EIC Board urges overhaul of EIC Accelerator submission platform while backing business-case approach
- ›The EIC Board supports a business-case based application for the EIC Accelerator rather than a traditional R&D grant format.
- ›Stakeholders report the EIC AI submission platform is too long, complex and not sufficiently reusable.
- ›The platform shows limited interoperability with other tools, redundant or missing fields, and technical reliability issues.
- ›The Board welcomes the Commission and EISMEA plan to improve the platform and has set guiding objectives and recommendations to support that work.
EIC Board calls for a major improvement of the EIC Accelerator submission platform
The European Innovation Council Board has endorsed the principle that applications to the EIC Accelerator should be framed around a clear business case rather than follow a traditional research grant narrative. At the same time the Board has received substantial feedback from companies that apply, EIC jury members, expert evaluators, investors and other ecosystem actors pointing to shortcomings in the digital tool used for submissions. The Board notes the current EIC Artificial Intelligence platform met its initial aims but concluded it is now time for a major upgrade.
What the Board observed
According to the statement the feedback clusters around five areas. Stakeholders say the platform is too long and complex for the business-case style application. Reusability of entered information is limited at present. The platform does not integrate well with other widely used systems, which increases duplication of effort. Users also report redundant or missing information in the forms and a range of technical shortcomings that make the submission process more burdensome than necessary. The EIC Board welcomed the Commission and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, known as EISMEA, for planning improvements and agreed on guiding objectives and specific recommendations to support that work.
Why the submission platform matters for the EU innovation ecosystem
The EIC Accelerator is one of the EU’s flagship instruments for scaling deep tech companies by combining grants and equity investment. The submission platform is the main interface for startups seeking significant funding and, for evaluators and investors, the gateway to screening opportunities. Poor user experience or technical barriers raise the cost of applying and evaluating. That tends to disadvantage smaller teams with limited administrative capacity and slows down the flow of deals and follow-on investment.
Problems identified and their practical impact
| Issue | What it means | Impact on applicants, evaluators and investors |
| Length and complexity | Long forms and detailed requirements mismatched to a concise business case. | Higher time and administrative costs for startups. Reduced quality of early stage screening and potential loss of good projects. |
| Limited reusability | Answers entered for one call cannot be reused or ported easily into future applications. | Repeated data entry wastes time and increases the chance of inconsistent responses across submissions. |
| Lack of integration and interoperability | Platform does not connect with other widely used tools or data sources. | Duplication of work for applicants and evaluators. Difficulty for investors or partners to reuse information. |
| Redundant or missing information | Forms contain overlapping fields or omit relevant commercial questions. | Confusion for applicants and lower signal quality for juries and experts. |
| Technical shortcomings | Performance, stability, accessibility or user experience problems. | Frustration, failed submissions, increased support requests and potential reputational risk for the programme. |
What the Board has asked for and what comes next
The EIC Board welcomed the Commission and EISMEA’s intention to improve the submission platform. The Board has agreed on guiding objectives and specific recommendations to support that process. The public statement does not publish the full list of recommendations in the short note but refers readers to the full EIC Board statement for details. The Board frames the work as a major improvement rather than incremental bug fixes.
Practical improvements worth considering
The Board points to a need for structural change to the platform. Based on the reported issues and standard practice across EU digital services the following measures are plausible candidates for the EIC and EISMEA as they implement improvements. These are not presented as the Board’s official list but as practical options consistent with the stated objectives.
| Area | Possible measure | Why it helps |
| Form design | Shorter, modular forms focused on business metrics and market evidence. | Reduces applicant burden and improves signal quality for evaluators. |
| Reusability | Allow saving and reusing profile data across calls. | Saves time and reduces inconsistencies between submissions. |
| Integration | Offer APIs and support single sign on with common identity providers. | Enables interoperability with investor tools and researcher databases. |
| Data export and formats | Provide machine readable export and import functions for key sections. | Facilitates investor due diligence and internal analytics. |
| Technical resilience | Improve performance, accessibility and autosave features. | Reduces failed submissions and supports applicants with limited bandwidth. |
| User support | Clear guidance, templates and in-application help tailored to business-case answers. | Improves submission quality and levels the playing field for smaller teams. |
Risks of not acting
If the platform remains difficult to use the EIC risks making its application process costlier for innovators and slower for evaluators. That can tilt selection toward teams with more administrative resources rather than the best market potential. It may also increase administrative costs for the Commission and raise reputational risks for an initiative that positions itself as one of Europe’s main scaling tools for deep tech.
Conclusion
The EIC Board supports the shift to business-case based submissions for the Accelerator and recognises the AI platform achieved initial goals. Feedback from a wide set of stakeholders indicates the platform is now constraining rather than enabling applicants and evaluators. The Board has welcomed the Commission and EISMEA’s intention to overhaul the tool and has agreed on objectives and recommendations to guide that process. The full EIC Board statement provides the complete set of recommendations and is the appropriate reference for specific actions.