EIC picks six scaleups for STEP equity checks as it pushes late‑stage deep tech funding in Europe

Brussels, July 28th 2026

Summary

›The European Innovation Council has put six European scaleups forward for potential equity investments under the STEP Scale Up call.
›If due diligence and negotiations succeed the EIC Fund could invest a combined €97 million in these companies, with individual checks of €10–30 million.
›Seventeen companies reached the interview stage from 24 submissions, and 12 companies will receive the STEP Seal to ease access to alternative funding and EIC support.
›The STEP Scale Up scheme targets a financing gap for deep tech scaleups and aims to catalyse larger rounds of €50–150 million or more.
›Applications remain open continuously via the Funding and Tenders Portal with quarterly evaluation batches in 2026.

EIC selects new scaleups for STEP investments while reinforcing push on late stage deep tech financing

On 28 July 2026 the European Innovation Council and its managing agency announced a new cohort of European companies that have cleared the STEP Scale Up evaluation and been put forward for equity investment by the EIC Fund. The shortlist comprises six firms spanning communications, battery recycling, carbon transformation for construction, semiconductors, energy storage for AI infrastructure, and AI inference hardware. The investments are equity only and range from €10 million to €30 million per company, conditional on due diligence and completion of commercial negotiations.

The decision in numbers and selection process

The STEP batch that produced this shortlist started with 24 proposals. Seventeen applicants were invited to interviews with independent high level experts. Six met the eligibility and evaluation thresholds and have been formally put forward for investment decisions by the EIC Fund. Should negotiations conclude successfully the EIC Fund may commit a combined total of about €97 million in equity across those companies.

Selection to investment as conditional steps:Meeting the evaluation threshold and being put forward by the EIC is not an immediate transfer of funds. Each chosen company faces further contractual and financial due diligence by the EIC Fund and its advisors. Final investment is subject to negotiation of terms, legal checks and co-investor arrangements.

Who the six companies are and what they do

Company	Country	Core technology / market focus	Why STEP flagged them
Cailabs	France	Ground systems for deployable laser communications and optical ground stations	Enables high‑bandwidth space to earth and terrestrial laser links that industry views as strategic for data infrastructure
Cylib	Germany	End‑of‑life lithium‑ion battery recycling recovering all battery elements with water‑based processes	Claims high recycling efficiency and lower carbon impact, supporting critical raw materials supply chains
Paebbl	The Netherlands	Converting captured CO2 into construction materials	Targets low‑carbon building sector applications and circular material use
SiPearl	France	Design of high‑performance CPUs for sovereign data centres and accelerated computing	Developing European CPU capability for sensitive compute infrastructures
Skeleton Technologies Group	Estonia	High power density ultracapacitor based rack‑to‑grid power systems for AI compute	Aims at energy resilience and fast power delivery needs in next‑generation AI data centres
Vsora	France	Ultra high performance AI inference hardware for data centre and edge	Focuses on inference acceleration across cloud and edge compute

The EIC writeup groups these companies under strategic technologies for Europe and highlights supply chain resilience, sovereignty in computing, and energy and materials technologies relevant to net zero and AI infrastructure. The EIC also noted that another six companies were judged excellent by the experts but could not be funded in this batch due to STEP budget constraints. Those firms still receive the STEP Seal.

What STEP Scale Up is meant to do

The Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform STEP Scale Up scheme is intended to plug a specific market gap. It provides relatively large equity investments, between €10 million and €30 million per company, to leverage private co‑investment and help firms close financing rounds typically ranging from €50 million to €150 million or more. The scheme is funded from multiple EU programmes and in 2026 it carried a stated budget of €300 million.

Target sectors:STEP focuses on strategic technology areas including digital and deep tech, clean and resource efficient technologies aimed at net zero, and selected biotechnologies. A defence‑focused STEP Scale Up Defence strand also exists for critical defence technologies with specific eligibility and security provisions.

How applications are assessed and what companies must supply

Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Applicants must be single startups, SMEs or small mid‑caps or be sponsored by an investor on their behalf. To be eligible for STEP Scale Up candidates need to present a full business plan and a pitch deck, plus a pre‑commitment from a qualified investor representing at least 20 percent of the target financing round. That target round must normally sit in the €50–150 million band and be at least three to five times the EIC investment. The pre‑commitment portion must be uninvested at the time of submission.

Pre‑commitment requirement explained:The pre‑commitment is designed to show market interest and anchor a wider round. It is not the same as closed co‑investment. The EIC uses it as a de‑risking signal before committing its own equity. In practice this means STEP candidates should already have investor conversations underway before applying.

