EIC to invest €1.4 billion in deep tech and scale up of strategic technologies in 2025
The European Innovation Council (EIC) is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe program. Next year, it will provide €1.4 billion to support deep tech research and high-potential start-ups in Europe. This is an increase of nearly €200 million compared to the 2024 budget.
The EIC Work Programme 2025, adopted by the Commission, includes several improvements along with a larger budget. Notably, it will enhance access to scale-up funding through the EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale-up scheme, which was introduced after the STEP regulation earlier this year.
Key features of the 2025 programme include:
– A new EIC STEP Scale-up scheme with a budget of €300 million in 2025, set to grow to €900 million between 2025 and 2027. This scheme aims to provide investments of €10 to €30 million through the EIC fund per company to help bring strategic technologies to the EU market and reduce dependencies. It will target deep tech areas like digital technologies, clean technologies, and biotechnologies.
– An updated set of ‘EIC Challenges’ with:
– €120 million for emerging technologies like autonomous robots, climate-resilient crops, waste conversion, and medical diagnosis.
– €250 million for early-stage companies in areas such as generative artificial intelligence, new space technology, agri-tech, and future mobility solutions.
– Improved access to Business Acceleration Services for emerging companies from ‘widening countries,’ countries with lower research and innovation performance.
– Awarding of Seals of Excellence under the Transition and Accelerator calls and a new STEP Seal under the STEP Scale-up scheme and Accelerator calls. These Seals will help companies access complementary alternative funding sources such as Cohesion Policy Funds and EIC Business Acceleration Services.
The EIC Work Programme 2025 focuses on three main funding schemes:
1. EIC Pathfinder – €262 million for research teams to conduct early-stage technology research and development, with grants up to €4 million.
2. EIC Transition- €98 million to help turn research results into innovation opportunities, following up on previous projects from EIC Pathfinder, European Research Council Proof of Concept and Horizon Europe Pillar 2 (societal challenges) collaborative projects, with grants up to €2.5 million.
3. EIC Accelerator – €634 million for start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale up innovations that can create new markets or disrupt existing ones, with grants below €2.5 million and investments between €500,000 and €10 million.
Additionally, the EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale-up scheme will provide €300 million in equity funding for promising companies to help them secure larger private investments, with investments ranging from €10 to €30 million.
In addition to financial support, innovators will have access to various business acceleration services connecting them to experts, corporate partners, investors, and other ecosystem participants.
