Record interest in EIC Pathfinder Open 2021 exposes demand and tight selection bottleneck
- ›The first EIC Pathfinder Open deadline on 25 May 2021 attracted 908 consortia with 5,341 participants requesting more than €2.7 billion in grant support.
- ›The call was oversubscribed by roughly 16 times against the allocated budget of €168 million, with an expected funding of about 55 projects.
- ›Applicants came from 60 countries and were dominated by higher education and research organisations while the private sector represented 29% of participants of which 67% were SMEs.
- ›Evaluation started immediately and selection was scheduled to finish at the end of September 2021. Separate Pathfinder Challenges calls opened from 15 June offering €132 million for 2021.
EIC Pathfinder Open 2021: record submissions and an acute funding bottleneck
The European Innovation Council's Pathfinder Open call drew unexpectedly large interest at its first deadline on 25 May 2021. According to EIC figures published on 2 June 2021, the call received 908 consortia applications comprising 5,341 individual participants. Together these applicants asked for more than €2.7 billion of grant support while the call budget was set at €168 million. With an anticipated funding line for roughly 55 projects this level of demand amounts to a highly constrained selection process and a low funding probability for applicants.
| Metric | Value | Notes / derived calculation |
| Consortia applications received | 908 | Deadline 25 May 2021 |
| Participants | 5,341 | Total individuals / organisations across all consortia |
| Total funding requested | More than €2.7 billion | Aggregate value of requested grants |
| Budget available for the call | €168 million | EIC allocated budget for this call |
| Expected number of projects funded | Approximately 55 | EIC estimate |
| Approximate oversubscription | ≈ 16x | Requested funding divided by available budget |
| Approximate success rate | ≈ 6% | 55 funded out of 908 applications |
| Average consortium size | ≈ 5.9 participants | 5,341 participants / 908 consortia |
| Countries represented | 60 | Geographic reach of applicants |
| Private sector share of participants | 29% | Reported by EIC |
| SME share within private sector participants | 67% | Meaning SMEs make up ≈19% of all participants |
What the Pathfinder Open call is targeting
The EIC Pathfinder programme is designed to support early stage, high risk and potentially high reward research that could underpin radically new technologies. Grants target activities at low technology readiness levels and support work up to proof of concept. Under the Horizon Europe framing and the full EIC architecture, Pathfinder aims to accelerate science - to - technology transitions through interdisciplinary consortia and by linking research to later-stage support where appropriate.
Who applied and what the mix shows
Applicants came from 60 countries and were mainly higher education bodies and research institutions. The private sector accounted for a relatively high 29 percent of participants overall. Within the private sector cohort, 67 percent were small and medium sized enterprises. That translates to roughly 19 percent of all participants being SMEs. The participation profile confirms the Pathfinder remit of strong academic research involvement combined with industry engagement that can help guide translational routes.
The selection math and practical consequences
The call was dramatically oversubscribed. Applicants requested in aggregate roughly €2.7 billion while the available budget was €168 million. On a simple funding ratio basis the commission expected to support about 55 projects which implies a selection rate for submitted consortia of roughly 6 percent. This scale of oversubscription has operational and policy implications for the EIC and for applicants.
Process and timelines
The evaluation process for the Pathfinder Open call began after the 25 May deadline. EIC materials indicated that the evaluation would run through the summer and be finalised by the end of September 2021. Successful teams would be selected as interdisciplinary research groups asked to pursue radical science - towards - technology breakthroughs.
What is new under the full EIC and why it matters
The Pathfinder strand under the full EIC introduces several changes compared with the earlier EIC pilot and the earlier FET Open instrument. Notable among these are structured interactions between funded projects and EIC Programme Managers and the potential for additional funding to test innovation potential or to coordinate portfolio level actions across projects. These mechanisms are intended to improve translation of early research into viable technology routes and to help projects better connect into later-stage EIC instruments.
Implications, risks and policy takeaways
The strong response to Pathfinder Open is a useful signal of unmet demand for grants aimed at early stage, high-risk deep science in Europe. At the same time the scale of oversubscription highlights structural tensions. A single call with limited budget can create intense competition that risks leaving many promising research lines unfunded. High evaluator workloads, pressures on national systems to provide follow-up funding and the potential for geographic concentration of awards are practical issues the EIC and policymakers will need to manage as the EIC scales up.
Applicants should also be realistic about where Pathfinder funding fits in the innovation chain. These grants are meant for discovery and proof of concept. They are not direct scale up or commercialisation grants and teams should plan pathways to later stage support if their ideas prove viable.
Next steps for applicants and observers
Evaluation for the Open call was scheduled to conclude by the end of September 2021. Organisations that missed the Open deadline could consider applying to the Pathfinder Challenges calls, which opened for applications from 15 June with a budget of €132 million for 2021. Observers and policy makers should watch how the EIC manages oversubscription, how Programme Managers operationalise portfolio actions and whether the full EIC model improves the pipeline from bold research to demonstrable technology outcomes.