STEP Seal and Business Acceleration Services

Companies that meet the STEP evaluation thresholds but are not funded in a given batch can receive the STEP Seal. The Seal is a quality label intended to ease access to other EU funding streams and attract private investors. STEP Seal holders are promoted to national funding authorities and are offered access to EIC Business Acceleration Services which include coaching, investor readiness support, partnering activities and trade fair access.

What the Seal does and does not guarantee:The Seal is a visibility and matchmaking tool. It is not a funding award by itself. It makes it easier to solicit complementary public funds such as cohesion or recovery instruments and to be prioritised in policy checks. It can also be listed on investor matchmaking platforms that EISMEA uses.

Where the EIC Fund sits in the European financing landscape

The EIC Fund provides the equity component for the EIC Accelerator and STEP. It is structured as a venture investment vehicle with the European Commission as shareholder and the European Investment Bank as investment adviser. The EIC Fund targets minority equity stakes through patient capital and aims to crowd in private capital. Across the wider EIC programme the institution reports a leverage effect where every euro of EIC Fund investment helps mobilise several euros from private investors.

Scaleup Europe Fund and Trusted Investor Network:The EIC sits alongside initiatives such as the proposed Scaleup Europe Fund, a planned multi‑billion late stage vehicle that aims to attract institutional founding investors, and a Trusted Investor Network of private funds and public financial institutions that the EIC works with to co‑invest.

Open call, timelines and defence strand

The STEP Scale Up call remains continuously open on the Funding and Tenders Portal with quarterly evaluation sessions. The EIC listed remaining 2026 batching dates as 9 September and 25 November. In parallel the EIC operates a STEP Scale Up Defence call aimed at critical defence technologies. That defence strand includes extra eligibility checks related to ownership and control and specific national guarantees where applicants have links to third countries.

How to apply:Applications are submitted via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Required materials include a business plan of up to 50 pages, a pitch deck, financial plan templates and the investor pre‑commitment letter using the template published by the EIC.

Context and what to watch

STEP is explicitly designed to address a recognised funding gap in Europe: the so called 'scaleup gap' for deep tech and strategic technologies where rounds large enough to industrialise and compete globally are scarce. Large equity checks in late private rounds are capital intensive and require sophisticated due diligence. The EIC Fund aims to bridge this gap, but the public commitment is partial and conditional. Success depends on whether public participation meaningfully mobilises private capital at sufficient scale and whether governance and ownership conditions are structured to keep strategic value in Europe where that is the objective.

Practical caveats and scrutiny:Announcing shortlisted companies and potential investment figures is an important signalling tool. But these are not closed deals. The EIC and its partners routinely stress that investments are subject to due diligence and to satisfactory co‑investment arrangements. Observers should watch for the following: whether the pre‑commitment thresholds translate into signed co‑investment, how the EIC balances minority stakes with strategic safeguards, whether the claimed leverage ratios are realised in follow‑on rounds, and how quickly financed companies achieve commercial milestones.

Why this matters for European industrial policy

STEP lies at the intersection of industrial policy and innovation finance. The EU has signalled an ambition to reduce strategic dependencies in semiconductors, critical raw materials and compute infrastructure while also scaling climate and biotech solutions. That makes STEP politically and economically visible. The programme is an experiment in using public equity to de‑risk and steer large scale private investment into selected strategic areas. Its success will be judged both by investor returns and by whether it measurably strengthens European capacity in targeted technologies.

Next steps for applicants and investors

For firms that did not make this batch but received a STEP Seal, the invitation is to use the visibility and EIC BAS contacts to mature investor conversations. For investors, STEP offers a curated dealflow of companies that have already passed a competitive EU review. The EIC continues to encourage co‑investment through its Trusted Investor Network and by promoting partnerships with national funding authorities and other EU instruments.

Practical items	Details
How to apply	Funding and Tenders Portal
Investment size (per company)	€10 million to €30 million equity under STEP Scale Up
Target financing round	€50 million to €150 million or more; at least 3x–5x the EIC investment
Investor pre‑commitment	Must represent at least 20% of the target round and be uninvested at submission
STEP 2026 budget	€300 million
Next STEP batching dates in 2026	9 September and 25 November

Bottom line

The EIC announcement marks another step in Europe’s attempt to close late stage funding gaps for deep tech and strategically important technologies. The six companies shortlisted for investment reflect the breadth of priorities the EU has set for strategic autonomy and the green and digital transitions. The headline investment figures are conditional. The practical test for STEP will be whether the Fund can convert selection decisions into completed financing rounds with adequate private participation and whether the aggregated effort creates real industrial scale in the strategic areas targeted by policymakers.