EIC Accelerator changes submission platform after AI service outage

On 2 June 2023 the European Innovation Council announced an emergency migration of EIC Accelerator applications from its bespoke EIC AI submission platform to the Electronic Submission System hosted on the EU Funding and Tenders Opportunities portal. The switch was driven by a contractual dispute that made the custom AI Platform inaccessible. The agency restructured application forms on the portal and indicated ongoing improvements. The move affects both in-progress full proposals and the short Step 1 process and has prompted deadline changes and temporary service interruptions.

What the proprietary AI Platform offered and why it was replaced

The EIC AI Platform had been launched quickly under Horizon Europe to provide functionality that the standard Funding and Tenders portal did not support at the time. It included diagnostic tools, AI-driven assistance and a structured methodology intended to guide applicants through business plan development. Despite iterative improvements since 2021, stakeholders repeatedly told the EIC that the platform was too complex and time consuming. In March 2023 the EIC Board published a statement urging rapid simplification, alignment with investor-style business cases and a better user experience. The platform went offline in June 2023 because of a contractual dispute between the commission and the platform provider, forcing the EIC to adopt contingency arrangements.

Immediate operational changes and deadlines

To limit disruption the EIC restructured Step 2 application forms on the Funding and Tenders portal and put them into immediate use. Companies that had been preparing full Step 2 proposals for the 7 June 2023 cut-off received draft application documents by e-mail and were asked to continue and submit via the portal. To ensure equal treatment, applicants who had already submitted full Step 2 proposals on the AI Platform are required to re-submit on the new portal. To accommodate this change, the 7 June deadline was moved by two weeks to 21 June 2023 at 17:00 CET.

How different applicant groups are affected

The platform change affects distinct groups differently. Applicants at full Step 2 stage must migrate work into SEP and re-submit if they had previously submitted on the AI Platform. Short Step 1 applicants are temporarily unable to submit because Step 1 requires a compact form, a slide deck and a video pitch that will be handled on a purpose-built EISMEA platform. EISMEA expects the Step 1 platform to be ready in early July and to process evaluations rapidly.

The FAQs and later guidance also note transitional measures. Applicants who had already submitted a Step 1 but had not yet received results will not have had sufficient time to prepare a Step 2 for the delayed 21 June cut-off. Those companies will be informed of their evaluation outcome in due course and can apply to subsequent cut-offs. Early communications referenced the next cut-off on 4 October 2023 while later guidance indicated a 19 October 2023 cut-off for full proposals. Applicants should consult the updated EIC FAQs for the most current cut-off calendar.

Why EISMEA is using two platforms and what that means in practice

EISMEA decided to operate full proposals on SEP and to build a specific platform for Step 1 because the two submission types have different technical and user experience requirements. Step 1 is intentionally short and includes multimedia material and a slide deck. SEP handles the standard Part A and Part B workflow for longer, document-based full proposals. Splitting the processes reduces the need to adapt SEP for features that are unique to short applications and lets EISMEA deliver a tailored Step 1 experience faster.

Practical actions for applicants

Start by taking the following steps to reduce disruption and to preserve evaluation eligibility.

Financial form and evaluation timing

The EIC also published a streamlined financial information template to align with Board recommendations and investor-style requirements. The updated financial form corrected the calculation of investment needs, removing a previous automatic addition of a 30 percent grant co-financing to the total investment need. The aim is to make forecasting easier and closer to investor norms but the template still requests forecasts up to five years, balance sheet projections and indicators that can be burdensome for small companies with limited finance teams.

Regarding evaluation timelines, EISMEA said it aims to evaluate Step 1 applications within four weeks. For full Step 2 proposals submitted in the June round, independent experts will perform remote evaluations. Companies receiving a GO will be invited to pitch in front of a jury in early October and will be informed of final decisions by the end of October 2023.

Implications, risks and broader context

The outage and migration expose a few recurring issues in EU innovation programme delivery. First, reliance on a single, quickly developed vendor platform created operational fragility. A contractual dispute between a public agency and a supplier should not translate into sudden service interruption for thousands of SMEs that rely on programme deadlines. Second, the need to rework and re-submit proposals imposes additional administrative load on early stage deep tech companies that already face time constraints. Third, the incident illustrates the tension between feature-rich, customised platforms and the simplicity and stability of established consolidated portals.

The EIC tried to mitigate unfairness by requiring re-submission of previously submitted Step 2 proposals so all applicants are evaluated from the same platform. That approach is defensible from a fairness perspective but increases duplicate work for applicants. The experience should prompt the EIC and its executive agency, EISMEA, to review procurement, continuity planning and communication channels so that future platform failures do not cascade into funding cycles and company strategies.

Where to find official guidance and support

The EIC updated Frequently Asked Questions on the EIC website to explain the transitional arrangements and to answer practical queries. The agency also organised a training session on 12 June 2023 to explain the new SEP-based process and recorded the session. Applicants can contact EIC support via the EISMEA address support@eic.eismea.eu. National Contact Points remain a frontline resource for applicants. For coaching services eligible applicants can request support via the SME Dashboard.

Bottom line

The EIC's decision to move full proposal submissions to the standard Funding and Tenders portal was an operational necessity after the bespoke AI Platform became unavailable. The emergency migration and separate Step 1 platform are pragmatic short term fixes. Applicants should act quickly to migrate or prepare materials, use official support channels and document their submissions. At the same time the incident is a reminder that innovation support systems need resilient procurement, simpler user journeys and clear contingency plans so that vendor disputes do not translate into disrupted access to public innovation finance.