European Social Innovation Competition 2023: key facts and context

On 30 March 2023 the European Commission launched the 11th edition of the European Social Innovation Competition. The theme for 2023 is Fighting energy poverty – Repower EU. The competition is part of the European Innovation Council portfolio and is implemented by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, EISMEA. It awards three recognition prizes of €50,000 each to early stage social innovations that show promise in addressing the specified societal challenge.

Why fighting energy poverty was chosen

The competition framed energy poverty as an urgent social and economic problem. Energy poverty combines low income, high energy spending relative to household budgets and poor energy efficiency in buildings. It affects millions of Europeans and has knock on effects for health, social inclusion and employment. The 2023 challenge asked innovators to propose technological or non technological social innovations that improve wellbeing while tackling the root causes or consequences of energy poverty. The Commission positioned social innovation as complementary to technological and green solutions, but entrants were expected to show how their idea produces measurable social benefit.

Who could apply and where the idea must operate

The competition was open to any natural person or legal entity established in an EU Member State including overseas countries and territories, or in a Horizon Europe associated country. The activities described in applications had to have taken place in one of those countries. Previous winners of EUSIC challenge or impact prizes were excluded from re-entering for the same activities. There was also a blanket rule that proposals that would significantly harm the environment or social welfare were not eligible.

Prizes, budget and finalist support

The 2023 edition offered three recognition prizes of €50,000 each to the three top ranked projects. In addition to the monetary prize, finalists were to be invited to a Social Innovation Academia where they receive business acceleration services such as mentoring and training aimed at helping them develop or scale their solutions. The competition is positioned as both a discovery and a matchmaking mechanism rather than a long term grant programme.

Evaluation criteria and selection process

Independent experts evaluate submissions against four core criteria. Each criterion carried an individual threshold and there was an overall pass score. If more than 60 submissions were admissible and eligible a pre selection was used to limit the set of applications that move to full jury review.

Applications had to pass each individual threshold and the overall threshold to be considered for the top ranks. Ties were broken by a weighted calculation prioritising Degree of Innovation and Impact. If a tie remained the prize could be split equally among tied entries.

Application format and steps

Applications were submitted only through the European Commission Funding & Tenders Portal. Applicants needed an EU Login account and a Participant Identification Code, PIC. The submission comprised Part A — administrative data completed online — and Part B — technical description uploaded as a PDF. Part B was restricted to 15 pages. The system generated a confirmation email with timestamp after successful submission.

The competition workflow mirrored common EIC practices: a short proposal stage using a video and pitch deck, remote assessments, and subsequently full submissions and jury interviews for shortlisted applications. The 15 highest ranked applicants would be invited to the finalist academy. Organisers retained the right to request additional documentation for checks such as legal entity validation, bank account verification and ethics review.

Compliance, exclusions and checks

Applicants were subject to standard EU eligibility and exclusion rules. Entities under EU exclusion decisions or involved in fraud, corruption, money laundering or serious professional misconduct could not receive awards. Applications raising ethical issues underwent an ethics review and overly sensitive security cases were excluded. The awarding authority and EU bodies such as OLAF, EPPO and the Court of Auditors retained audit and investigation rights.

Who runs the prize and where it sits in EU innovation support

EISMEA manages the European Social Innovation Competition under a mandate from the European Innovation Council, part of Horizon Europe. The EIC portfolio combines recognition mechanisms like prizes with grants and equity instruments administered through various channels including the EIC Fund. The EUSIC competition is intended to surface social innovators and connect them with support networks rather than to provide long term funding.

Past editions and topics

What applicants and observers should bear in mind

Recognition prizes such as the European Social Innovation Competition provide visibility, validation and short term resources. They are not a substitute for longer term funding and scaling support. Applicants should expect rigorous checks after selection and should not assume prize money alone will deliver scaling. The EIC ecosystem offers other instruments for deeper financial support but those have different access rules and competitive dynamics.

For policymakers and funders, the competition can highlight promising practices and stimulate networks. But the conversion rate from recognition to systemic change depends on follow on financing, regulatory fit and the capacity of public and private actors to adopt and replicate the solution.

Practical links and contact points

Applications were submitted through the Funding & Tenders Portal. Questions on the call were handled by EISMEA via the competition mailbox and the Portal helpdesk for IT issues. The prize rules and call documents were published on the Portal topic page and on the EIC or EISMEA websites. Applicants were advised to consult those pages regularly for updates and to allow time to resolve registration, LEAR validation or technical issues well before the deadline.

Further reading and sources

The announcement and full rules of contest were published by the European Commission and EISMEA under the EIC family of programmes. Additional context on Horizon Europe, EIC instruments and EIC Fund operations is available on the Commission and EIC websites. For legal and data protection questions consult Regulation (EU) 2021/695 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 respectively.