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Overview
Der EIC Pathfinder Booster des Europäischen Innovationsrats (EIC) ist eine kleine, schnelle Brückenförderung für Teams, die die EU bereits über den EIC Pathfinder oder den EIC Transition unterstützt hat. Er zahlt einen festen Pauschalbetrag von 50.000 €, um zu erkunden, ob Forschungsergebnisse echtes kommerzielles Potenzial haben — Marktanalyse, Strategie für geistiges Eigentum, Kundenrecherche, Ausarbeitung des Geschäftsmodells — und kann pro Projekt bis zu dreimal vergeben werden. Man kann es sich so vorstellen, als sage Brüssel: Wir haben deine bahnbrechende Forschung finanziert, hier ist nun Geld, um herauszufinden, ob daraus ein Produkt, ein Start-up oder ein Lizenzgeschäft werden kann. Er füllt die Lücke zwischen Pathfinder (reine Forschung, Technologie-Reifegrade TRL 1–4) und Transition (Validierung, TRL 4–6). Die Förderungen werden von BOOST verwaltet, einer Koordinierungs- und Unterstützungsmaßnahme unter der Leitung von FundingBox mit den Partnern Splorotech, der Barcelona Mobile World Capital Foundation und 3URA, mit einem Topf von rund 6 Mio. €, der zwischen 2025 und 2027 mindestens 100 Geförderte erreichen soll. Der entscheidende Vorbehalt: Du kannst dich nicht proaktiv bewerben. Du musst von deinem EIC-Programmmanager nach einer Projektüberprüfung empfohlen werden — es geht ausschließlich auf Einladung.
Der Booster ist die seltene EU-Förderung, bei der der schwierige Teil nicht der Antrag ist.
Is this for you?
- EIC Pathfinder grantee (current or recent)
- EIC Transition grantee — max 1 Booster
- Legacy Horizon 2020 project: EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open, FET-Proactive
- Technology Transfer Office or inventor linked to an EIC project
- Research results worth a commercial test (roughly TRL 3–5)
- No existing EIC/FET grant → EIC Pathfinder (this is invitation-only, no open call)
- Need real validation money, not €50K → EIC Transition (up to €2.5M)
- Startup past the lab, seeking grant + equity → EIC Accelerator
- Want to fund more research → Pathfinder Open (grants up to €4M)
You cannot apply cold. An EIC Programme Manager must recommend you after a project review; the BOOST consortium then invites you to submit. TRL = Technology Readiness Level, the EU's 1–9 scale from basic idea to proven product.
Success rates — the honest picture
| Metric | Figure | Where it's stated |
|---|---|---|
| Total BOOST budget (2025–2027) | €5,999,932.50 | CORDIS fact sheet, project 101192038 |
| Share cascaded to grantees | ≥83% (≈€5M) | CORDIS fact sheet |
| Target grantees by end-2027 | 100+ | CORDIS project objective |
| Maximum per grant | €50,000 | EIC Booster Grant Scheme rules |
| Cap per Pathfinder project | 3 grants / €150,000 | EIC Booster Grant Scheme rules |
| Cap per Transition project | 1 grant | EIC Booster Grant Scheme rules |
| Votes needed to win | 2 of 3 GO | EIC Booster Grant Scheme rules |
No applicants-vs-funded statistics exist — selection is invitation-based and first-come, first-served, so a 'success rate' in the Accelerator sense isn't published. The real filter is whether your Programme Manager recommends you at all.
Eligibility
- 1Du bist ein EIC-Pathfinder-Geförderter (aktuell oder ehemalig)
- 2Du bist ein EIC-Transition-Geförderter
- 3Du bist Begünstigter eines früheren FET-Open- oder FET-Proactive-Projekts
- 4Du bist eine Technologietransferstelle (TTO), die mit einem EIC-Projekt verbunden ist
- 5Deine Forschung hat Ergebnisse mit potenziellem kommerziellem Wert hervorgebracht
- 6Du musst von deinem EIC-Programmmanager empfohlen werden — dies geschieht ausschließlich auf Einladung, nicht über einen offenen Aufruf
- 7Booster-Mittel finanzieren ausschließlich die Erkundung der Vermarktung, nicht die Kernforschungstätigkeiten
Booster grants are awarded outside any call for proposals (under Article 47(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation). You must first be invited, and the invitation only follows one of three triggers: a positive recommendation from your EIC (European Innovation Council) Programme Manager, the outcome of a project review, or participation in the EIC Tech2Market Business Acceleration Services — specifically the Business Validation or Venture Building programmes. Cold applications do not exist in this scheme; cultivate your Programme Manager relationship early.
