EIC Accelerator

You apply alone: one start-up or SME (small or medium-sized enterprise, per the EU definition — under 250 staff and either ≤€50m turnover or ≤€43m balance sheet) established in an EU member state or a Horizon Europe associated country. No consortia. 'Small mid-caps' of up to 499 employees may apply too, but only for the investment or blended route at TRL 9 (technology readiness level — full commercial deployment); they are explicitly barred from grant-only support. Lose SME status mid-project through an acquisition and the Commission can reassess — an ownership change that undermines the award decision is grounds for terminating the grant agreement.

UK applicants can apply but may only request the grant component — no EIC Fund equity. Switzerland signed its Horizon Europe association agreement on 10 November 2025 and Swiss companies participate on equal terms for calls funded from the 2025 budget onwards, equity included. Founders from non-associated third countries may submit a short proposal, but must have established or relocated their SME to a member state or associated country — with proof of 'effective establishment' — by the time the full proposal is submitted; the Commission can also write Union-interest milestones into the contract.

After three unsuccessful submissions at any stage (short proposal, full proposal remote evaluation or jury interview) and for any support form (Open, Challenge, grant-only, blended, equity-only), you cannot apply to the EIC Accelerator again under the entire Horizon Europe framework programme. Two softeners: rejections before 2024 do not count towards the limit, and withdrawing a proposal before receiving its evaluation result does not consume a strike. A successful short proposal never counts as a rejection.

You may have only one proposal under evaluation across the Accelerator and the STEP Scale-up call; submit two and only the last one filed is admissible. You also cannot apply while a previous EIC Accelerator or SME Instrument project is still running — a project only counts as finished once its final report is submitted (exception: ongoing grant-only beneficiaries may apply for the investment component). And grant-only support is awarded once per beneficiary across all of Horizon Europe, capped at €2.5m.

The lump-sum grant (maximum €2,499,999 for grant-only) covers up to 70% of eligible TRL 6–8 costs; evaluators expect evidence — revenue, shareholders, committed investors — that you can finance the remaining ~30% plus the later deployment phase. Simultaneously you must demonstrate the opposite of bankability: that private markets will not fully fund the venture at its current risk level, the 'need for EU support' test. A standard Horizon Europe financial-capacity check applies where the requested grant is €500,000 or more, scrutinising your accounts; a weak result can mean extra guarantees, no pre-financing or rejection.

Every full proposal answers security questions; projects touching classified or security-sensitive information pass through a formal Security Appraisal before funding is authorised and may be subjected to specific security rules. For grant-only applications under the Critical Raw Materials challenge (or Open proposals falling within its scope), an ownership-and-control declaration is mandatory and successful applicants undergo a check on whether the company is controlled — directly or indirectly — from a non-associated third country. A failed control assessment makes the proposal ineligible regardless of evaluation merit.