EIC funding opportunities in 2027

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The 2027 work programme opens funding opportunities worth over €1.8 billion for strategic technologies and scaling up companies.

 

The EIC work programme 2027 details the funding in six main schemes:

  • EIC Pathfinder (€248 million) for multi-disciplinary research teams to undertake visionary research with the potential to lead to technology breakthroughs (grants up to €4 million).
  • EIC Transition (€92 million) to turn research results into innovation opportunities, following up on results generated by EIC Pathfinder, European Research Council Proof of Concept, Horizon Europe Pillar 2 (societal challenges) collaborative projects and Research Infrastructures projects (grants up to €2.5 million).
  • Advanced Innovation Challenges (€25 million) to support high-risk, demand-driven deep tech innovation with transformative potential especially in areas where there is extensive research but lack of commercial uptake (€300,000 lump sum)
  • EIC Accelerator (€578 million) for start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale up innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones (grants below €2.5 million, investments from €0.5 to €10 million). 
  • The EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up (€290 million), which will provide additional equity funding to promising companies (SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs and small mid-caps) driving innovation in critical areas to help them secure larger private co-investment rounds of €50 million or above for further scaling their businesses (investments from €10 to €30 million). 
  • EIC STEP Scale Up Defence call (€100 million) with up to €30 million in direct equity financing to accelerate the scale-up of industrial capabilities on, among others, air and missile defence, drones and counter drones, and other critical defence technologies. 
  • Scaleup Europe Fund (€400 million) with equity investments above €30 million up to several hundred million euro. Implemented by EQT, external fund manager.

In each case, the direct financial support to innovators is complemented with access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services providing access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors.

Highlights

  • Completion of funding to the Scaleup Europe Fund (€1 billion), defence investments (€200 million), and the Advanced Innovation Challenges pilot (€25 million), all introduced during 2026. 
  • Improved management of the high volume of applications for breakthrough research (EIC Pathfinder), with the introduction of a two-stage evaluation process and interviews for shortlisted proposals. 
  • Reinforcing innovation impacts of the EIC Transition scheme, by supporting single teams and companies rather than consortia.
  • Strengthened support to woman-led startups, with a redesigned Women TechEU programme (doubling the grants to €150 000 per startup) and introduction of a new European Prize for Women Innovators in Quantum, complementing the existing EU Prize for Women Innovators.
  • Helping EIC-backed companies test their technologies with public and private procurers.

Information days

Potential applicants can join the EIC information days:

Factsheets

EIC Board statement

Read the EIC Board statement on the 2027 work programme. 

Download the work programme

This document presents the 2027 European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It sets out how the EIC will allocate its funding of for the year 2027 and has been prepared following the advice of the EIC Board.