European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme 2022

The EIC aims at identifying and supporting breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations with the potential to scale up internationally and become market leaders. It supports all stages of innovation from research and development on the scientific underpinnings of breakthrough technologies, to validation and demonstration of breakthrough technologies and innovations to meet real world needs, to the development and scaling up of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Financial support is provided through three main funding schemes: the ‘EIC Pathfinder’ for advanced research on breakthrough/game-changing technologies; ‘EIC Transition’ for transforming research results into innovation opportunities; and the ‘EIC Accelerator’ for individual companies to develop and scale up breakthrough innovations with high risk and high impact. All EIC awardees, as well as selected applicants, have access to a range of EIC Business Acceleration Services providing access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors. The EIC also provides additional activities such as prizes.

Potential applicants, and those interested in the EIC in general, can find more information, including the background to the EIC mission, organisation and practical guidance, on the EIC website: EIC website

Potential applicants who wish to apply for EIC funding will need to apply through the EU Funding & Tender Opportunities portal ( EU Funding & Tender Opportunities portal), which can also be accessed via the EIC website ( EIC website). This contains all the information necessary as well as details of the relevant National Contact Point who can provide information and personalised support in native language.

Introduction

Key features of the EIC

This is the Work Programme for the implementation of European Innovation Council (EIC) activities in 2022. In accordance with the Horizon Europe legislation, this Work Programme implements the following key features:

Integrated, agile support across the full innovation spectrum from early stage edge research to the scale-up of genuinely innovative SMEs

The funding and support is organised into three main funding schemes: the EIC Pathfinder for advanced research to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies (Section II); the EIC Transition to validate technologies and develop business plans for specific applications (Section III); 1 and the EIC Accelerator to support companies (SMEs, start-ups, spin-outs and in exceptional cases small mid-caps) to bring their innovations to market and scale up (Section IV). In each case, the direct financial support to innovators is augmented with access to a range of Business Acceleration Services (Section V).

Linkages between these funding schemes will be maximised through proactive management (see below) and new approaches, such as additional ‘Booster‘ grants to ongoing EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition projects (Annex 6), a Marketplace to connect preliminary and final research results with entrepreneurs and investors (Section V and Section VII), and the Fast Track scheme from EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition successful projects to enter the EIC Accelerator (Annex 4).

This Work Programme has been prepared in coordination with the Horizon Europe strategic plan and the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022, 2 and in particular its part on European Innovation Ecosystems, with the aim of integrating the direct support to innovators through the EIC with improvements to the overall European ecosystem. The EIC will also link with other components of Horizon Europe, including the European Research Council (ERC), the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), and with other Union funding programmes, such as InvestEU.

A number of support actions included in this Work Programme will allow the integration and development of current EIC services such as the AI evaluation tool and the EIC Marketplace into a wider virtual, and ultimately physical, space allowing interactions and collaborations among European innovators. This space will be open to all interested stakeholders and parties, to stimulate the European innovation ecosystem by fostering the circulation of ideas, bringing actors together to further develop innovations and bridge them with funding opportunities, public or private. The aim is to develop further synergies with national and regional programmes, as well interested innovation agencies to overall enhance support to innovation across the Union.

A balance between open funding and challenge driven funding

The majority of funding will be awarded through open calls with no predefined thematic priorities (‘EIC Open’). 3 The EIC Open funding is designed to enable support for any technologies and innovations that cut across different scientific, technological, sectoral and application fields or represent novel combinations.

The challenge driven approach (‘EIC Challenges’) provides funding to address specific technological and innovation breakthroughs. These challenges take into account EU priorities for transitioning to a green, digital and healthy society, as well as the overall strategic planning for Horizon Europe, and the inputs of stakeholders, experts and the EIC Board.

Tailored approach to proposal evaluation

The EIC approach to the evaluation of proposals is tailored to the objectives of each of the EIC funding schemes. For the most mature technologies, when business and market readiness levels are close to market funding, greater emphasis is put on face to face interviews with applicants and a simplified binary scoring (GO/NO GO).

