EIC lines up eight deep tech investments under STEP Scale Up, with due diligence still to run

Brussels, April 27th 2026

Summary

›Eight European startups cleared initial evaluation for EIC STEP Scale Up equity tickets of €10–30 million each.
›A combined €146.5 million is proposed, subject to EIC Fund due diligence and final investment decisions.
›Eighteen additional companies receive the STEP Seal to help attract alternative funding and EU support services.
›The 2026 STEP Scale Up budget is €300 million with quarterly evaluations and a focus on strategic technologies.

A new STEP Scale Up cohort edges toward EIC equity but final deals hinge on due diligence

The European Innovation Council announced eight companies that passed independent expert evaluation for potential equity investments through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform STEP Scale Up scheme. The tickets range between €10 million and €30 million per company for a proposed total of €146.5 million. These are not yet signed deals. Each case now proceeds to EIC Fund due diligence and investment committee review, where terms and feasibility will be tested against market traction, co-investor appetite, governance, and risk.

The call targeted late stage deep tech scale ups in areas the Commission classifies as strategically important to European competitiveness and resilience. Out of 44 proposers, 28 were interviewed and eight cleared all thresholds. Another 18 firms that scored highly but were not selected in this batch obtained the STEP Seal, a quality label intended to ease pathways to other funding sources and business acceleration services.

Who is in the eight and what they claim to do

Company	Country	Focus area	Stated ambition or product	Indicative EIC ticket
Aignostics	Germany	AI for precision medicine	Foundation models and analytics to accelerate target discovery, translational research and digital diagnostics	€10–30m
Alice & Bob	France	Quantum computing	Building a universal quantum computer using error-resilient architectures	€10–30m
EnduroSat	Bulgaria	Space infrastructure and data	Modular small satellites and mission services to widen access to space intelligence	€10–30m
Greenland Resources	Denmark (Greenland)	Critical raw materials	Development of a Climax-type molybdenum deposit with magnesium by-product	€10–30m
Luabio	Denmark	Biomanufacturing and CCU	AI-designed biocatalysts that convert waste CO2 into chemicals	€10–30m
Payload Aerospace	Spain	Launch and space transport	Space transportation services supporting cargo and future human missions	€10–30m
Quantware	Netherlands	Quantum hardware	3D quantum processor architecture targeting faster and more scalable systems	€10–30m
Reverion	Germany	Clean energy systems	High-efficiency next-generation biogas power plants	€10–30m

These companies span digital, clean and resource-efficient technologies as well as biotech, matching the STEP brief to reduce strategic dependencies and accelerate market entry for European deep tech.

How the STEP Scale Up instrument is structured

STEP Scale Up equity tickets:The instrument provides €10–30 million per company from the EIC Fund. It seeks to catalyse private capital into €50–150 million or larger rounds by de-risking a portion of the equity stack and crowding in co-investors. The call budget for 2026 is €300 million.

Process and pacing:The call is continuously open on the EU Funding and Tenders portal, with evaluations every quarter. In 2026, proposals are batched on 6 May, 9 September and 25 November. After expert evaluation and jury interviews, shortlisted cases enter EIC Fund due diligence for investment decisioning. Deals can be declined or reshaped during this stage if red flags emerge.

Why this exists in Europe’s funding mix:Europe has a chronic gap in late-stage deep tech finance compared to the US and China. Large, hardware-heavy rounds often stall due to capital intensity, long paybacks and technical risk. STEP Scale Up is designed to bridge part of this gap, but success depends on disciplined co-investment and the ability of portfolio companies to convert technical milestones into revenue at industrial scale.

The STEP Seal and what it unlocks

Alongside the eight shortlisted for equity, 18 additional companies receive the STEP Seal. The Seal is a quality label automatically awarded to top-rated proposals under STEP-relevant calls that meet excellence thresholds. It signals Commission endorsement to other EU and national funders and to private investors.

What the STEP Seal does in practice:Seal holders are promoted to national managing authorities and can access simplified or priority pathways to several EU instruments, subject to each programme’s rules. This includes cohesion policy funds ERDF, JTF and ESF+, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Modernisation Fund and InvestEU policy checks. Projects can also be listed on InvestEU and Dealroom to improve visibility with investors. The Seal is valid for the life of the project and expires if it does not start within five years or if core activities relocate outside the EU.

Technology and market context by company

Aignostics Germany

Aignostics develops pathology foundation models and multimodal analytics aimed at target and biomarker discovery, translational research and clinical-grade digital diagnostics. The focus aligns with Europe’s push to industrialise AI in health under strict regulatory regimes. Any clinical diagnostic claims will need conformity assessment under the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation and compliance with the forthcoming AI Act for high-risk applications. The business case hinges on pharma partnerships and validated improvements in trial stratification and biomarker quantification rather than generic AI performance claims.

Alice & Bob France

What a universal quantum computer means:A universal machine supports arbitrary quantum algorithms on fault-tolerant logical qubits. Today, all vendors operate in the pre-fault-tolerant regime. Alice & Bob works on error-resilient bosonic qubits, often called cat qubits, which embed error mitigation in hardware. This is promising, but building a universal system requires thousands to millions of stable logical qubits and robust error correction. Claims of being first should be read as ambition, not a near-term forecast.

EnduroSat Bulgaria

EnduroSat offers modular small satellites, avionics and a Space Service model that bundles design, integration and operations. The company markets sharp cost reductions in space-data per gigabyte and reports dozens of satellites and thousands of modules in orbit. The strategic angle is European capacity to build resilient constellations and shorten time-to-orbit to about six months. The key risks are manufacturing scale up and ground segment data throughput, plus exposure to launcher availability and spectrum coordination.

