EIC Work Programme 2027: What start-ups, SMEs & scale-ups need to know

The European Commission has adopted the Work Programme 2027 of the European Innovation Council (EIC). It is the last EIC Work Programme under the current Framework Programme Horizon Europe and makes more than EUR 1.8 billion available for breakthrough technologies and deep-tech companies in 2027. Several measures are explicitly designed as pilots for the design of the EIC under FP10, the next framework programme for 2028-2034.

For start-ups and companies, the 2027 programme offers a complete financing ladder: grants and equity of up to EUR 10 million through the EIC Accelerator, equity investments of EUR 10 to 30 million through EIC STEP Scale Up and the new EIC STEP Defence Scale Up call, and investments of around EUR 100 million through the Scaleup Europe Fund. This article summarises the key facts, with a focus on the three company instruments.

The 2027 calls at a glance

Note: For EIC Transition, the overview table of the Work Programme gives 14 September 2027, while the call text gives 16 September 2027. Please check the binding deadline on the Funding & Tenders Portal once the call opens.

Key changes for 2027

• EIC Pathfinder Open moves to a two-stage procedure: a short proposal of up to 10 pages (with letters of commitment from all partners), followed by a full proposal and an interview for shortlisted consortia.
  
  
• EIC Transition becomes a single-beneficiary instrument. Affiliated entities and subcontractors are allowed, a 3-5-minute video pitch is required and the list of eligible feeder projects has been revised.
  
  
• EIC Accelerator: refined evaluation criteria, a reserve list, simplified resubmission rules and a new calendar with four Accelerator full application batches and two interview sessions per year.
  
  
• Business Acceleration Services are strengthened, including new support for pilot tests with public and private buyers and enhanced internationalisation services.
  
  
• European Prize for Women Innovators: new challenge category on quantum technologies.
  
  
• Continued support for WomenTechEU, with financial support raised to up to EUR 150,000 per start-up.

EIC Accelerator: grant and equity for market launch and scale-up

Who can apply?

The EIC Accelerator supports single SMEs and start-ups (including spin-offs) established in an EU Member State or Associated Country. Small mid-caps with up to 499 employees can apply for equity-only support, or for blended finance in exceptional cases of rapid scale-up. Natural persons and legal entities intending to set up a company, investors applying on behalf of a company, and founders from non-associated third countries relocating to Europe can also apply. The technology must have completed at least TRL 5.

Budget and forms of support

• Blended finance: a grant component up to EUR 2.5 million (lump sum, 70% funding rate, for innovation activities at TRL 6–8, normally within 24 months) combined with an equity or quasi-equity investment of EUR 1 to 10 million.
  
  
• Grant only: up to EUR 2.5 million, only once per legal entity during Horizon Europe, and only for start-ups and SMEs that demonstrate their capacity and willingness to scale up.
  
  
• Equity only: an investment component of EUR 1 to 10 million without a grant.

The Commission's award decision may include a flexibility amount of up to EUR 2 million on top of the requested investment. The EIC Fund's due diligence usually takes two to six months after selection.

Application process and calendar

• Short proposal (any time): a 12-page form, a pitch deck of up to ten slides and a video pitch of up to three minutes. Proposals are batched on the first Tuesday of each month and evaluated by four experts within about four to six weeks; at least three GOs are needed.
  
  
• Full proposal: up to 20 pages plus annexes (financials and cap table, IP strategy, implementation plan and lump-sum budget). Cut-offs in 2027 are 20 January, 17 March, 1 September and 4 November. A positive short proposal under the 2026 or 2027 Work Programme is valid for any of these batches.
  
  
• Evaluation: a technology expert carries out an in-depth assessment, including an online meeting with the applicant, and a thematic evaluation panel with 3 evaluators scores and ranks the proposals. Proposals requesting about 2.5 times the available grant budget are invited to interview.
  
  
• Jury interviews take place twice a year, after every second batch. After the second interview session, the jury can place proposals on a ‘GO Reserve’ list that may be funded if budget becomes available.

