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EIC Accelerator: how to apply, step by step (2026 rules)

How to apply for the EIC Accelerator: eligibility, short and full proposals, 2026 cut-off dates, jury interviews, funding amounts and resubmission limits.

To apply for the EIC Accelerator, you submit a short proposal on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal at any time of year. If at least three of the four remote evaluators give it a GO, you submit a full proposal by one of the fixed cut-off dates. If it ranks high enough, you then pitch to an EIC Jury in Brussels. The last full-proposal cut-off under the 2026 work programme is 4 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time.

The rules below are as of October 2026. They come from the European Innovation Council's programme page and the official EIC Accelerator Guide for Applicants (version 6.0, 19 November 2025).

What the EIC Accelerator funds

The EIC Accelerator, part of Horizon Europe, funds deep-tech start-ups and SMEs whose innovation is too risky for private investors to fund on their own. Applicants can ask for three types of support:

  • Grant only. A lump sum below €2.5 million, covering up to 70% of eligible costs for innovation activities at technology readiness levels (TRL) 6 to 8. The work should normally be completed within 24 months. The maximum grant-only request is €2,499,999, and you must show that you have the means, such as revenue or existing investors, to pay for deployment and scale-up. A company can receive grant-only support only once under Horizon Europe.
  • Blended finance. The same grant component plus an investment of €1 million to €10 million from the EIC Fund, usually as equity or quasi-equity such as a convertible loan. The investment part covers market deployment (TRL 9) and other costs not covered by the grant.
  • Investment only. €1 million to €10 million for companies that need capital to scale but not a grant. Investments of €10–30 million go through the separate STEP Scale-up call.

According to the applicant guide, the EIC Fund takes at most 25% of a company's voting shares and invests as patient capital, with an indicative horizon of 7–10 years. For 2026, the EIC lists a budget of €414 million for Accelerator Open and €220 million for Accelerator Challenges.

Who can apply

  • A single start-up or SME, including a spin-out, established in an EU member state or a country associated with Horizon Europe.
  • A small mid-cap with up to 499 employees that needs to scale up quickly. Under the 2026 work programme, these companies can apply for investment only, or for blended finance in exceptional cases, but never for grant only.
  • One or more people or legal entities planning to set up an SME. The company must exist before the contract is signed.
  • Founders from countries outside the EU and the associated countries. They must have set up or moved the company to an eligible country by the time they submit the full proposal.

UK companies can apply, but only for grant-only support. You can have only one proposal under evaluation at a time, and companies with an ongoing EIC Accelerator project generally have to finish it before applying again.

The technology also has to qualify. It should be deep tech, meaning it builds on scientific or engineering breakthroughs, and it must have completed all aspects of TRL 5 (validation in a relevant environment). The 2026 fusion challenge is an exception and accepts TRL 4–6.

Since an amendment to the 2026 work programme adopted on 17 June 2026, the Accelerator can also fund innovations with potential dual-use applications, meaning both civilian and defence uses, in Open and in the Challenges, as long as they also advance civilian use. According to the amended work programme, the first dual-use proposals were batched for evaluation on 2 September 2026.

Open call or Challenges

Accelerator Open accepts innovations from any field. Accelerator Challenges fund set topics, and in 2026 there are five: advanced materials for renewable energy and energy storage, technologies for fusion power plants, biotech for regenerating agricultural soils, the European critical raw materials value chain, and deep tech for climate adaptation. You pick between Open and a Challenge when you prepare the full proposal. If you work on energy or climate technology, our Climate Tech section covers companies in these areas.

Step 1: register and submit the short proposal

First, register your organisation on the Funding & Tenders Portal to get a 9-digit Participant Identification Code (PIC). Natural persons also need a PIC. The short proposal contains:

  • answers to set questions about the innovation, the market and the team, up to 12 pages;
  • a pitch deck of up to 10 slides in PDF, with no fixed template;
  • a video of up to three minutes, presented by up to three core team members (it can be in any EU language and may have subtitles);
  • an indicative amount of funding, which you can change later;
  • self-declarations, plus optional consent for your National Contact Point to see the proposal and its results.

Short proposals are batched for evaluation on the first Tuesday of each month at 17:00 Brussels time. Four remote experts each give a GO or NO GO. You pass with at least three GOs, and two NO GOs mean the proposal fails. Results normally arrive within about 4–6 weeks.

