Bridging the gap between EIC partners and deep‑tech innovators: lessons from the EIC ACCESS+ peer-learning workshop and how the co-funding call works

Brussels, July 2nd 2025

Summary

›On 24 June 2025 EIC ACCESS+ ran its second peer-learning workshop to align EIC Service Catalogue offers with beneficiary needs and to increase service uptake.
›Participants recommended a shift from promotional messaging to educational marketing to build trust with deep‑tech founders.
›EIC ACCESS+ runs a continuous open call offering up to EUR 60 000 per beneficiary to cover 50% of costs for services from the EIC Service Catalogue.
›The scheme has a total envelope of about EUR 3.45 million intended to support roughly 180 companies and is open until 31 May 2026.
›Applications are handled via the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub on a first-come, first-served basis and require careful attention to eligibility, timing and documentation.
›Practical constraints to watch include VAT treatment, service completion deadlines and the need to select vetted providers from the Service Catalogue.

Bridging services and needs: what happened at the EIC ACCESS+ Peer-Learning Workshop #2

On 24 June 2025 the EIC ACCESS+ initiative convened its second peer-learning workshop. The event brought together participants from the EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme and EIC-backed innovators with the stated purpose of aligning the services listed in the EIC Service Catalogue with the practical needs of deep‑tech ventures and improving visibility and uptake of those services.

Format, participants and early framing

The session opened with remarks from Gisela Santos, Project Adviser at the EIC, and a framing intervention from Tedora Aibu of the EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme. The programme team led an initial synthesis of findings from previous meetings and then split participants into five working groups to explore specific topics around service visibility, matchmaking and communication formats.

Educational marketing:Workshop speakers emphasised that traditional promotional tactics frequently fail in the deep‑tech domain. Instead they proposed an educational marketing approach focused on explaining value, building trust and showing tangible outcomes. This means creating content and formats that teach founders why a service matters rather than simply advertising it.

Working groups and co-design:Participants met in five groups to exchange direct experiences, list critical needs, prioritise themes for future sessions and co-design communication formats that could make services easier for beneficiaries to evaluate and choose.

Workshop conclusions and planned follow up

In plenary the groups converged on a common direction: move beyond visibility as an end in itself and adopt value‑centred, tailored engagement that supports decision making. The EIC ACCESS+ team sketched plans for a new series of knowledge sessions aimed at both EIC Service Providers and beneficiaries to improve mutual understanding and reduce transactional friction.

The workshop is explicitly connected to the EIC ACCESS+ Open Call. The organisers argued that if beneficiaries are to use the co‑funding effectively they must be confident in selecting the appropriate services. Workshops like this aim to improve uptake and outcomes but the impact will depend on follow up, the quality of providers and whether communications reach the founders who need them most.

What EIC ACCESS+ offers in plain terms

EIC ACCESS+ is a co‑funding instrument implemented under the EIC Business Acceleration Services. It provides partial grants to help eligible EIC Awardees and Seal of Excellence holders access services listed in the EIC Service Catalogue. The scheme is designed to tackle concrete deep‑tech barriers such as access to specialised infrastructure, mentoring and legal or fundraising support.

Feature	Detail
Maximum grant per beneficiary	EUR 60 000 (maximum cumulative amount)
Co‑funding rate	Up to 50% of service costs (VAT excluded)
Total envelope	Approximately EUR 3.45 million
Target number of beneficiaries	Around 180 companies
Application window	Continuous open call from 1 November 2024 to 31 May 2026
Service completion deadline	Selected services must be completed by 30 June 2026
Selection mechanism	First-come, first-served with time-stamped submissions; cohort evaluation

Service packages and permitted uses

Applicants may request one or several services, inside or across defined packages. The grant contribution is applied to the services selected from the vetted providers in the EIC Service Catalogue. Below is a structured breakdown of the four package categories used by the scheme.

Package	Maximum EIC ACCESS+ contribution	Typical services covered
Research	Up to EUR 60 000	Access to infrastructure and R&D support, prototyping and proof of concept (PoC)
Business acceleration	Up to EUR 30 000	Acceleration, incubation, venture building, business planning, matchmaking and internationalisation
Access to funds	Up to EUR 30 000	IP and legal support, due diligence, fundraising support
Skills improvement	Up to EUR 10 000	Coaching, mentoring, HR and talent services

Proof of Concept and Prototyping:In this context proof of concept refers to activities that demonstrate the technical feasibility of a technology in a defined use case. Prototyping covers building a working model or demonstrator that can be used for validation with customers, partners or investors. Both are resource intensive and the Research package is the stream intended to cover them.

Who can apply and basic eligibility rules

Eligible applicants are legal entities registered in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries and must be either EIC Awardees from the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition or EIC Accelerator strands, Seal of Excellence holders under Horizon Europe, or specific spin‑offs linked to an EIC award with documented consent from the project coordinator.

Double funding restriction:Services co‑funded at 50% by EIC ACCESS+ must not have already received equivalent financing from European or national programmes. The remaining 50% of the service cost can be covered by other means, including private funding. VAT treatment is not covered by the co‑funding in most descriptions and must be clarified with the helpdesk.

Application flow, selection and contracting

Applications are submitted through the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub. When an application is submitted it receives an electronic time stamp and is placed in a queue. Applications are assessed in cohorts on a regular cadence and winners are funded on a first-come, first-served basis until the total budget is exhausted. Approved applicants sign a Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) agreement before funding is disbursed.