The four Accelerator Challenges 2027

• Advanced in-situ Ocean Observation Technologies for Scalable, High-Resolution Marine Monitoring (EUR 30 million)
  
  
• Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (EUR 50 million)
  
  
• Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants (EUR 20 million)
  
  
• Carbon Removal and Utilisation for Climate Change Mitigation and EU Industrial Resilience (EUR 50 million)

Rules applicants should know

• Three-strikes rule: after three unsuccessful submissions by the same legal entity, at any stage and for any form of support, no further application to the Accelerator is possible under Horizon Europe.
  
  
• No concurrent submissions to the Accelerator, STEP Scale Up and STEP Defence before feedback on the earlier submission has been received. If several proposals are submitted, only the most recent one is evaluated.
  
  
• Economic security: companies controlled from non-eligible third countries could be excluded from grant funding or need to fulfil specific conditions. Investment safeguards may be included in investment agreements.
  
  
• Western Balkans: SMEs from the Western Balkans may be funded from the Seal of Excellence reserve list, with up to EUR 20 million in total.
  
  
• Follow-on investments: in exceptional cases, the EIC Fund may provide existing portfolio companies with up to EUR 10 million in additional funding and higher amounts where these are financed through other EU programmes.
  
  
• Dual use: dual-use innovations are eligible if there is a credible business case in both civilian and defence markets. Procurement by civil-security buyers (such as police or civil protection) counts as civilian. Dual-use proposals are assessed against the same criteria and get no preferential treatment.

EIC STEP Scale Up: large funding rounds for strategic technologies

EIC STEP Scale Up targets scale-ups that have already attracted investors and now want to raise a major funding round. The EIC Fund invests EUR 10 to 30 million as equity only, to co-invest in a round of typically EUR 50 to 150 million or more, which must be at least three to five times the EIC investment. The 2027 budget is EUR 290 million, and any unused amount goes primarily to Accelerator Open.

Scope and eligibility

• Technology fields (STEP priority sectors, including critical raw materials): digital and deep-tech technologies, clean and resource-efficient technologies including net-zero technologies, and biotechnologies. In 2027, start-ups in semiconductors and quantum technologies are to be supported in particular through STEP.
  
  
• Eligible applicants: single SMEs or small mid-caps (up to 499 employees) established in a Member State or Associated Country, or investors applying on their behalf.
  
  
• Pre-commitment: a single qualified investor must have committed at least 20% of the target round, and that portion must be uninvested at the date of the letter. Syndicated pre-commitments in which no single investor reaches 20% are ineligible.

Procedure

• Application: submission is possible at any time, with evaluations in quarterly batches on 28 January, 29 April, 6 September and 24 November 2027.
  
  
• Documents: a business plan of up to 50 pages, a pitch deck of up to 15 pages, the investor pre-commitment, a financial plan, a freedom-to-operate analysis and CVs.
  
  
• First come, first served: juries may recommend no more than 70% of the annual budget in the first six months of the year. If the budget is used up after the third batch, the fourth batch is cancelled.
  
  
• Award decision: the decision can include a flexibility amount of up to EUR 5 million. Safeguard measures are included in all STEP investment agreements.
  
  
• STEP Seal: proposals meeting the thresholds receive a Sovereignty (STEP) Seal and, on request, can be passed to InvestEU partners for venture debt.
  
  
• Three-strikes rule: unsuccessful submissions to STEP Scale Up and STEP Defence count together.

EIC STEP Defence Scale Up: equity for critical defence technologies

With the STEP Defence Scale Up call, the EIC uses its equity instrument specifically for critical defence technologies, complementing the European Defence Fund (EDF) and the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). The 2027 budget is EUR 100 million, with equity-only investments of EUR 10 to 30 million. Applications can be submitted until 1 June 2027 and are evaluated in a single batch. Unused budget goes to the general STEP Scale Up call.