For the EIC Pathfinder, which supports science-towards-technology breakthrough research, the evaluation follows a peer review method where proposals are evaluated, scored and ranked by experts based on weighted criteria and thresholds (see Section II).

For the EIC Transition, which funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle, proposals will first be evaluated remotely, scored and ranked based on criteria and thresholds. For the top ranked applicants which are invited to the face to face interview, the jury will decide based on a binary scoring (GO/NO GO, see Section III).

For the EIC Accelerator, which supports high risk/high gain innovations to go to the market and scale up, proposals will be evaluated remotely and at face to face interviews based on a binary scoring (GO/NO GO) 4 (see Section IV).

Proactive project and portfolio management by EIC Programme Managers

Support awarded by the EIC, and in particular by the EIC Pathfinder, is more than a one-off funding of a research project. By covering the full innovation cycle, whenever possible EIC intends to push results to higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). Whilst EIC Pathfinder awardees will bear no obligation regarding the development of innovation as part of their project, the EIC will encourage and stimulate further maturation of preliminary findings and results by providing guidance but also additional and continuous support, including financial.

Moreover, the EIC takes a proactive approach of project and programme management to develop business and technology-based visions. This is performed by EIC Programme Managers, 5 whose task is to identify, develop and implement such visions and to nurture potential market-creating innovations out of EIC funded projects and activities. Proactive management applies to EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator projects and consists of the following:

Policy of open access and Intellectual Property rights 6

For the EIC Pathfinder, provisions will be applied to ensure open access to scientific publications and promote the uptake of research results (see Annex 2 on open science).

Moreover, the EIC aims to stimulate the cross-fertilisation and exploitation of results from EIC supported projects. Therefore, EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition projects may be requested by EIC Programme Managers to actively share information about results (including preliminary findings), within their EIC Portfolio and with other relevant EIC projects and parties, as detailed in Annex 7. This exchange of information between EIC Awardees will be without prejudice to their own legitimate interests to exploit the results or findings and will be subject to non-disclosure obligations regarding confidential results.

Without prejudice to ownership of results (including preliminary findings) by EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition result owners, their inventors will be entrusted with appropriate access for the purpose of further development and exploitation and be eligible to additional financial support and services offered by EIC, as further detailed in Annex 7.

Medium term Key Performance Indicators

The overall objective of the EIC is to identify, develop and deploy high risk innovations of all kinds with a particular focus on breakthrough, market-creating and deep-tech innovations. It aims to support the rapid scale up of innovative technologies and companies (mainly start-ups and SMEs) at EU and international level along the pathway from ideas to market. In this context the EIC is also an initiative contributing to the EU open strategic autonomy.

Following the recommendations of the EIC pilot Advisory Board, the EIC aims to achieve ambitious targets on a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPI targets are medium-term objectives for the EIC and not specific targets for the 2022 Work Programme, which will contribute to the following EIC KPIs:

To progress towards the last of these KPIs, a number of specific actions are implemented through this Work Programme. The EIC is committed to support all innovation talent including within underrepresented categories. Several measures will be undertaken in 2022 to continue ongoing efforts to increase support to women innovators within the EIC programmes, while fully respecting the principle of excellence:

These measures are complemented by actions in the European Innovation Ecosystems Work Programme to promote women across the innovation ecosystem.

For improving balance across geographical regions and in particular the ‘widening’ countries defined in Horizon Europe: 10

These measures are complemented by actions in the European Innovation Ecosystems and the Widening parts of the Horizon Europe Work Programme.

EIC-EIT Collaboration

The EIC is progressively increasing collaboration and synergies with the EIT and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) with the overall aim of strengthening the European Innovation Ecosystem. In this context, the EIC and the EIT agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 8 January 2021 identifying a range of areas to strengthen collaboration. A number of these areas are already supported through this Work Programme, such as the implementation of the FastTrack process by EIT KICs. Further measures, such as coordination with the wide range of existing EIT KICs business acceleration services, will be considered in the future.