The applicant pool is wider than most assume: EIC Awardees themselves, their Technology Transfer Offices, EIC Inventors, and other third parties — provided they hold the necessary access rights or have been formally entrusted with the task by the awardee. Affiliated entities participating in the Pathfinder or Transition project also count. Legacy projects qualify too: grants resulting from certain EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open and FET-Proactive calls (Future and Emerging Technologies, the Horizon 2020 predecessor) are explicitly in scope.
A maximum of three Booster grants per EIC Pathfinder project, and a maximum of one per EIC Transition project. More can be awarded only in exceptional and duly justified cases. A Booster can go to an individual awardee or a group of awardees — but the quota attaches to the parent project, so consortium partners are effectively competing for the same allocation.
Booster grants do not fund research, activities already foreseen in the original project's description of action, or anything already funded by other EIC instruments. Eligible uses are commercialisation exploration (market analysis, IP consolidation, freedom-to-operate, business case development, testing with customers, spin-off preparation, incubator hosting) or portfolio activities across EIC projects. Double-dipping is the classic rejection ground.
Each proposal is assessed by a mixed committee of three: an EIC Programme Manager, an external expert from a trained pool, and either an EIC Project Officer or a second external expert. Each gives a GO or NO GO against the award criteria; at least two GOs are needed for selection. Rejected applicants may be invited to resubmit an adjusted proposal — but only at the committee's invitation, not as of right.
Innovation-activity Boosters are not paid by EISMEA (the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency) directly but by the BOOST consortium — a Coordination and Support Action coordinated by FundingBox Accelerator (Poland), selected under call HORIZON-EIC-2024-BOOSTER and running 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. It serves at least 100 EIC awardees on a first-come, first-served basis, so the practical constraint is budget exhaustion, not a deadline.
The money — a €50K invitation-only lump sum
The €50,000 is a fixed amount, not a reimbursement. You don't itemise costs or file timesheets; you deliver a final report of roughly 10 pages on what you achieved — market findings, next steps — not what you spent.
There are no cut-off rankings. Once invited, your proposal goes to a three-member committee — an EIC Programme Manager, an external expert, and an EIC Project Officer or second expert. Two GO votes out of three and you're funded, until the €6M pot runs dry. Speed matters once the invitation lands.
The money covers market analysis, intellectual-property strategy and freedom-to-operate checks, business-case work, customer discovery and technology-transfer planning. It does not pay for core research, equipment, or anything your Pathfinder grant already covers.
The European Commission funds the BOOST project — a Coordination and Support Action led by FundingBox (Poland) with FundingBox Communities, Splorotech, Barcelona Mobile World Capital Foundation and 3URA — which administers invitations, evaluation and payouts on the Commission's behalf.
How to apply — step by step
- 1Complete your Pathfinder project milestonesDuring your project
Continue your funded Pathfinder (or Transition) research. The Booster is designed for projects that have generated promising results with potential commercial value.
- 2Get a Programme Manager recommendationAfter a project review
Your EIC Programme Manager monitors your project's progress. During periodic reviews, they identify projects with exploitable results and recommend them for a Booster grant. You cannot apply proactively — you must be invited.
- 3Receive your invitation from the BOOST CSA1–2 weeks after recommendation
Once recommended, the BOOST consortium (led by FundingBox) sends you a formal invitation to submit a Booster proposal through their dedicated platform — not through the standard EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
BOOST platform → - 4Submit your Booster proposal2–4 weeks to prepare
Write a concise proposal outlining the commercial potential of your research results, your planned activities (market analysis, IP strategy, business case development), and expected outcomes. This is much lighter than a full Pathfinder or Transition application.
- 5Evaluation by a mixed review committee2–4 weekspass rate 2 of 3 GO votes required
Your proposal is assessed by a mixed committee of 3 reviewers — typically one EIC Programme Manager and independent external experts drawn from a pool of 820+ trained reviewers. You need at least 2 out of 3 'GO' votes to be selected. The evaluation focuses on commercialisation potential and quality of the proposed activities.
- 6Receive your lump sum and start activitiesImmediate after selection
Upon selection, you receive the €50K lump sum grant. Carry out your commercialisation exploration activities: market sizing, IP consolidation, business planning, stakeholder engagement.
- 7Submit final reportUpon completion
At the end of your Booster activities, submit a concise final report (~10 pages) describing your findings, market assessment, and recommended next steps. This informs your path to EIC Transition or Accelerator.