Scope

The call covers eleven defence technology areas: air and missile defence; artillery and precision strike; missiles and ammunition; drones and counter-drones; strategic enablers (including space assets); cyber, AI and electronic warfare; military mobility; ground combat; maritime; air combat; and military medical technologies and CBRN countermeasures. Products must have a primary defence application. Predominantly civilian or dual-use solutions should apply to the general STEP Scale Up call.

Special conditions

• Eligible countries: participation is limited to SMEs and small mid-caps established in the EU, Ukraine or an EEA country associated with Horizon Europe.
  
  
• Third-country control: companies controlled from other third countries are excluded unless the Member State of establishment approves guarantees. A self-assessment of control is part of the application.
  
  
• Lead investor: the lead or co-lead investor must not be controlled from such third countries.
  
  
• Pre-commitment: the same 20% single-investor requirement as for STEP Scale Up applies, for a round of EUR 50 to 150 million or more.
  
  
• Defence-specific award criteria, including:
  • traction with defence end-users;
  • business models adapted to procurement cycles, classification and export controls;
  • control of the core technology without undue third-country dependency, such as ITAR/EAR export controls;
  • relevant defence expertise and, where needed, security clearances.
• Classified information: supporting documents must be coordinated with EISMEA at least 30 working days before the deadline and must never be uploaded to the portal.
  
  
• Ethics: additional requirements apply, in particular respect for international humanitarian law and meaningful human control over AI-enabled weapon functions.
  
  
• Further support: successful applicants and STEP Seal holders get Business Acceleration Services and fast-track access to the EUDIS Business Accelerator.

Scaleup Europe Fund

The Scaleup Europe Fund is a market-based, privately managed growth fund. Together with EUR 600 million from the 2026 Work Programme, the additional EUR 400 million from 2027 brings the EIC contribution to EUR 1 billion. This is meant to attract around EUR 4 billion from other investors, for a total capitalisation of about EUR 5 billion. The fund typically invests around EUR 100 million per company (including follow-on) to catalyse funding rounds of several hundred million euros. It can also invest in dual-use technologies.

Further programmes in brief

• EIC Pathfinder Open (EUR 166 million): grants of up to EUR 4 million for consortia of at least three partners from three countries, to reach proof of concept or lab validation of breakthrough technologies. New three-stage procedure with a short application, a full application and an interview.
  
  
• EIC Pathfinder Challenges (EUR 82 million) cover three challenges, each also open to single applicants and two-partner consortia:
  • Advanced Materials for Electricity Generation, Storage and Transmission;
  • Continual Learning for Reliable AI Agents (CLOWAI);
  • Quantum Energetics.
• EIC Transition (EUR 92 million): grants of EUR 0.5 to 2.5 million for single applicants, to validate results from eligible projects (for example Pathfinder or ERC Proof of Concept) and complete TRL 5 or beyond.
  
  
• Advanced Innovation Challenges: a restricted Stage 2 (EUR 25 million, grants up to EUR 2.5 million) for Stage 1 projects on Physical AI and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
  
  
• Business Acceleration Services: coaching, ecosystem partners, internationalisation and new pilot support of up to EUR 60,000 per beneficiary for tests with public and private buyers.
  
  
• Prizes: European Prize for Women Innovators (now with a quantum category) and European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital).

Which instrument fits your company?

Act now: the 2027 calendar starts early

The first Accelerator full proposal cut-off is 20 January 2027 and the first STEP batch closes on 28 January 2027. A positively evaluated short proposal is needed before an Accelerator full proposal, and an investor pre-commitment must be in place for STEP. Companies aiming for the first quarter should start preparing now. For STEP Defence, the guarantees procedure and any classified documents need extra lead time before the 1 June deadline.

Your partner for EIC funding

• fit assessment and choice of instrument;
• short proposal and full proposal;
• pitch training for the jury interview;
• project implementation and reporting.

Are you planning an application to the EIC calls? Get in touch with us, and together we will identify the instrument that best fits your project.

Source: European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme 2027, Commission Decision C(2026)7629. This article summarises the Work Programme; the official call documents on the Funding & Tenders Portal are binding.