Main changes with respect to the EIC Work Programme 2021

The EIC Work Programme 2022 includes a number of new elements to take into account the lessons learnt from the implementation of the EIC Work Programme 2021, and to support new emerging innovation policies, including those following the recommendations of key stakeholders’ reports. 11 These new elements include:

Outlook for 2023 and future years

The EIC has been set up as an agile organisation and the activities are expected to evolve and develop in each annual Work Programme based on advice from the EIC Board, experience from implementation and the dynamics of the world of innovation.

The main provisions of the EIC Open calls are expected to remain relatively stable to provide a significant level of predictability for applicants, while incorporating necessary improvements.

In order to provide a multi-annual perspective for the identification of EIC Challenges, the first yearly EIC Emerging Technologies report is being published to provide an overall assessment of opportunities stemming from the latest scientific, technological and innovative advancements as well as relevant policy, industrial, societal and market drivers. 12 This report provides important considerations for the process of identifying EIC Challenges for future Work Programmes.

This Work Programme will pilot a number of actions in support of potential scale-ups, including a support action with targeted support for scale-ups, the flexibility for the EIC to make investments above €15 million and an expert group to advise on further support measures for scale-ups, the outputs of which will be considered where relevant for the EIC 2023 Work Programme and beyond.

Following the work on the pilot European gender and diversity index, further actions may be considered from 2023 to address the underrepresentation of women and other diversity categories within the EIC portfolio of projects and companies.

Table 1. Summary of main calls in 2022 13

Glossary 16

The EIC Board oversees the strategy and implementation of EIC activities and provides advice on EIC Work Programmes. It comprises 15-20 leading innovators and innovative researchers, including a President, and is appointed by the European Commission following an open call for expressions of interest. 17 The EIC Board members are subject to strict rules concerning conflicts of interest and confidentiality.

The Agency entrusted by the European Commission with the implementation of all Horizon Europe EIC activities and funding is the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA).

The EIC works with various EIC Investment Partners for management of the investment component of EIC Accelerator blended finance. During a transition phase in 2022 the EIC Investment Partner will be the EIC Fund which is a dedicated fund for investing in companies selected by the EIC Accelerator with the support of the European Investment Bank. Following the transition phase, it is anticipated that such partners would also include the European Investment Bank Group, private venture capital funds and national promotional banks and institutions, as well as the EIC Fund. Within the mandate given by the Commission following the evaluation process, investment decisions 18 (and their related conditions and management) are taken by the EIC Fund (and in future other EIC Investment Partners). These decisions will follow the agreements between the Commission and the Investment Partners as well as the EIC Fund’s Investment Guidelines 19 which include objectives to crowd in other investors as investments are de-risked.

The EIC Forum is a platform bringing different innovation drivers and levels of governance closer together to discuss openly and informally relevant policy issues. 20 The policy recommendations and activities of the EIC Forum will aim at supporting and complementing initiatives undertaken in Horizon Europe.

The EIC Awardees are the consortia, institutions and/or companies named in an EIC grant agreement (for EIC Pathfinder, Transition) or EIC contract or investment agreement for EIC Accelerator, as well as winners of EIC Prizes. In the agreements and contracts, the legal entities receiving support (including but not limited to companies, research and technology organisations) are called ‘beneficiaries’. The Horizon Europe model grant agreements and contracts are available on the EIC website.

EIC Programme Managers

EIC Programme Managers are high-level experts employed by the Agency to manage one or more EIC Portfolios. They work in close relation with EIC Project Officers and are appointed to develop visions for breakthrough technologies and innovations, and to proactively manage portfolios of projects to achieve these breakthroughs.

EIC Tech to Market Advisers

EIC Tech to Market Advisers are agents employed by the Agency to assist primarily the EIC Transition projects, in agreement with EIC Programme Managers and in conjunction with Project Officers, with the design and the execution of the transition plan and to facilitate access to, and follow-up of, the relevant Business Acceleration Service offerings.