The experts look at three things:

  • how new the innovation is, how mature the technology is and how well it is protected by IP;
  • how big the market is and what share you can realistically win;
  • whether the team can deliver, whether you already have some investor interest, and whether you need more money than private investors would put in on their own.

Step 2: coaching and the full proposal

A GO entitles you to three days of free remote coaching from the EIC Business Acceleration Services. You can use this coaching only once. The full proposal is a 20-page form that builds on the short one, and it comes with these attachments:

  • a new pitch deck (no slide limit, but you will have 10 minutes to present it if you are invited to interview);
  • the same video or a new one;
  • financial information and a lump-sum budget table;
  • an implementation plan with work packages and milestones;
  • a freedom-to-operate (FTO) analysis;
  • letters of intent and links to the CVs of key people.

You also choose the type of funding, pick up to three keywords used to match you with evaluators, and can exclude up to three experts over conflicts of interest.

The 2026 cut-off dates for full proposals are 7 January, 4 March, 6 May, 8 July, 2 September and 4 November, each at 17:00 Brussels time. A GO from a short proposal submitted under the 2025 or 2026 work programme lets you submit to any of these dates. The 2027 dates will appear in the next EIC work programme.

Step 3: remote evaluation and the jury interview

After the cut-off, a technology expert and a panel of at least three experts assess the full proposal in parallel. About 3–4 weeks after the cut-off, you have a one-hour online interview with the technology expert. Up to three people from the company can join, consultants are not allowed, and you can show prototypes. The panel then scores each criterion out of 5. You need at least 4 on every criterion and 13 out of 15 overall. Results of this stage arrive about 8–9 weeks after the cut-off.

The top-ranked proposals, adding up to about 2.5 times the available grant budget, are invited to a face-to-face interview in Brussels, held after every second batch. You can send up to three representatives, and the EIC does not pay travel costs. Each panel has four to six jury members. The interview lasts up to 45 minutes, in English: a pitch of up to 10 minutes followed by up to 35 minutes of questions. According to the EIC, results come within 2–3 weeks of the end of the interview week.

Step 4: agreements, seals and resubmission limits

If the jury says GO, you are invited to sign a grant agreement, which includes a first pre-financing payment. If you asked for an investment, the EIC Fund starts negotiating the investment agreement at the same time. The jury can lower the grant if it finds activities above TRL 8, but it does not change the investment amount you requested.

Proposals that score at least 13 out of 15 but are not funded receive a Seal of Excellence, which helps them seek money from other public funders. The seal only works if you agreed to share your data when you applied. Proposals submitted to a Challenge also receive a STEP Seal.

After three unsuccessful submissions, at any stage and for any type of funding, a company cannot apply to the EIC Accelerator again under Horizon Europe. Withdrawing a proposal before you receive the result does not count towards this limit.

Practical points before you apply

  • Check your TRL honestly: the grant cannot cover work above TRL 8, and you must prove TRL 5 is complete.
  • Start the freedom-to-operate analysis early, because it is required for the full proposal.
  • Talk to your National Contact Point. The guide recommends this free national advisory service for questions about the programme.
  • See how funded teams present themselves in our Startups section and founder interviews.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the EIC Accelerator process take?

The official timings are about 4–6 weeks for the short proposal, 8–9 weeks for the remote stage of the full proposal and 2–3 weeks after the interview week for the jury result. Because interviews follow every second cut-off, the whole process usually takes several months.

How much money can a company get from the EIC Accelerator?

The grant component is below €2.5 million and covers up to 70% of eligible innovation costs. The investment component ranges from €1 million to €10 million. Larger investments of €10–30 million are handled through the STEP Scale-up call.

When is the next EIC Accelerator cut-off?

As of October 2026, the next and last cut-off of the 2026 work programme is 4 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. Short proposals can be submitted at any time and are batched on the first Tuesday of every month.

Can companies outside the EU apply for the EIC Accelerator?

Companies in countries associated with Horizon Europe can apply on the same terms as EU companies. UK companies can receive grant-only support. Founders from other countries must have set up or moved their company to an eligible country before submitting the full proposal.

What happens if my EIC Accelerator application is rejected?

You can apply again, but three unsuccessful submissions at any stage end your eligibility for the rest of Horizon Europe. Full proposals that score at least 13 out of 15 without being funded receive a Seal of Excellence, which can help with other public funding.