What evaluators look for
Commercial potential
The research results show clear potential for commercialisation or societal impact. There's an identifiable market or application domain.
- Clear identification of exploitable results from your Pathfinder project
- Evidence of market demand or societal need
- Plausible path from research to product/service
- Understanding of the competitive landscape
Quality of proposed activities
The proposed Booster activities are well-designed to explore and validate the commercial opportunity. Activities are realistic for the €50K budget.
- Concrete plan for market analysis or customer discovery
- IP strategy or freedom-to-operate assessment
- Business model canvas or preliminary business case
- Clear deliverables and timeline
Team capability
The applicant has the right skills and motivation to carry out the commercialisation exploration, or has identified external support (TTO, advisors).
- Relevant entrepreneurial or business development experience
- Connection to Technology Transfer Office or business support
- Commitment to follow through on Booster findings
- Plan for next steps after Booster (Transition, Accelerator, spin-off)
Documents you'll need
The overarching document covering all EIC instruments, including the Booster grant provisions for Pathfinder and Transition beneficiaries.
View documentOfficial description of the BOOST Coordination and Support Action (project 101192038) that administers Booster grants — coordinator FundingBox, ~€6M, 2025–2027, 100+ target grantees.
View documentOfficial EIC page covering the full Pathfinder pipeline, including the €50,000 Booster grants for testing commercialisation potential.
View documentHow lump sum grants work in Horizon Europe — applies to the €50K Booster payment.
View documentAfter you're funded
Booster activities are short — designed to answer one question: does this research have a commercial path? You run market analysis, customer discovery and IP groundwork, then decide.
Because the grant is a lump sum, the only deliverable is a final report of roughly 10 pages covering findings, market assessment and next steps. The BOOST consortium's final payment from the Commission hinges on report approval, so they will chase you for it.
BOOST follows up half a year after your grant ends to record what happened — spin-off, licence, follow-on application or shelf. Results feed a dashboard the Commission uses to judge the scheme.
The intended exits: EIC Transition (up to €2.5M to validate and demonstrate, TRL 4–6), EIC Accelerator (€2.5M grant plus equity if you're further along), licensing via your Technology Transfer Office, a spin-off — or an honest decision to park it.
The same EIC Programme Manager who recommended you manages the portfolio your project sits in. A good Booster outcome strengthens your hand for the next recommendation or portfolio activity.
Practical notes
The Pathfinder Booster is not a competitive open call you can enter on your own. Only EIC awardees who receive an EIC-endorsed invitation to submit are eligible, and that invitation follows a positive recommendation from your EIC Programme Manager or an EIC project review. Practically: the lever you control is your relationship with your Programme Manager, not a proposal deadline.
Day-to-day the scheme is operated as cascade (third-party) funding by the BOOST project (Bringing financial support to innovation and portfolio activities), which supports EISMEA in implementing EIC Booster Grants. Once invited, you submit via the official form provided under the invitation through BOOST's own IT system at one of the periodic cut-offs, not the standard Funding & Tenders Portal call page.
For Pathfinder Challenges, the Programme Manager builds a common roadmap across portfolio projects (shared data, joint market analysis, investor contacts) and brokers commercialisation routes including Booster grants. Boosters explicitly fund both commercialisation-pathway exploration AND portfolio activities — so framing your need in those terms during portfolio meetings and project reviews is what triggers the invitation.
Each Booster grant is a fixed amount not exceeding €50,000, awarded as a lump sum. Evaluation is by a 3-person committee (an EIC Programme Manager plus external experts); a proposal needs at least two GO votes to be selected, then passes admissibility and legal validation. It is deliberately fast and complementary funding — not a second research grant.
Who's been funded
The intermediary that runs the Pathfinder Booster scheme on the EIC's behalf, channelling roughly 83% of its budget straight to innovators as fixed €50,000 grants to at least 100 EIC awardees on a first-come, first-served basis.
Coordinated by France's CNRS, this Pathfinder project oxidises biomass-derived molecules to produce green hydrogen at a lower energy cost than splitting water; the type of awardee a Booster grant pushes toward commercialisation.
Run by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, it builds a solar-powered device that turns waste nitrates and carbon dioxide into useful chemicals such as urea, the kind of deep-tech result a Booster grant helps move to market.
Led by the University of Trento, this Pathfinder Open project builds a platform letting musicians in different places perform together in real time without perceptible lag, an awardee eligible for Booster top-up funding.
