-defined and convincing go-to-market strategy and pathway, including what regulatory approvals may be needed (if relevant), time to market, possible business and revenue model?
Quality and efficiency of the implementation (Threshold 3/5)
Quality and motivation of the team: To what extent does the (project) team have the necessary high-quality capabilities and high motivation to move decisively towards market? To what extent does the applicant have the necessary expertise to create a unique commercial value from the emerging technology and develop an attractive business and investment proposition?
KPIs and Milestones: Are both milestones and KPIs present, relevant and clearly defined (measurable, timed, comparable etc.) to track progress along the pathway towards objectives? Have the main risks (e.g. technological, market, financial etc.) been identified, together with measures to mitigate in order to achieve the project objectives?
Workplan and allocation of resources: How appropriate and effective is the allocation of resources (person-months and equipment) between work packages?
The following rules for dealing with ex-aequo applications apply: in the first place, ex-aequo proposals will be prioritised according to geographical diversity criteria, defined as proposals with coordinators established in a Widening country, not otherwise represented as coordinator higher up the ranking list. The method described in Points 1), 2), 3)[[The method mentioned in point 3) related to gender balance shall be interpreted as gender balance among the CEOs (or equivalent function) of companies applying to this call.]] and 5) of General Annexes Part F (Procedure/Evaluation procedure and ranking) will then be applied to the remaining equally ranking proposals in the group. This rule establishing the priority order serves to better spread the impact of the action and to strengthen the efficiency of the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ programme.
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
The funding rate is 70 % of the eligible costs.
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the WIDERA Work Programme 2026-2027
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call will be available in the Submission System
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Guidance
HE Programme Guide
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Lump Sum MGA
Call-specific instructions
Detailed budget table (HE LS)
Information on clinical studies (HE)
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"
Additional documents:
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-10-13