EIC awards up to €145 million to 39 Pathfinder projects in five strategic challenge areas
- ›The European Innovation Council selected 39 projects under the 2021 EIC Pathfinder Challenges and allocated up to €145 million of EU funding.
- ›Projects were chosen from 403 eligible proposals and average around €3.7 million in grant funding each.
- ›This was the first Pathfinder challenges call where EIC Programme Managers directly shaped challenges, selected portfolios and will actively manage them.
- ›Selected projects cover five strategic areas including self-aware AI, brain activity tools, cell and gene therapies, green hydrogen, and engineered living materials.
- ›Projects will receive grants and access to tailored Business Acceleration Services and may benefit from follow-on routes such as EIC Transition and fast track to the Accelerator.
EIC Pathfinder challenges: funding early stage, high risk research in strategic technologies
On 7 April 2022 the European Innovation Council announced the selection of 39 projects under the 2021 EIC Pathfinder Challenges. The Commission said the awards amount to up to €145 million in total and that the 39 projects were selected from 403 eligible proposals. The result is an average grant of about €3.7 million per project. The call targeted breakthrough, high risk and interdisciplinary research aimed at creating radically new technologies in five strategic areas.
What the awards cover and who applied
The 2021 Pathfinder Challenges call is a thematic strand of the broader EIC Pathfinder programme. It funds early stage research activities typically at low Technology Readiness Levels. Most applicants were universities and research organisations. Small and medium sized enterprises participated too, representing roughly 20 percent of applicants according to the Commission.
| Metric | Value |
| Total eligible proposals | 403 |
| Projects selected | 39 |
| Total EU funding (up to) | €145 million |
| Average grant per project (approx) | €3.7 million |
| SME participation in applicants | Around 20% |
The five challenge areas funded in the 2021 call
The Pathfinder Challenges call focused the selection process around five strategic themes. For each challenge the EIC sought portfolios of projects that would explore different perspectives and complementary approaches.
| Challenge | Focus and objectives |
| Self-aware AI (Awareness inside) | Develop new, measurable concepts of awareness applicable to nonhuman systems and demonstrate added value in technologies where awareness changes performance, reliability or user experience. |
| Tools to measure and stimulate activity in brain tissue | Create novel neurodevices, sensors or stimulation methods with higher resolution, lower invasiveness or new physical principles to monitor and modulate brain activity for therapy or brain-computer interfacing. |
| Emerging technologies in cell and gene therapy | Advance preclinical or manufacturing technologies that overcome scaling, delivery, specificity and safety obstacles facing cell and gene therapies. |
| Novel routes to green hydrogen production | Develop biological, chemical or physical methods for green hydrogen produced entirely from renewable sources and noncritical raw materials, including circular approaches and co-production of decarbonised chemicals. |
| Engineered living materials | Apply living systems or bioengineered materials to create materials with novel functions and sustainability advantages over conventional materials. |
A different portfolio approach and the role of Programme Managers
The 2021 challenges were notable because EIC Programme Managers were directly involved in designing the challenge topics and in selecting project portfolios. Programme Managers will now take an active role in managing those portfolios. The aim is to have projects within a portfolio collaborate on common roadmaps, data sharing, market analysis and investor contacts. The Commission framed this as a way to increase the impact of funded research and speed up pathways to commercialisation.
What winners get beyond the grant
Selected projects receive direct grant funding and access to the EIC Business Acceleration Services. That can include coaching, mentoring, networking, investor outreach and tailored support to prepare for follow-on funding. The EIC also offers routes to scale and market via the EIC Transition scheme and a fast track mechanism to the EIC Accelerator for promising results.
Next steps and practical timetable
Grant agreements for the 39 selected projects were being prepared after the announcement. Projects were expected to start in July 2022. Programme Managers will work with the selected teams to develop a common roadmap for implementation across portfolios. The Commission also planned a new round of EIC Pathfinder Challenges in 2022 with applications opening on 16 June and closing on 19 October 2022 at 17.00 CET.
Commission comments and stated aims
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, congratulated the selected projects and said that with the Programme Managers’ support the projects would progress towards common goals and create opportunities for radical innovation. The Commission presented the call as part of a broader effort to support whole innovation value chains and to transform new technologies into successful European companies.
Context and cautious assessment
The EIC Pathfinder is explicitly high risk and the funded projects are early stage. That increases the chance of technically ambitious breakthroughs but also raises the likelihood of failures or long development timelines. Funding of up to €145 million across 39 projects is substantial for proof of concept work, but it is not a guarantee of commercialisation. Translating laboratory breakthroughs into marketable products typically requires further capital, regulatory work especially in health and biotech areas, manufacturing scale up and private sector interest. The Commission’s plans to use Programme Managers and Business Acceleration Services to bridge some of those gaps are constructive, but their effectiveness depends on sustained follow-on funding and private co-investment.
Another point worth noting is the applicant mix. Universities and public research organisations dominated applications. SME participation was meaningful but limited to roughly one in five applicants. If the policy objective is to create companies and industrial competitiveness, the pathway from public research to private scaling needs continued attention. The EIC Transition, Accelerator and the EIC Fund are available for that purpose, but competition for those instruments is strong.
How to engage and where to find more information
Teams interested in future EIC opportunities should monitor the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal and the EIC websites. The EIC publishes work programmes and challenge guides for each call and provides access to National Contact Points, the EIC Community Platform and Business Acceleration Services. The next EIC Pathfinder Challenges call referenced in the Commission announcement opened on 16 June 2022 and closed on 19 October 2022.
Key documents and follow up
Readers who want to check the original call texts, challenge guides and application templates should consult the EIC and the EU Funding and Tenders portals. For teams preparing applications the EIC Work Programme and the associated Challenge Guides explain eligibility, evaluation criteria and proposal structure in detail.