EIC Pre-Accelerator 2025: new funding opportunities for deep tech start-ups

Are you developing an innovative technology and looking for targeted support to take your start-up to the next level? The new EIC Pre-Accelerator offers technology-oriented start-up teams from so-called widening countries the opportunity to receive targeted EU funding for the early stages of their innovation for the first time. The call for proposals is open until November 18, 2025, and is aimed at start-ups with a deep tech focus and international growth potential. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about the new EIC Pre-Accelerator.

Background to the call for proposals

The EIC Pre-Accelerator is specifically aimed at deep tech start-ups in widening countries. These are EU member states and associated countries that have historically been less involved in EU research and innovation support programs.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) is launching the EIC Pre-Accelerator 2025 as part of Horizon Europe's WIDERA 2025 work program. This part of the work program addresses the area of “Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area” (WIDERA). The WIDERA work program has two main priorities:

1. Greater participation and excellence by specifically involving and strengthening countries and regions with less experience in funding
2. Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) through reforms and improvements in the European research and innovation syste

With a total budget of €20 million, this initiative aims to close the innovation gap by providing up to €500,000 in funding per company. Selected start-ups and SMEs will also benefit from tailored coaching, investment readiness training, and access to the larger EIC ecosystem. This creates a strategic path to the renowned EIC Accelerator, which supports deep tech companies facing hurdles in advancing their technology and market readiness.

What are widening countries in Horizon Europe?

The widening countries include the EU Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

In addition, it also includes associated countries with comparable characteristics in terms of research and innovation performance (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and, once association has been completed, Morocco), as well as the outermost regions (as defined in Article 349 TFEU).

Do you need to establish a start-up in a widening country to be eligible?

To be eligible, the company must be legally based in a widening country. This could mean, for example, that you already have business activities there or that you are specifically setting up a new company there, for example in cities such as Bratislava (Slovakia), Croatia, or Sofia (Bulgaria). However, a letterbox company will not be accepted.

With a clear strategic goal, starting a new business there can make sense—not just to get funding, but also to strengthen your own European innovation strategy—ideally with help from consultants like EurA, who know both EU funding logic and international startup issues.

If you are already based in a widening country, we will also be happy to advise you on your options.

Why is the EIC Pre-Accelerator 2025 groundbreaking?

The call is aimed at start-ups with projects at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 4–6 and helps them to further develop their technologies and business models for investment and growth. Each project will receive individual funding for up to 24 months and must be submitted by a single SME based in a widening country. The funding aims to increase participation and success rates, strengthen innovation capacities, and reduce the R&I performance gap within the EU.

In addition, the call for proposals focuses exclusively on deep tech innovations—i.e., innovations that are rooted in scientific advances and require continuous engagement with new scientific knowledge.

Strategic goals of the EIC Pre-Accelerator

• successfully obtain funding from the EIC Accelerator, and/or
• secure private investment, and/or
• receive national or regional funding through alternative mechanisms (e.g., Seal of Excellence programs).

Desired innovation profile

The funding measure is aimed at early-stage deep tech start-ups that meet the following requirements:

• Possess a high-impact innovation—be it a technology, product, service, or business model—with the potential to create new markets or transform existing ones
• Demonstrate clear growth ambitions and readiness to scale

Eligible companies must focus on deep tech innovations, which often face significant financing barriers due to high technological and investment risks. In this call, deep tech refers to technologies based on cutting-edge scientific research and discoveries. Such innovations require continuous engagement with new scientific ideas and laboratory results in order to maintain their technological edge. Deep tech encompasses transformative solutions from advances in science, technology, and engineering, often at the intersection of physical, biological, and digital domains. Deep tech is distinct from high tech, a term that usually refers only to high R&D intensity.

The EIC Pre-Accelerator – Widening Call is specifically designed to advance the development of promising deep tech start-ups from TRL 4 to TRL 5/6. The goal is to provide faster access to the necessary investment and improve their chances of obtaining funding through the EIC Accelerator or other sources.

Eligibility: the criteria

Eligible applicants are individual companies (start-ups, SMEs, or small midcap companies) from Horizon Europe widening countries that meet the following criteria:

• High innovative strength: The company has a high-impact innovation that could create new markets or fundamentally change existing markets (the technology has been validated at least in the laboratory, i.e., TRL 4 has been achieved).
• Secure intellectual property rights: It owns the necessary intellectual property rights to ensure freedom of action and adequately protect the idea.
• Clear market strategy: There is a clear vision of the desired market entry, with defined milestones and concrete, verifiable KPIs to measure progress toward the market.
• Scaling ambition: The company has ambitions and is determined to grow.

Scope of funding and important deadlines

The EIC Pre-Accelerator 2025 offers targeted financial support for deep tech start-ups and SMEs in widening countries. Each selected project can receive a grant of between €300,000 and €500,000 as a lump sum. The funding covers up to 70% of eligible project costs; with the remaining 30% to be provided by the beneficiary from its own resources. The total budget available for this call is €20 million.

The call is open since June 12, 2025, and applications must be submitted by November 18, 2025, 5:00 p.m. (Brussels local time). Projects that receive funding may have a duration of up to 24 months. All applications that exceed the evaluation thresholds but cannot be funded due to limited resources will receive a Seal of Excellence (a label awarded by the European Commission to projects that have been evaluated as very good but not funded).

Expected use of funds and next steps for funded start-ups

The grant is intended to support activities that increase the investment and market readiness of the innovation for commercialization and market launch. This may include market research, refinement of the value proposition, business case development, business modeling, growth strategies, intellectual property protection, and competitive analysis. Where appropriate, aspects related to regulation, certification, and standardization may also be covered to ensure that the technology and business model are ready for investment.

In addition, the funding can be used to further develop and validate novel technologies beyond the proof-of-concept phase. The aim is to create functional demonstrators in the intended field of application – specifically, the goal is to increase the technology readiness level from TRL 4 to TRL 6.

• Demonstrate that the technological component of their innovation has been tested and validated both in the laboratory and under practical conditions (i.e., at least all aspects of TRL5 have been achieved).
• Be ready to apply for the EIC Accelerator and/or attract additional investors or sources of funding, enter into licensing or cooperation agreements with third parties, or pursue other means of market entry.

Successful applicants and those who receive a Seal of Excellence will receive free access to the EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS). These offer tailored coaching and events aimed at improving preparation for investors and the market. In addition, fast-track access to the EIC Accelerator is provided – after a project review in the second half of the Pre-Accelerator project, selected companies can enter the Accelerator program application process directly with the second step, the full application.

EurA AG: Your reliable partner for EU funding

EurA AG has been supporting its customers since the inception of the EIC Accelerator, which was originally launched in 2014 as an SME instrument. With a team of over 200 consultants in Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and Bulgaria, EurA is one of the market leaders among innovation consulting companies in the DACH region and Europe.

We have already secured over €100 million in EIC funding for our clients and successfully supported more than 200 applications for the EIC Accelerator. Our proven and highly experienced team is ready to assist you in developing a competitive application and guide you expertly through every step of the application process.

Text: Parisa Javadi-Marand