EU funding programmes
EIC Accelerator
Grant below €2.5M + up to €10M equity
Grant funds up to 70% of eligible innovation costs. Investment requires due diligence.
Grant below €2.5M and €0.5M–€10M investment to scale breakthrough innovation
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 6–8; investment may support scale-up to TRL 9
- Applications & timing
- Open
Digital Europe Programme — AI & Supercomputing
Topic-specific grants
AI rounds closed 1 October 2026. Fourth set of calls (2027 deadline) programmed in WP amendment C(2026) 1781 but not yet published. Each new call sets its own award size and co-funding rate.
Funding for deploying mature AI and digital capabilities across Europe
- Readiness / TRL
- Deployment readiness; topic-specific
- Applications & timing
- Round closed
Next round not announced
AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities (AI TEFs)
Testing services & technical access
Request a service quote and check subsidy eligibility; access and discounts depend on the facility.
Test your AI in real-world conditions across healthcare, agri-food, manufacturing, and smart cities
- Readiness / TRL
- Usually TRL 6–8; some services from TRL 4
- Applications & timing
- Rolling access
Rolling applications
EIC Transition
Up to €2.5M
Grant to develop results from an eligible research project.
Up to €2.5M to bring research results from lab to market
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 3-6
- Applications & timing
- Last round closed
Horizon Europe Cluster 4: Digital, Industry & Space
Topic-specific project grants
Industry, digital and space topics set their own project budgets and funding rates.
€4M–7M for collaborative R&I in digital, industrial, and space technologies
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 3-7
- Applications & timing
- Open calls
EU Innovation Fund
Up to 60% of relevant costs
Regular grants; auctions use different rules. Five IF26 routes are announced for December 2026; exact deadlines pending.
Up to €216M per project to scale clean tech, funded by Europe's carbon market
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 6-9 (TRL 8+ for commercial demonstration topics; 6-7 for pilots)
- Applications & timing
- Upcoming
See call schedule
EIC Pathfinder Open
Up to €4M
Grant for early-stage breakthrough technology research. 2027 dates are from the draft EIC Work Programme 2027 and are provisional until the official call is published.
Up to €4M for visionary research exploring breakthrough technologies
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 1-4
- Applications & timing
- Upcoming
EIC Pathfinder Booster
Up to €50K per grant
Normally up to 3 grants per Pathfinder project or 1 per Transition project; invitation required.
Up to €50K for complementary innovation and portfolio work by eligible invited EIC projects
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 3–5
- Applications & timing
- Invitation only
No public application deadline
Horizon Europe Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Topic-specific project grants
Next general-entry rounds open in February 2027. The November 2026 partnership continuation is restricted.
Up to €15M per project for collaborative agri-food, bioeconomy, biodiversity and circular-economy research
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 2-6 (mostly RIA)
- Applications & timing
- Upcoming
European Chips Act / Chips Joint Undertaking
Grant size depends on the topic
AI demonstrators expect about €1M per project; the €70M platform is a separate procurement action.
Semiconductor R&D, design and shared infrastructure, with topic-specific grants and national co-funding
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 3-8 (RIA at TRL 3-4, IA at TRL 5-8)
- Applications & timing
- Open calls
Horizon Europe Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Grants set by each topic
Large research and innovation projects commonly receive several million euros.
Multi-million-euro collaborative grants for climate, clean energy and mobility R&I — €394.5M open across two calls (8 October and 1 December 2026); first 2027 calls open 17 November 2026
- Readiness / TRL
- Varies by call
- Applications & timing
- Open calls
STEP — Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform
€10M–30M equity per company
Via EIC STEP Scale Up routes. The wider STEP platform channels existing EU support.
Funding routes and a quality label for Europe’s strategic technologies
- Readiness / TRL
- Varies by call; EIC STEP Scale Up targets market-ready scale-ups
- Applications & timing
- Call-specific
Check individual calls
EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026
Up to €4M
Grant for early-stage, challenge-led research.
Up to €4M, 100% funded, for deep-tech research on three Commission-chosen frontiers.
- Readiness / TRL
- TRL 1-4
- Applications & timing
- Open
InvestEU Programme
Loans & equity via intermediaries
Amount and terms depend on the lender, fund and financing product.
EU-backed loans, guarantees and equity through banks, funds and implementing partners
- Readiness / TRL
- Varies by call
- Applications & timing
- Via intermediaries
No single deadline
European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and its KICs
Grants, prizes and investment by call
Nearest cutoff: restricted SEGS student grant, 14 October. Other calls have their own eligibility and financial-return terms.
Sector-specific startup programmes, grants, prizes and investment
- Readiness / TRL
- Call-specific: idea to market
- Applications & timing
- Last round closed
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