Greenland Resources Denmark Greenland

Why molybdenum matters to the EU:Molybdenum is critical in high-strength steels and several clean technologies. Europe is a large consumer with limited extraction. The CRMA encourages diversified and secure supplies. The Malmbjerg project in Greenland is promoted as capable of meeting a meaningful share of European demand. However, Greenland is outside the EU. Project viability depends on permitting in Greenland, environmental safeguards in an Arctic context, engagement with local and Indigenous stakeholders, logistics, and commodity price cycles. The corporate structure must also meet EIC eligibility and investment policy constraints.

Luabio Denmark

CO2-to-chemicals with AI-designed biocatalysts:The model combines designed enzymes or microbes with modular biomanufacturing to convert single-carbon feedstocks such as captured CO2 or CO into commodity and specialty chemicals. This can reduce exposure to fossil inputs if yields and downstream separations are competitive. The strategic test is unit economics at commercial scale, availability of low-cost CO2 or syngas, offtake certainty, and lifecycle emissions that beat incumbent petrochemical routes. Denmark hosts an emerging cluster in CO2 utilisation and biomanufacturing, which could shorten deployment timelines if permits and grid connections align.

Payload Aerospace Spain

Payload Aerospace is the legal name behind PLD Space, developer of MIURA launchers. The firm positions itself as a European micro-launch provider with longer-term narratives around cislunar logistics. The near-term execution risk is achieving reliable, repeatable orbital launches and competitive price per kilogram. The European launcher market is crowded and timing-sensitive, with revenue largely dependent on manifest build-up and anchor customers.

Quantware Netherlands

3D architectures in quantum processors:Three-dimensional integration seeks to stack or closely couple qubit chips, control electronics and interposers to reduce wiring bottlenecks and improve scaling. If achieved with acceptable coherence penalties and thermal management, it can accelerate the road to higher qubit counts. Quantware sells quantum processing units to third parties, so the commercial proof point is customer adoption by labs and startups, yield in fabrication, and demonstrated system-level performance, not just component innovation.

Reverion Germany

Next-generation biogas power plants:Reverion targets high-efficiency power and potentially reversible operation based on solid oxide fuel cell stacks. The strategic angle is firm power from biogenic sources with better conversion efficiency and grid services. Success depends on capex per kilowatt, stack durability under real biogas conditions, and project financeability with stable feedstock and offtake. Local permitting and connection queues can be binding constraints even with strong technology.

Policy alignment and why these bets matter

The cohort maps onto several EU policy files. STEP is a budgetary platform intended to marshal resources across programmes for competitiveness. The Net-Zero Industry Act pushes for local manufacturing and deployment of clean technologies. The Critical Raw Materials Act prioritises secure access to inputs like molybdenum. The EU Space Act proposal and broader space industrial policy aim to keep data and infrastructure under European control. In health and AI, new regulations set both market barriers and credibility thresholds. Equity alone does not resolve industrial bottlenecks, but it can buy time and unlock co-investment where the technology risk is the binding constraint.

Numbers, mechanics and timelines to watch

Process metric	Value	Notes
Proposals submitted	44	For this STEP Scale Up cohort
Invited to interview	28	After remote evaluation
Put forward for investment	8	Subject to due diligence by the EIC Fund
Proposed combined equity	€146.5m	Average ~€18.3m per company within the €10–30m range
Additional STEP Seals awarded	18	To help mobilise alternative funding
2026 STEP Scale Up budget	€300m	Equity instrument via the EIC Fund
2026 batch dates	6 May, 9 Sep, 25 Nov	Continuous call with quarterly evaluations

The EIC states a leverage goal where each euro of EIC Fund money attracts multiple euros of private capital. Actual leverage will depend on the macro environment and the quality of co-investor syndicates. Earlier iterations of the EIC Fund faced governance and process delays. The current set-up has been reshaped, but execution speed and clarity of term sheets will remain under scrutiny from founders and investors.

Risk factors and verification points

Due diligence outcomes:Not all shortlisted companies will close. Investment committees can reduce ticket sizes, set conditions or walk away if legal, ESG or market risks loom large.

Co-investor depth and deal timing:Crowding in €50–150 million rounds requires aligned co-leads. Watch for signed term sheets, not just press announcements, especially in capital-intensive segments like launch and quantum.

Regulatory clearances and permits:Resource projects in Greenland, clinical AI tools in Europe and energy plants in Member States face lengthy approvals. These can stretch timelines beyond investor patience.

Industrialisation milestones:For space, track successful orbital missions and data throughput. For biomanufacturing, track continuous-run yields and offtake contracts. For quantum, track error rates and availability of logical qubits. For biogas systems, track capacity factors and stack lifetimes in the field.

Additional context on the STEP platform and EIC governance

What STEP is in the EU budget architecture:STEP is a cross-programme platform to mobilise and coordinate support for strategic technologies. It spans Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, the Innovation Fund, EU4Health and the European Defence Fund among others. It is not a standalone fund. It creates incentives and labels like the STEP Seal to steer money from multiple sources to a pipeline of vetted projects.

Role of the EIC Fund:The EIC Fund is the equity arm that executes investments approved under EIC instruments, often taking minority stakes alongside private co-investors. It has published investment guidelines and is in the process of bringing in an external fund manager for the Scaleup Europe Fund to further professionalise operations. Scrutiny remains on selection speed and portfolio support given Europe’s scale-up gap.

Bottom line

This STEP Scale Up batch reflects an assertive industrial policy logic. Europe is trying to write meaningfully large tickets into companies that could anchor strategic capabilities in space, quantum, clean energy, biomanufacturing and critical raw materials. The public money is designed to lean into technical risk where private markets hesitate. The credibility test now shifts to diligence, co-investment and industrial execution. Watch signed deals, not just shortlists, and verified milestones rather than visionary narratives.