Coordinated by Spain's CSIC research council, it develops programmable photonic chips that fold tiny mechanical switches into silicon photonics for data centres and brain-inspired computing, a research result a Booster grant helps commercialise.
Key Features
Official links & resources
- EIC Pathfinder — official page (Booster grants section)
- EIC Booster Grant Scheme — rules on CORDIS
- BOOST project fact sheet on CORDIS
- BOOST project site (FundingBox consortium)
- EIC Work Programme 2026 (official page — always current version)
- EIC Programme Managers — who recommends you
- EIC Transition — the natural next step
Frequently Asked Questions
Nein. Es gibt keinen offenen Aufruf und kein Antragsformular im EU-Portal Funding & Tenders. Dein EIC-Programmmanager muss dein Projekt nach einer Überprüfung empfehlen, woraufhin das BOOST-Konsortium (unter der Leitung von FundingBox) dich einlädt, einen Antrag auf seiner Plattform einzureichen. Wenn du glaubst, dass deine Ergebnisse infrage kommen, sprich den Booster bei deiner nächsten Projektüberprüfung ausdrücklich mit deinem Programmmanager an.
Ein fester Pauschalbetrag von 50.000 € pro Förderung. Da es sich um einen Pauschalbetrag handelt, gibt es keine Belegnachweise, keine Stundenzettel und keine Budgetaufschlüsselung — du erhältst das Geld bei der Auswahl und reichst einen Abschlussbericht (rund 10 Seiten) darüber ein, was du erreicht hast, nicht was du ausgegeben hast. Ein Projekt kann bis zu drei Booster-Förderungen erhalten (insgesamt 150.000 €), sofern dies hinreichend begründet ist.
Ausschließlich für die Erkundung der Vermarktung: Marktanalyse und -dimensionierung, IP-Strategie und Freedom-to-Operate-Bewertungen, Ausarbeitung des Geschäftsmodells, Kundenrecherche und -validierung, Einbindung von Interessengruppen sowie Planung des Technologietransfers. Sie kann weder Kernforschung, Ausrüstung oder Infrastruktur, Festanstellungen noch Tätigkeiten finanzieren, die bereits durch deine Pathfinder-Förderung abgedeckt sind.
Weitaus milder als bei jedem anderen EIC-Instrument. Dein schlanker Antrag wird von einem Gremium aus 3 unabhängigen Expertinnen und Experten aus einer Datenbank mit über 820 Gutachtern bewertet, und du benötigst mindestens 2 von 3 GO-Stimmen. Die Bewertung konzentriert sich auf das kommerzielle Potenzial, die Qualität deiner vorgeschlagenen Tätigkeiten für das 50.000-€-Budget und die Fähigkeit deines Teams, es umzusetzen. Der selektive Schritt ist die Empfehlung des Programmmanagers, nicht der Antrag.
Er ist eine Brücke, kein Ziel. Der Booster liegt zwischen der Pathfinder-Forschung (TRL 1–4) und der Transition-Validierung (TRL 4–6), bei etwa TRL 3–5. Nach deinen Booster-Tätigkeiten solltest du wissen, ob du dich für den EIC Transition (bis zu 2,5 Mio. € zur Validierung der Technologie) bewerben, bei weiterer Reife (TRL 5+) die Mischfinanzierung des EIC Accelerator anstreben, eine Lizenzierung über deine Technologietransferstelle verfolgen, ein Unternehmen ausgründen oder die Vermarktung zurückstellen solltest, falls der Markt noch nicht bereit ist.
Keine festen Fristen — das Programm läuft fortlaufend und ausschließlich auf Einladung von 2025 bis 2027, bis der BOOST-Topf von rund 6 Mio. € (angestrebt sind mindestens 100 Geförderte) ausgeschöpft ist. Die praktische Konsequenz: Reagiere zügig, wenn du eingeladen wirst, statt auf einen Stichtag zu warten, den es nicht gibt.
Sowohl ehemalige als auch aktuelle EIC-Pathfinder-Geförderte fallen in den Anwendungsbereich, ebenso EIC-Transition-Geförderte, Begünstigte früherer FET-Open- und FET-Proactive-Projekte sowie mit einem EIC-Projekt verbundene Technologietransferstellen. Die Berechtigung läuft weiterhin über die Empfehlung des Programmmanagers, daher besteht der praktische Weg für ein abgeschlossenes Projekt darin, deinen Programmmanager wegen verwertbarer Ergebnisse zu kontaktieren.
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