EIC 2026 work programme

The EIC work programme 2026 details the funding in five main schemes:

• EIC Pathfinder (€262 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 (€100 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 (€6 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 (€634 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 (€300 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). 

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

• Piloting EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges: a bridge to the next Horizon Europe Programme

The 2026 EIC work programme will test a new approach inspired by the US ARPA model: bold, challenge-driven funding for breakthrough technologies. The Advanced Innovation Challenges will support high-risk, high-reward projects in areas where Europe is strong in research, but too often slow to turn ideas into actual products and businesses. 

• Faster, simpler and more robust application process for the EIC Accelerator

From 2026, the application process will be simpler (for example reducing the application forms for full proposals from 50 to 20 pages), faster (e.g. evaluations every 2 months instead of every 6 months) and more robust (e.g. involving an in-depth assessment of the technology, anticipating the due diligence needed for investments).

• Supporting the Startup and Scaleup Strategy

The 2026 work programme includes support to implement a number of actions set out under the Startup and Scaleup Strategy. This includes support to the European Corporate Network, building on the successful EIC corporate days and strengthened services to support access to international markets and partners, and a Gender index to track the participation of women in the innovation ecosystem.