292 proposals submitted for the EIC Transition calls worth €100 million

On 19 October 2021 the European Innovation Council reported that its first EIC Transition calls attracted 292 proposals. The calls are intended to take research outputs from EIC Pathfinder pilot projects and ERC Proof of Concept projects further along the path to market by maturing technologies, validating them in relevant application environments and developing credible business cases.

What the EIC Transition calls are for

EIC Transition is a Horizon Europe instrument designed to convert high‑risk research results into validated technologies and investment‑ready business opportunities. The calls explicitly target results coming out of research programmes such as EIC Pathfinder pilot projects and European Research Council Proof of Concept projects. The goal is to get technologies beyond experimental proof of principle in the lab and into relevant application environments at higher technology readiness levels while developing an exploitation strategy and business plan.

How submissions broke down and what the challenges target

The majority of submissions were to the open Transition call which accepts technologies from any scientific field. A smaller stream of challenge calls focused on two strategic areas selected for targeted funding: medical technology and devices, and energy harvesting and storage. Both tracks were described with applied outcomes in mind.

Evaluation status and timing

At the time of the announcement the Commission said the 292 proposals were being evaluated and that selected projects would start in Spring 2022. The Transition selection follows EIC procedures that combine expert evaluation with in some cases jury interviews and portfolio management by EIC programme managers. Successful projects will also be invited to access EIC Business Acceleration Services to help craft exploitation strategies and investor outreach.

A simple arithmetic message: demand far outstrips supply

The headline numbers make the position clear. The 292 proposals requested about €775.3 million but the published EIC Transition envelope for 2021 was €100 million. That implies an oversubscription factor close to 8 times the available budget. The two challenge strands alone requested roughly €191.6 million, almost twice the target budget if it were dedicated to those themes. In short, the Commission will have to prune heavily in the coming selection stages.

What this oversubscription means in practice

Oversubscription of this magnitude has several practical effects. Selection will be highly competitive and the EIC is likely to prioritise applications that show clearer technical de‑risking, more concrete validation in relevant environments, stronger IP protection and more credible market and business models. Projects with committed industrial partners or concrete routes to clinical or regulatory milestones will be advantaged. Many good projects will not receive EU Transition grants and will need alternative routes.

Technical and market risks the Transition grant alone will not remove

Transition funding is valuable but it is not a cure for structural risks. For medical devices the path to clinical evaluation and market entry is long and expensive. Regulatory compliance, quality management, clinical trial design and data integrity are necessary and costly steps that a Transition grant can accelerate but not fully finance. For energy harvesting and storage, materials scale up, supply chain constraints for critical raw materials, lifetime testing and manufacturability are hard problems that often require multiple funding rounds and industrial partnerships.

What applicants and ecosystem actors should expect next

Applicants should expect a competitive selection phase and should prepare for two things. First, manage expectations about timelines and be ready to pursue complementary national or private funding if an EIC Transition grant does not materialise. Second, if selected, be prepared to present clear, measurable milestones and an IP and regulatory plan to convince reviewers and potential investors. Projects that combine credible technical validation with a convincing route to users or customers will win out. Teams should also use EIC Business Acceleration Services and national contact points to broaden their funding options and de‑risk investor conversations.

Broader ecosystem context and the EIC’s role

The EIC Transition calls sit inside a larger EIC ecosystem that includes the EIC Pathfinder for early, high‑risk research and the EIC Accelerator for scaling companies. The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) manages EIC implementation tasks. The EIC Fund and related investor networks exist to help crowd in private capital once ideas show traction. The Transition stage is therefore deliberately an intermediary step. It is intended to bridge research and investment, not to replace the private capital that will be needed to scale promising technologies into commercial businesses.

A critical takeaway

High demand for Transition funding is a positive signal about the vibrancy of Europe’s innovation pipeline. The follow up however matters. A relatively small public pot pitted against large private and industrial capital needs means allocation choices will determine which ideas advance. The Commission and implementing agencies can mitigate risk through robust evaluation, transparent use of the Seal of Excellence, active portfolio management, and by making it easier for unfunded but high quality teams to tap national funds or investor networks. Observers should watch how many proposals are funded, how budgets are split between open and challenge strands and whether the EIC manages to convert Transition awards into later stage investments or commercial deployments.

The Commission said proposals were being evaluated and that projects would start in Spring 2022. The announcement and the EIC Transition call details were published alongside the EIC Work Programme 2021 on the EIC website. Applicants and stakeholders should expect formal feedback from the EIC evaluation process and should prepare next steps to secure complementary funding and partnerships if needed.