EIC Project Officers

EIC Project Officers are officials and other agents appointed by the Agency to manage an action.

EIC Juries

EIC Juries are panels of independent investors, entrepreneurs and other external experts, carefully selected by the EIC, who conduct face to face interviews with applicants to the EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator calls as a critical part of the selection process. Face to face interviews may take place in either a physical or virtual setting. In cases specified in the call texts (EIC Transition Challenges), EIC Programme Managers and representatives of the EIC Investment Partners may participate in some juries.

EIC expert evaluators and monitors

EIC expert evaluators are external independent experts in their field who assess proposals for funding against the criteria defined in the Work Programme. EIC expert monitors are external independent experts in their field who assist the EIC in the monitoring of projects.

EIC evaluation committees

EIC evaluation committees are panels of EIC expert evaluators who evaluate proposals and rank those that have passed the applicable thresholds. In cases specified in the call texts, EIC Programme Managers may participate in some evaluation committees as specified in the call texts.

EIC Business Acceleration Services

EIC Business Acceleration Services are services for the EIC Community members to support the commercialisation of EIC innovations and scaling up of EIC companies, namely access to coaches, mentors, expertise and training, access to global partners (leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients) and access to innovation ecosystem and peers, as described more in detail in Section V.

EIC business coaches are independent external experts with entrepreneurial and fundraising background who provide business development insights and improvement guidance to EIC awardees and applicants. They are part of the Business Acceleration Services.

EIC Community and Community platform

EIC Community designates EIC awardees and third parties interested to partake or contribute to EIC activities. The EIC Community platform is a platform available to all EIC awardees, facilitating links to Business Acceleration Services as well as enabling discussions and exchanges.

The EIC Marketplace is a trusted IT interface (platform) between the EIC Community and the Agency for exchange of information and data on the action, in relation notably to portfolio activities, in order to cross-fertilise activities and stimulate and nurture potential innovation out of these findings. It will also provide for co-creating new ideas and activities and may be used by the Agency to interact with stakeholders at large.

EIC Portfolio

EIC Portfolio is a set of actions presenting thematic similarities (Thematic Portfolio) or contributing to the same EIC Challenge (Challenge Portfolio).

National Contact Points (NCPs)

National Contact Points (NCPs) are appointed by Member States and Associated Countries to provide guidance, practical information and assistance to applicants on all aspects of participation in Horizon Europe.

The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is a network of business intermediary organisations (chambers of commerce, technology poles, innovation support organisations, universities and research institutes, regional development organisations) that help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) innovate and grow internationally.

Deep tech

Deep tech is technology that is based on cutting-edge scientific advances and discoveries and is characterised by the need to stay at the technological forefront by constant interaction with new ideas and results from the lab. Deep tech is distinct from ‘high tech’ which tends to refer only to R&D intensity.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) provide a guide to the stage of development. TRLs are used in the Work Programme for guidance, but do not preclude support for non-technological innovations. A strong degree of importance will also be given to market readiness and business readiness, 21 as described in the award criteria of the call texts.

TRL1 - basic principles observed. TRL2 - technology concept formulated. TRL3 - experimental proof of concept. TRL4 - technology validated in lab.

TRL5 - technology validated in relevant environment. TRL6 - technology demonstrated in relevant environment. TRL7 - system prototype demonstration in operational environment. TRL8 - system complete and qualified. TRL9 - actual system proven in operational environment.

Seal of Excellence: is a certification awarded to individual SMEs that apply for EIC Transition or EIC Accelerator funding and are assessed to meet the relevant evaluation criteria as defined in the call text, but which are not directly funded by the EIC. The Seal of Excellence provides access to Business Acceleration Services and facilitates funding from other sources. 22

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is a category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. It consists of enterprises that employ fewer than 250 persons and have either an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. Under the EIC, this definition includes start-ups.

Small mid-cap means an enterprise employing up to 499 employees.