Time‑stamp and first-come, first-served explained:The time stamp determines the ordering of eligible applications. This is a blunt allocation rule that favors early applicants and means that administrative readiness matters. It also creates uncertainty for late applicants if the envelope is close to depletion.

FSTP agreement:An FSTP agreement is a contract between the grant implementer and the beneficiary setting out the conditions of the financial support. It details eligible costs, milestones, reporting obligations and payment triggers. Applicants should read draft templates before applying so they know what will be expected if selected.

Payments, reporting and compliance

The programme distinguishes payment rules according to grant size. For grants up to EUR 10 000 the payment is typically made in one instalment after the service has been provided and upon receipt of the service provider invoice and the beneficiary's report. For grants exceeding EUR 10 000 a typical arrangement is a 50 percent pre‑financing payment followed by a final payment upon completion and presentation of invoices and a short report. Beneficiaries must also complete a satisfaction questionnaire and describe achieved results before final payment.

Grant size	Payment schedule	Documentation required
Up to EUR 10 000	One payment after service completion	Service provider invoice and beneficiary completion report
Over EUR 10 000	Two payments: 50 percent pre‑financing and 50 percent final	Invoices, completion report, satisfaction questionnaire

How to make a competitive, administratively sound application

Practical steps for applicants include: confirm you meet eligibility rules, select a vetted service provider from the EIC Service Catalogue and document the expected impact of the service clearly, prepare invoices and a realistic delivery timeline, and join the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub to submit the online form. Because selection follows a time‑stamp rule, have documents ready before you start the submission to avoid losing your place in the queue.

Selecting a service provider:Only providers listed in the EIC Service Catalogue are eligible under the co‑funding. The catalogue is searchable by category and stage. Applicants should evaluate providers on track record, deliverables, and compatibility with project timelines. The ACCESS+ team sometimes supports matchmaking in select cases but the onus remains on the beneficiary to choose.

Where EIC ACCESS+ sits in the wider EIC Business Acceleration Services ecosystem

EIC ACCESS+ is one instrument inside the European Innovation Council's Business Acceleration Services. The EIC BAS provides non‑financial services such as coaching, investor readiness support and matchmaking. The Ecosystem Partnership Programme operates the Service Catalogue which aggregates offers from accelerators, incubators, research infrastructures and other specialised providers.

Deep‑tech definition and implications:Deep‑tech refers to companies that base products on substantial scientific or engineering advances rather than incremental business model innovations. These ventures often require specialised lab infrastructure, longer validation timelines, regulatory navigation and capital intensive prototyping. That profile explains why access to specialised services and infrastructure is central to the EIC ACCESS+ design.

EIC programme strands:The EIC operates several strands. Pathfinder funds early stage, high‑risk research. Transition supports technology maturation and market validation. Accelerator supports scaling and commercialisation, sometimes with equity. Eligible applicants under ACCESS+ come from these EIC strands or hold a Seal of Excellence under Horizon Europe.

Claims, measurements and a cautious reading of impact figures

EIC BAS and related pages publish a range of impact metrics such as number of meetings facilitated, deals and sums raised through investor outreach. These indicators are useful but they are coarse. They do not automatically prove causality between a single service and firm success. The effectiveness of ACCESS+ will depend on which services are chosen, the fit between provider and beneficiary, and the subsequent execution by the company. Beneficiaries should therefore treat the grant as an enabler rather than a guarantee of outcomes.

Implications for policy and ecosystem actors

The peer‑learning workshop surfaced two practical needs for ecosystem builders. First is better, education‑oriented communication aimed at explaining expected outcomes and trade-offs associated with each service. Second is improved matchmaking so that providers and beneficiaries find high fit quickly. Both priorities are achievable but require investment in case studies, clearer deliverables and metrics and ongoing feedback loops.

For policymakers, the first‑come, first‑served allocation model is administratively simple but may bias funds to better resourced teams that can prepare applications rapidly. Consideration of fairness and geographic balance may be warranted in follow up programmes.

Practical contacts and next steps

If you are eligible and planning to apply, join the EIC ACCESS+ Community Hub, prepare the documentation specified in the Open Call Description and check the EIC Service Catalogue for vetted providers. For technical questions contact the ACCESS+ helpdesk at info@eicaccessplus.eu. For Service Catalogue or Ecosystem Partnership inquiries use the EIC Community contact page with the subject 'EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme' or email eicpartnerships-helpdesk@eic-bas.eu.

Note: the material in this article draws on EIC ACCESS+ and EIC Business Acceleration Services publications and workshop reporting. It is provided to improve understanding of programme mechanics and observed workshop outcomes. The ultimate references for eligibility, contractual and payment terms are the official Open Call Description, the FSTP agreement template and the Service Catalogue entries.

Quick checklist for applicants

Task	Why it matters
Confirm eligibility	Only EIC Awardees, Seal of Excellence holders and eligible spin‑offs from EU or Associated Countries can apply
Select a provider from the EIC Service Catalogue	Only providers in the catalogue are eligible for co‑funding
Prepare invoices and timeline before submission	Submission is time‑stamped and readiness affects funding chances
Check VAT implications	Co‑funding typically excludes VAT and tax treatment varies by country
Ensure service completes by 30 June 2026	Services must be delivered by the programme deadline to be eligible
Read the FSTP template	You will sign this agreement if selected