EIC Work Programme 2026 – All Key Updates at a Glance

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has published its final Work Programme for 2026. With a total budget of over €1.42 billion, the EIC remains a cornerstone of European innovation funding, particularly for start-ups and SMEs in the deep-tech sector. But what has changed compared to last year? Here’s a summary of the most important updates and differences.

More Structure, More Flexibility: A New Funding Logic

Compared to the previous year, the EIC Work Programme 2026 is noticeably more structured and flexible. While the budgets for individual funding schemes remain largely stable, several processes and formats have been revised:

• EIC Pathfinder: The total budget remains at €262 million, but €24 million more will be allocated to the open call. The maximum funding per project in the open call increases from €3 million to €4 million, allowing greater scope for ambitious research initiatives. A new lump-sum funding model has been introduced to reduce administrative burden. Minor improvements have also been made to the evaluation process to enhance transparency and efficiency. 
  
  
• EIC Transition: The budget sees a slight increase, and access to the programme is broadened. In addition to results from EIC Pathfinder, ERC Proof of Concept, and Horizon Europe Pillar II projects, outcomes from the Horizon Research Infrastructures Programme are now also eligible. This opens the Transition Call to a wider range of high-quality research projects.
  
  
• EIC Accelerator: The budget remains stable at €634 million. A major change is the introduction of continuous submission for full proposals, which will now be evaluated on six fixed cut-off dates. This improves planning reliability for companies and significantly shortens the time to funding.

• EIC STEP Scale-up Call: This format continues to be a key instrument for financing large-scale growth rounds in 2026. With a budget of €300 million, equity investments between €10 and €30 million will be provided to mobilize private co-investments starting at €50 million. The four deadlines for 2026 are: February 11, May 6, September 9, and November 25.
  
  
• EIC Pre-Accelerator: The pilot programme launched in 2025 to support early-stage deep-tech start-ups in EU Widening Countries will continue in 2026. It offers grants of up to €500,000, combined with coaching, mentoring, and a fast track to the EIC Accelerator.
  
  
• EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges: This new two-stage funding format introduces an ARPA-inspired approach. In Phase 1, selected projects receive lump-sum funding of up to €300,000 to prepare and validate their ideas. Phase 2, starting in 2027, will offer up to €2.5 million in funding. The goal is to identify and support high-risk, visionary deep-tech innovations at an early stage.
  
  

EIC Accelerator

Streamlined Application Process

2026 brings noticeable simplification and professionalization to the application process:

• The full proposal is now limited to 20 pages and supplemented by structured annexes (e.g., IP strategy including FTO analysis, work plan, budget planning, and financial data).
• There are six fixed cut-off dates for full proposals.

• Evaluator questions have been slightly revised compared to 2025.
• A technical due diligence expert is involved already during the full proposal phase, assessing the technology and conducting an online interview with the team.
• The previous Go/No-Go system is replaced by a scoring model with threshold values.
• Interview invitations are capped at 2,5 times the available budget.
• Jury interviews take place three times a year, each following two cut-off dates.
  
  

These changes make the process more predictable, efficient, and transparent – a clear advantage for tech-driven companies under high innovation pressure.

Strategic Reorientation of EIC Challenges

The thematic focus of the EIC Challenges has also shifted. While 2025 emphasized topics such as generative AI, low-emission food systems, and space technologies, the 2026 programme sets new priorities:

• Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems 
• Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants 
• Biotech for Regenerating Agricultural Soils 
• Boosting the European Critical Raw Materials value chain 
• Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation

This shift clearly reflects the EIC’s 2026 focus on technological sovereignty and sustainable value creation. 

There are no changes regarding dual-use technologies: only civilian applications remain eligible for funding. 

Conclusion: A Programme with More Depth and Dynamism

Compared to 2025, the EIC Work Programme 2026 offers not only more structure and flexibility but also new funding formats and strategic priorities. Key highlights include:

This opens up new opportunities for innovative companies across Europe, from early feasibility studies to large-scale projects.

Contact & Advisory Services

Do you have an innovative project and want to assess its suitability for the EIC Accelerator 2026?
EurA has been a market leader in the EIC Accelerator since the programme’s launch in 2014 and is one of the largest innovation consultancies in Germany.

Authors: Dr. Thomas Kraus, Anna Nolde