Women-led SMEs (including start-ups) means companies where the position of either the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer or Chief Scientific Officer is held by a woman at the time of application, interview and award of the EU financial support. Women-led consortia means consortia where at least 50% of Work Package leaders including the consortium coordinator are women.

EIC Pathfinder

The overall objective of the EIC Pathfinder for advanced research is to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies. It provides support for the earliest stages of scientific, technological or deep-tech research and development. Pathfinder projects aim to build on new, cutting-edge directions in science and technology to disrupt a field and a market or create new opportunities.

EIC Pathfinder Open

If the answer to each one of these questions is ‘yes’, then EIC Pathfinder Open may be the right call for you. You should apply if you are looking for support from EIC Pathfinder Open to realise an ambitious vision for radically new technology, with potential to create new markets and/or to address global challenges.

EIC Pathfinder Open supports early stage development of such future technologies (e.g. various activities at low Technology Readiness Levels 1-4), based on high-risk/high-gain science-towards-technology breakthrough research (including ‘deep-tech’). This research must provide the foundations of the technology you are envisioning.

EIC Pathfinder Open may support your work, especially if it is highly risky. Before applying to this call you should verify that your proposal meets all the following essential characteristics (‘Gatekeepers’):

EIC Pathfinder Open involves interdisciplinary research and development. The expected outcome of your project is the proof of principle that the main ideas of the envisioned future technology are feasible, thus validating its scientific and technological basis. Project results should include top-level scientific publications in open access. You are expected to take necessary measures to allow future uptake to take place, for instance through adequate formal protection of the generated Intellectual Property (IP). 25

You are encouraged to involve and empower in your team key actors that have the potential to become future leaders in their field such as excellent early-career researchers or promising high-tech SMEs, including start-ups. Your project should reinforce their mind-set for targeted research and development aimed at high-impact applied results.

Can you apply

This call is open for collaborative research. Your proposal must be submitted by the coordinator, on behalf of a consortium that includes at least three independent legal entities, each one established in a different Member State or Associated Country and with at least one of them established in a Member State. The legal entities may for example be universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, industrial partners or natural persons.

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 183 million. You will receive a grant for a Research and Innovation Action to cover the eligible costs necessary for the implementation of your project. For this call, the EIC considers proposals with a requested EU contribution of up to EUR 3 million as appropriate, but larger amounts may be requested if properly justified.

Projects funded through EIC Pathfinder (including grants resulting from certain EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open and Proactive calls) 26 are eligible to receive EIC Booster grants with fixed amounts of up to EUR 50 000 and to submit an EIC Accelerator proposal via the Fast Track scheme (see Annex 4).

How do you apply; how long does it take

The deadline for submitting your proposal is 3 May 2022 at 17:00 Brussels local time. 27 You must submit your proposal via the EU Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal before the given deadline.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

Your proposal will be first evaluated and scored remotely by EIC expert evaluators with respect to the award criteria. A rebuttal procedure after the remote phase will provide you with the opportunity to reply with a strict page limit to the evaluators’ comments.

The evaluation committee, composed of external independent experts different from those who evaluated the proposals remotely, will decide on the final score on the basis of the remote score and the outcome of its consensus discussions, taking into consideration the comments from the rebuttal procedure, if any.

For proposals with the same final score, priority will be based on the following factors, in order: higher score under the criterion Excellence; higher score under the criterion Impact; gender balance among the work package leaders; number of applicants that are SMEs; number of Member States and Associated Countries represented in the consortium; other factors related to the objectives of the call to be determined by the evaluation committee.

EIC Pathfinder Challenges

EIC Pathfinder Challenges aim to build on new, cutting-edge directions in science and technology to disrupt a field and a market or create new opportunities by realising innovative technological solutions grounded in high-risk/high-gain research and development. With each specific Challenge, the EIC will establish a portfolio of projects that explore different perspectives, competing approaches or complementary aspects of the Challenge.

Why should you apply

You should apply if you have a potential project that would contribute to the specific objectives of the respective Challenge. Specifically, your project must aim to deliver by its end the expected outcomes defined in the respective challenge, including top-level scientific publications and adequate formal protection of generated IP.

