Library FAQ
What are the Innovation Training Workshops?
Hands-on events for EIC-funded scientists covering commercialisation, leveraging business opportunities, pitching and presentation skills; the first event had 28 participants from 21 projects.
What are the joint EIC–ERC workshops for?
They explore emerging scientific trends and potential applications of scientific breakthroughs, involving beneficiaries from both programmes, investors, and members of the EIC Board and ERC Scientific Council.
What evidence is there that the EIC Fund crowds in other investors?
Of the first 47 investment agreements signed, more than half attracted additional investors, bringing total investments to €395.1 million—2.7 times the value of the EIC Fund investments.
What is the EIC Pathfinder Bootcamp?
An intensive business and entrepreneurship course for researchers; nine workshops involved 179 innovators from 90 projects.
What is the EIC Transition programme?
A programme that allows applications from ERC Proof of Concept researchers to help bridge scientific research and innovation communities.
What is the EIT–EIC Fast Track procedure?
A new procedure to enable promising start-ups and SMEs created within the EIT to access the EIC Accelerator selection process rapidly and benefit from EIC Business Acceleration Services.
What is the purpose of the EIC Fund?
The EIC Fund bridges the financing gap for deep-tech companies by providing long-term capital as equity or quasi-equity to start-ups selected by the EIC Accelerator and by crowding in other investors to share risk.
What kinds of companies does the EIC Accelerator primarily support?
Predominantly young and small companies—over half are less than six years old and the large majority have fewer than 50 employees—typically with high growth potential.
What measures has the EIC taken to attract and support female founders?
In 2020 the EIC piloted ensuring at least a quarter of companies invited to final interviews were women-led, increasing women-led supported start-ups to 22% in 2020 (from 15% in 2019); women make up 50% of the jury and 42% of business coaches. In 2021 the Wome...
What support do the EIC Business Acceleration Services provide?
Tailor-made support from world-class coaches, concrete business tools and training sessions to help early-stage beneficiaries move from lab to market.
Which organisations does the EIC collaborate with to connect investors and start-ups?
The EIC collaborates with organisations and stock exchanges such as Nasdaq, Euronext, Innovate UK and Bpifrance.
Which sectors received the largest share of EIC Fund-selected companies in early 2021?
Health received the largest share (28%), followed by engineering and technology (23%), ICT (9%), Energy (8%) and Biotechnology (8%).
Are EIC funding calls thematic or open?
All funding is open, with no predefined thematic areas.
How are Pathfinder proposals evaluated and what are recent demand and success rates?
Proposals are assessed on excellence, impact, and quality and efficiency of implementation by independent experts (individual and panel), taking about five months from submission to final ranked list. In 2019, 952 proposals were evaluated and 151 received fund...
How large is the EIC Accelerator portfolio and where do companies come from?
The portfolio includes around 5,500 firms from 28 EU Member States and many Horizon 2020 associated countries, including Faroe Islands, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Switzerland.
How long does it take for applicants to be informed of EIC Accelerator results and to receive the first grant payment?
Applicants are informed about the result within one month and receive the first part of their grants within five months on average from the application date.
How much private follow-on funding have EIC Accelerator portfolio companies attracted?
Until May 2020, portfolio companies had attracted over €5.3 billion of private follow-on funding, of which €4 billion (74%) came from equity investments.
What additional steps are taken for the equity part of blended finance?
Additional due diligence is undertaken by the EIC Fund to structure the investment.
What are the maximum amounts available under EIC blended finance?
Equity or quasi-equity up to €15 million blended with a grant component up to €2.5 million.
What are the typical size and age characteristics of EIC portfolio SMEs?
Most SMEs are small; almost two-thirds are micro companies (fewer than 10 employees), though in 2020 this decreased to 48% while small companies (10–49 employees) increased. Start-ups (up to 5 years old) represent 60% of selected companies.
What exits have EIC-backed companies achieved?
Seventeen EIC-backed companies have done IPOs (95% on European exchanges) and 43 companies have been acquired (65% by European companies, 30% by US companies and 5% by Japanese companies).
What is the composition of the EIC Accelerator Pilot jury?
Gender balance 49% and 51%; members include business angels, serial entrepreneurs, innovation and industry specialists, venture capitalists, and others from 35 countries.
What is the EIC Pathfinder and what funding does it provide?
Pathfinder supports high-risk, long-term interdisciplinary research to develop visionary science-inspired technologies; it offers grants between €3–€4 million (in specific cases up to €10 million) to consortia of at least three entities from three different EU...
What is the purpose of the EIC Fund and when was it incorporated?
The EIC Fund, incorporated in June 2020, manages the equity part of blended finance: it runs due diligence, structures inclusive deals with private capital, manages ownership stakes, creates value through connections, and supports investee companies in subsequ...