EIC awards €3.5m to 35 projects to take research closer to market

Brussels, February 5th 2021

Summary

›The EIC Pathfinder Pilot's Innovation Launchpad granted €100,000 each to 35 projects, totalling €3.5 million, to move research results closer to commercialization.
›The call received a record 118 applications and selected beneficiaries from higher education, SMEs, research organisations and private entities.
›Grants are intended for short, market-focused activities such as market analysis, IP consolidation and business planning but are modest relative to later-stage scaleup needs.
›Awardees gain access to the EIC community platform and Business Acceleration Services for coaching and further support, while the forthcoming EIC under Horizon Europe will expand transition options.

EIC Innovation Launchpad: 35 projects awarded €3.5 million to bridge research and market

On 5 February 2021 the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder Pilot announced 35 Innovation Launchpad grants worth a fixed €100,000 each. The objective is pragmatic and narrow. These seed-level grants aim to push research outputs from EIC Pathfinder projects or other early stage initiatives into clearer commercial trajectories. The call drew 118 proposals, a record response for the Launchpad at that time, and the 35 successful recipients come from a mix of higher education institutions, small and medium sized enterprises, research organisations and private entities.

Key facts and figures

Total awarded: €3.5 million across 35 projects. Grant size: fixed at €100,000 per project. Maximum project duration: up to 18 months. Call responses: 118 proposals submitted to the Innovation Launchpad call. Beneficiary breakdown: higher education institutes 23 percent, SMEs 38 percent, research organisations 23 percent and private organisations 17 percent.

Item	Value	Purpose
Total funding awarded	€3,500,000	One-off Launchpad grants to 35 projects
Grant per project	€100,000	Market analysis, commercialisation planning, IP work, spin-off groundwork
Maximum duration	Up to 18 months	Short, focused activities to get closer to market
Applications received	118	Record interest for the Launchpad call
Beneficiary mix	HEIs 23%, SMEs 38%, Research organisations 23%, Private orgs 17%	Distribution of award winners

What the Launchpad grants are meant to finance

Typical uses of the €100,000 Launchpad grant:Analysing potential market opportunities and routes to commercialisation, assessing current technology maturity and gaps, consolidating or filing intellectual property rights, preparing a company creation plan such as a spin-off or start-up, and producing business and action plans. The grants are not intended to fund extensive product development or full pilot deployments but to de-risk next steps and prepare for follow-on investment.

Selected projects — highlights and technical context

Mid-air haptic texture generation:One awarded project investigates market opportunities for mid-air haptic texture generation. The technology virtualises tactile sensations in mid-air, enabling users to 'feel' virtual objects or holograms without wearing devices. Applications include augmented reality interfaces and touchless controls for industry and public kiosks. Technical constraints to watch include the limited spatial resolution and strength of mid-air forces, integration with visual rendering, and user acceptance. Commercialisation will require clear use cases, hardware miniaturisation or integration partners, and safety validation.

Fast, non-invasive 3D bladder visualisation for early cancer diagnosis:Another awardee is commercialising software enabling fast, non-invasive 3D visualisation of multiple bladder attributes in real time. The aim is earlier, more accurate diagnosis of bladder cancer and improved clinical workflows. Translating imaging software to clinical use typically requires regulatory pathways, clinical validation studies, data governance and integration with hospital systems. The €100k Launchpad grant can support early market validation and regulatory scoping but not the larger clinical trials usually needed to secure health system adoption.

Ultrathin carbon nanomembranes for energy storage:A third example is work on ultrathin carbon nanomembranes targeting battery and fuel cell applications. The proposition promises smaller, more powerful and more reliable energy storage devices. In materials and battery fields the path from lab novelty to manufacturable component faces scale up, reproducibility and integration challenges. Demonstrating manufacturability and lifetime reliability can be capital intensive, meaning the Launchpad award is a modest but useful start for target market and partner identification and intellectual property strategy.

Who the winners were and follow-up support available

The 35 winners represented a mix of institutional types. Around a quarter were higher education institutes that often use the Launchpad to move prototypes out of labs and into spin-offs. SMEs made up the largest share and typically pursue commercialisation more directly. Research organisations and private companies also featured. All beneficiaries under the EIC Pathfinder Pilot were offered access to the EIC community platform and business acceleration support and coaching services provided by the EIC.

EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS):The BAS package offers mentoring, coaching, investor readiness help and matchmaking with corporate partners and procurers. For early projects the BAS can be important to refine value propositions and pitch materials. However, BAS does not replace the need for significant follow-on capital or substantial technical de-risking for many deep tech projects.

How Innovation Launchpad fits into the EIC roadmap

Innovation Launchpad is part of the wider EIC Pathfinder ecosystem. Its explicit mission is to identify promising research outputs and fund short activities that move them closer to market. The EIC under Horizon Europe planned to scale up these transition activities. The fully fledged EIC launched subsequently was intended to provide greater flexibility through clearer transition routes, linking Pathfinder research to EIC Transition and then to the EIC Accelerator and the EIC Fund for equity investments.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs):The Launchpad typically addresses outputs in the lower to mid TRL range, where prototypes exist but commercial validation is outstanding. Moving from TRL 3 or 4 to TRL 6 and beyond usually requires more funding, stringent validation and often industrial partnerships.

Analysis: potential and limitations

The Launchpad model has clear strengths. It channels modest, standardised funding into many projects quickly, encourages exploitation thinking and helps researchers scope realistic routes to market. The record number of submissions demonstrates strong demand for transition support. However, the awards are small relative to the cost of scaling many deep tech innovations. For hardware, advanced materials and regulated health technologies the funding will typically only cover preparatory activities. Success therefore depends heavily on the ability of teams to secure follow-on financing, licensing deals or industrial partnerships.

There are additional risks to monitor. Consolidating intellectual property and securing freedom to operate can be expensive. Spin-off creation is resource intensive and needs institutional support. Market adoption for niche or disruptive technologies requires well targeted pilots with paying customers, which often need larger investments than Launchpad grants provide. The EIC’s offer of coaching and the promise of later EIC Transition or Accelerator funding are important, but are not guaranteed outcomes.

What to watch next

Key indicators of whether the Launchpad cohort has lasting impact will include how many teams secure follow-on investment, how many create spin-off companies, the number of commercial pilots signed with industry or procurers, and successful IP strategies. Observers should also watch how the EIC evolves its transition instruments under Horizon Europe to provide clearer and adequately sized follow-on funding paths for promising deep tech. For policymakers the challenge remains how to couple relatively small early transition grants with downstream financing and procurement incentives that can take risky technologies to scale in Europe.

Practical summary

Aspect	Detail	Practical implication
Number of awarded projects	35	Broad support but modest per-project funding
Grant amount	€100,000	Covers market validation, IP work and business planning not scale-up
Duration	Up to 18 months	Short-term focused activities
Follow-up support	EIC community platform and Business Acceleration Services	Helps with investor readiness and network building but does not replace capital
Next stages	EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator under Horizon Europe	Potential routes for grant-to-equity and larger investments

The Innovation Launchpad awards from February 2021 reflect an ongoing effort within the European innovation ecosystem to close the often-cited 'valley of death' between lab research and commercial deployment. The approach is pragmatic, low‑cost and high‑throughput. Its ultimate effectiveness will be judged by how many of these early projects convert their Launchpad work into market traction with the help of further funding, partners and regulatory approvals.

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

2025-07-02Read Now