EIC Transition pushes 40 deep tech projects from lab to market

On 22 January 2025 the European Innovation Council and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency announced 40 projects selected under the 2024 EIC Transition call. The call was the most popular to date in terms of submissions for this scheme. The agency says the 40 proposals were picked from 390 eligible submissions and that each successful proposal will receive a grant of up to €2.5 million once the grant agreement is signed. The projects come from 21 EU Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries and span a broad range of scientific and technological fields because this funding line does not impose predefined thematic restrictions.

What EIC Transition is intended to fund

Portfolio highlights and illustrative projects

The press material lists a wide array of technologies from medical devices to environmental remediation and semiconductor components. Three representative projects noted by the EIC illustrate the diversity and ambition of the portfolio but also underline the scale of the challenge to translate lab prototypes into reliable, regulated, and commercially viable products.

HeartWise

HeartWise aims to develop a fully implantable mechanical circulatory support device dedicated to right ventricular support. The project brings together two Proof of Concept technologies: circulation support devices that operate without external power and patient-specific cardiovascular surgical planning. The stated goal is a fully implantable mechanical circulatory support prototype that eliminates external power packs and control units. This is ambitious given the high regulatory bar, the need for long-term in vivo validation and the safety requirements for implantable cardiac devices.

FOREVER-WATER

FOREVER-WATER addresses per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, a persistent class of contaminants sometimes called forever chemicals. The project proposes a chemical-free treatment system based on graphene-enabled electrochemical technology that aims to destroy PFAS across applications from groundwater to industrial effluents. PFAS destruction is a high-impact goal but claims of efficient, scalable destruction under real world conditions require careful, independent validation, particularly because PFAS chemistries are diverse and treatment efficacy depends on matrices and concentrations.

UPSPRING

UPSPRING proposes a new FerroElectric Spin-Orbit device that the team says could reduce chip energy consumption by up to 1,000 times compared with current microelectronics. The project frames this work as supporting EU ambitions to increase its share of the global semiconductor market and to strengthen digital sovereignty. Radical gains in energy efficiency are attractive but will require replication across fabrication flows and integration into existing manufacturing ecosystems for any meaningful market impact.

Numbers, provenance and eligibility

According to the announcement, the 40 selected projects were chosen from 390 eligible submissions. A large share of the successful proposals originate from European Research Council Proof of Concept projects with 19 explicitly flagged. This edition also permitted actions stemming from Horizon Europe pillar 2 and selected Horizon 2020 streams including Societal Challenges and Leadership in Industrial Technologies to apply. The pool of applicants reportedly included private companies, universities and research organisations across multiple countries.

Full list of selected proposals and recommended budgets

The agency published the portfolio of the 40 selected projects. The table below reproduces the submission metadata published by the EIC. Note that the official notice reiterates that payment of the advertised grant amounts depends on signature of the grant agreement and that some budget figures published as 'recommended' in selection documents may include items such as indicative costs or investment components pending final negotiation.

Support attached to the grants and conditions

Critical perspective and practical challenges

The EIC Transition instrument is important because it explicitly targets the valley of death between academic proof of concept and commercial deployment. The selection of 40 projects among hundreds of applicants shows strong demand. The announcement does not, however, remove the well known obstacles that deep tech innovators face. These include regulatory approvals especially in health and medical devices, scale up and manufacturing integration for hardware and semiconductors, long and costly real world testing for environmental remediation, and the need to attract significant private follow-on capital. Observers should watch the conversion rate from selection to signed grant agreements and then from awarded grants to measurable commercial traction.

One operational point to note is that some published 'recommended budget' figures in selection documents appear higher than the stated cap of €2.5 million. That can reflect reporting formats, multi-component funding including investment streams, or provisional figures ahead of final grant negotiations. The legal notice attached to Commission pages reminds readers that published material is indicative until formal agreements are signed.

Next steps for applicants and observers

Applicants invited to grant preparation will move into negotiation phases. Projects invited for grant preparations are expected to start in April or May 2025 according to earlier timelines published by the EIC. The next EIC Transition deadline is 17 September 2025. Interested teams should also consider national or regional funding channels, investor outreach and standards compliance early in their development plans.

Background on the implementers

The EIC Transition call and the wider EIC portfolio are implemented by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency or EISMEA on behalf of the European Commission. The EIC Fund provides equity-style instruments and the EIC Accelerator performs later stage support. EISMEA manages calls, evaluation and grant preparation, while the EIC Fund and partners coordinate co-investment. Public documents from these bodies set the legal and practical framework for selection, contracting and data protection.