EIC Accelerator Challenge: Technologies for Open Strategic Autonomy

1. Admissibility conditions: In order to apply you must meet one of the following eligibility conditions:

• A single company classified as a SME and established within a Member State or an Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the EIC Work Programme 2022);
• A single company classified as a ‘Small mid-cap’ (up to 500 employees) established in a Member State or an Associated Country, but your application can only be for rapid scale up purposes (e.g. Technology Readiness Level 9) and only for the investment component;
• One or more natural persons (including individual entrepreneurs) or legal entities, which are either:

a.     from a Member State or an Associated Country (for Associated Countries other than EEA, this possibility will be subject to the related association agreements) intending to establish an SME or small mid-cap (as defined above) in a Member State or Associated Country by the time of signing the Accelerator contract or, in the case blended finance is awarded, at the latest when agreeing on its investment component;

b.     intending to invest in an SME or small mid-cap in a Member State or an Associated Country and who may submit a proposal on behalf of that SME or small mid-cap, provided that a prior agreement exist with the company. The contract will be signed with the beneficiary company only;

c.     from a non-associated third country intending to establish an SME (including start-ups) or to relocate an existing SME to a Member State or an Associated Country, by the time of submitting a full application. Your company must prove its effective establishment in a Member State or an Associated Country. The Commission may set specific conditions and milestones in the contract to ensure that the interest of the Union is met.

The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions are detailed in Annex 2  and information on eligible Associated Countries in Annex 3 of the EIC Work Programme 2022.

There are limitations on the number of times you can submit an application described in section IV (Table 8) of the EIC Work Programme 2022 on resubmission limits.

If you are currently a participant in an eligible project funded by Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 then you may be able to apply through your existing project under the Fast Track scheme (see Annex 4 of the EIC Work Programme 2022). This scheme is managed by the funding body responsible for the existing project and for 2022 it applies to funding bodies managing grants under the EIC Pathfinder and Transition (including EIC pilot 2018-20); ERC Proof of Concept; and Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Applicants may also be able to apply if they have a project financed by an eligible programme managed by a Member State or an Associated Country under the pilot Plug-in scheme. The Plug-in scheme to apply to the EIC Accelerator is detailed in Annex 5 of the EIC Work Programme 2022.

 

Proposal page limits and layout: You must prepare your application (Short and Full application) on the EIC artificial intelligence-based IT platform via on-line forms, by answering a series of questions:

Short applications:

• An on-line form where you must summarise your proposal and respond to a set of questions on your innovation, your potential market and your team;
• A pitch-deck of up to 10 slides following a set format;
• A (link to a) video pitch of up to 3 minutes where the core members of your team (up to three people) should provide the motivation for your application.

Full applications:

• An on-line form that follows a methodology embedded in the EIC artificial intelligence-based IT platform that produces a full and detailed business plan with information on you company’s finances and structur;
• A pitch-deck to be used if invited to the interviews

 

2. Eligible countries: described in  section IV  and in Annex 3 of the EIC Work Programme 2022.

Applicants from the United Kingdom can apply to the EIC Accelerator, but can only request and receive funding in the form of “grant only”. The signature of any grant agreement will be subject to the positive conclusion of the association negotiation with the United Kingdom.

 

3. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2022.

 

4. Evaluation and award:

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds: described in section IV of the EIC Work Programme 2022
• Submission and evaluation processes: described in section IV of the EIC Work Programme 2022
• Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in section IV of the EIC Work Programme 2022

 

Call documents:

EIC Work Programme 2022
Guide for Applicants
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
MGA used for EIC actions under Horizon Europe (HE General MGA)
EIC Fund Investment Guidelines

 

Additional documents:

EU Financial Regulation 2018/1046
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms & Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk –  the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.  

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search Services help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.