Fast Track to the EIC Accelerator

The Fast Track to the EIC Accelerator is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe.

Are you a Eurostars-3 innovator looking for funding to develop and scale up?   

Speed up your entry to the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme by applying through our Fast Track. 

The EIC Accelerator programme offers startups, SMEs and small mid-caps funding in the form of grants and equity investments, mentoring and networking opportunities. In 2024, the programme has allocated 675 million euro to funding successful companies.  

We have partnered with the EIC on a Fast Track to this competitive funding programme. 

For innovators and market disruptors

If you are a Eurostars-3 programme alumnus, we want to support you to continue innovating and commercialising your solutions.  

Use our Fast Track to benefit from the EIC Accelerator’s offer: 

  • Companies with innovations at technology readiness levels 5-8 can receive a maximum of less than 2.5 million euro as a lump-sum grant (up to 70% of eligible project costs) for 24-month-long projects 
  • Companies with innovations at technology readiness level 9 can receive between 0.5 and 15 million euro in direct equity or quasi-equity investment (up to 25% of your company’s voting shares) for market deployment 

You can also receive blended finance; a combination of grant and equity investment funding.  

Please note: If you are applying from the United Kingdom, you can only receive grant funding.  

Why apply through our Fast Track?

  • Skip step one (of three) in the EIC Accelerator application process 
  • Benefit from support from Eureka’s network of ministries and funding agencies 
  • Receive a no-risk evaluation of your project idea and expert feedback 
  • Practice your pitch live to a panel of expert evaluators

Increase your chances of success by applying through our Fast Track! In 2024, up to 20 Eurostars-3 alumni will progress directly to step two of the EIC Accelerator application process, equipped with expert feedback to strengthen their application.

In line with general stipulations for the Fast Track process, the project will undergo a further review. Find more information about the Fast Track in Annex 3 of the 2024 EIC Work Programme.

Who can apply

The Fast Track to the EIC Accelerator is open to companies that:

  • have a innovative, product, service or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones in Europe and even worldwide,
  • have the ambition and commitment to scale up and/or
  • are looking for substantial funding, but the risks involved are too high for private investors alone to invest.

Your company must:

  • Be based in a European Union Member State or Iceland, Israel, Norway, Türkiye or the United Kingdom
  • Have participated in our Eurostars-3 programme (i.e., your project was approved after applying to a Eurostars call for projects with a deadline on or after 4 November 2021)
  • Have finished or will be finishing your Eurostars-3 project at most six months after the Fast Track deadline you are applying to
  • Have an innovative business concept resulting from your Eurostars-3 project
  • Own or have intellectual property rights for your innovation

 

You cannot apply to our Fast Track if:

  • You are already applying to the EIC Accelerator directly or through other Fast Track or Plug In schemes
  • You are already receiving EIC Accelerator funding for an ongoing project
  • You are receiving funding for the same objectives in another ongoing Horizon Europe or Eurostars project
  • You have already been rejected from the EIC Accelerator three times

If you apply through our Fast Track and are then not put forward to step two of the EIC Accelerator, it does not count towards one of the three rejections from the EIC Accelerator.

Fast Track opening date:

12 August

Guidelines coming soon

How to apply

  1. You can apply to this call from 12 August 2024. Guidelines are coming soon.
  2. Fill in our short application form (in English), explaining your innovation’s potential before the deadline on 6 September 2024 at 14:00 Brussels time.  
  3. Submit a pitch deck with ten slides, describing your company and innovation.  
  4. We will invite the best applications to an online interview in the first week of October 2024.  

 

We will be holding a webinar on the Fast Track on 13 August. More information coming soon. 

Apply

Contact us about the Fast Track to the EIC Accelerator

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 3