Can you apply

The EIC Pathfinder Challenges support collaborative research and innovation from consortia or proposals from single legal entities established in a Member State or an Associated Country (unless stated otherwise). In the case of a consortium your proposal must include at least two independent legal entities. 28

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 167 million which is expected to be allocated in approximately equal shares across the challenges. You will receive a grant for a Research and Innovation Action to cover the eligible costs, including the portfolio activities.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The call deadline for submitting your proposal is 19 October 2022 at 17:00 Brussels local time. 29 Sections 1 to 3 of part B must consist of a maximum of 25 A4 pages.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

After submission, proposals are evaluated in two steps: remote evaluation by EIC expert evaluators against the award criteria; then an EIC evaluation committee considers all proposals passing the first step together to assess the best portfolio of projects to achieve the specific objectives of the Challenge.

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Carbon dioxide and nitrogen management and valorisation

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Mid to long term and systems integrated energy storage

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Cardiogenomics

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Towards the Healthcare Continuum

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: DNA-based digital data storage

EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Alternative approaches to Quantum Information Processing, Communication, and Sensing

EIC Transition

Have you identified EIC Pathfinder, FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) or European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept project results that could be the basis for ground-breaking innovations and new businesses? Is this novel technology ready for the next steps towards its maturation and validation in specific applications? Have you explored potential markets and competitors? Do you envisage building a motivated and diverse team to develop the idea towards commercialisation?

Why should you apply

EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in the laboratory. It supports maturation and validation of your novel technology in relevant application environments, as well as development of a sustainable business case and business model towards commercialisation.

Activities should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development, using user-centric methodologies and iterative learning processes from early customer or user feedback. The aim is to reach TRL 5-6 and market readiness, including regulatory, certification and standardisation aspects if relevant. Innovations that significantly harm the environment, social welfare or are primarily designed for military applications will not be funded. 34

Expected outcomes are: a technology demonstrated to be effective for its intended application, and a business model with initial validation and a business plan for its development to market, with appropriate IP protection.

Applicants can submit proposals to EIC Transition Open (no predefined priorities) or EIC Transition Challenges (predefined thematic areas of emerging and strategic technologies).

Can you apply

Your proposal must build on results (demonstrated proof of principle) from eligible projects: EIC Pathfinder projects (including EIC pilot Pathfinder, H2020 FET-Open, FET-Proactive) and FET Flagships calls (including ERANET calls), or European Research Council Proof of Concept projects. 35 New participants are welcome to apply, subject to access and rights to the results.

You can apply as a single SME or research performing organisation (including teams and inventors intending to form a spinout company 36), as a small consortium of two independent legal entities from two different Member States/Associated Countries, or as a consortium of three to five independent legal entities.

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 131.36 million, of which EUR 40.5 million will be funded through Next Generation EU. EUR 70.86 million will be allocated to Transition Open and EUR 60.5 million to Transition Challenges.

If successful, you will receive a Research and Innovation Action grant. The EIC considers requests between EUR 0.5 million and EUR 2.5 million and duration between 1 and 3 years as appropriate, with larger amounts possible if very well justified. Projects are eligible for Booster grants (up to EUR 50 000) for portfolio activities and may submit an EIC Accelerator proposal via Fast Track.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The 2022 cut-off dates are: 4 May 2022 and 28 September 2022 at 17:00 Brussels local time. 37 Proposal preparation will migrate to the EIC AI-based IT platform in 2022, subject to readiness and validation. 38

Proposals are evaluated by expert evaluators; successful proposals are invited to a face to face interview with an EIC jury. Results of the remote evaluation are provided within 9 weeks after the cut-off; interviews are organised approximately 13 weeks after the cut-off; and results of interviews are communicated within 4 weeks from the start of interviews.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

A pool of the best ranked proposals requesting approximately double the available budget may be invited to interview, with adjustments to ensure at least 30% of applications are submitted by women-led SMEs or consortia, if possible. 39 40

At the interview your proposal may be represented by a maximum of five persons, who must be involved in the future project implementation. 41 The jury will recommend ‘GO’ or ‘NO GO’. Budget may be adjusted between cut-offs within set limits (up to 20%) to optimise funding. 42

EIC Transition Open

Open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application. Projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development to progress beyond proof of principle to viable demonstrators (TRL 5/6) and investment readiness.

EIC Transition Challenges

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 60.5 million, with approximately half reserved for “Green digital devices for the future”, and the remainder divided equally between the other two topics.

EIC Transition Challenge: Green digital devices for the future

Demonstrate novel digital devices and/or architectures with quantifiable advantages in energy efficiency, use of non-critical and non-toxic raw materials, circularity and/or high recyclability, while maintaining or improving performance and miniaturisation. Proposals should harness new physical, chemical or biological processes, or revisit existing devices operating in novel modes or regimes.

Expected outcome: mature prototype device validated or demonstrated in relevant environment (TRL 5/6), business model and plan, and impacts including decreased energy consumption, reduced environmental impact and improved recyclability.

EIC Transition Challenge: Process and system integration of clean energy technologies

Energy recovery, conversion and storage are essential to reach 2030 emissions reduction targets and ‘Fit for 55’ goals. 44 This Challenge focuses on integrating technologies at process or systems level, combining at least one technology from an eligible project into fully functioning systems comprising energy production/conversion, storage (including renewable fuels) and/or final use.

Expected outcomes include de-risked technologies with clearly defined use cases and quantitative performance metrics, credible business models for deployment, and exploitation strategies with appropriate IP protection.

EIC Transition Challenge: RNA-based therapies and diagnostics for complex or rare genetic diseases

Focus on advancing RNA delivery methods and robust formulations; designing and preclinically validating novel RNA-based therapies (e.g. miRNA, lncRNA, tRNA or siRNA) for complex or rare genetic diseases; and developing RNA-based diagnostics and predictive biomarkers. The gender dimension in research content should be considered, where relevant. 45

Projects should start from TRL 3-4 and reach TRL 5-6 with sound data ready for (pre-)clinical trials, together with a commercialisation/exploitation strategy and investable proposition.

Why should you apply

EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory. It supports both the maturation and validation of your novel technology from the lab to the relevant application environments (by making use of prototyping, formulation, models, user testing or other validation tests) as well as explorations and development of a sustainable business case and business model towards commercialisation.

Your proposed activities must include further technology development on the results achieved in a previous project and follow user-centric methodologies to increase chances of the innovation’s future success in the market. EIC Transition projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development, possibly including iterative learning processes based on early customer or user feedback.

These activities should include, subject to the level of maturity of the technology, a suitable mix of research, technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of principle to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e. up to Technology Readiness Level 5 to 6). The activities must in all cases address market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, business case, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) and possibly aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation (if relevant), aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment-ready.

EIC Transition aims at maturing both your technology and business idea thus increasing its technology and market readiness. The expected outcomes of your EIC Transition project are a) a technology that is demonstrated to be effective for its intended application and b) a business model, its initial validation and a business plan for its development to market.

It is also expected that the intellectual property generated by your EIC Transition project is formally protected in an adequate way (Annex 7).

EIC Transition can support a number of different pathways beyond fundamental research, from technology development and product design to business modelling and commercialisation strategy to reach the market. Some non-exhaustive illustrative examples could be the following pathways:

At the end of your EIC Transition project, you should be ready for the next stage, which can be to apply for EIC Accelerator (if you are a SME, including start-ups or spin-offs), to seek other investors or sources of funding, to enter licensing or collaboration agreements with third parties, or other routes to market deployment.

In case your project is not led by an SME or commercial partner, the formation and spin out of a new company can be included as part of the activities. You will be expected to describe the intended pathway and route to market in your proposal, and to specify milestones and KPIs during the implementation of your project to assess progress towards the market.

Applicants to EIC Transition 2022 can submit proposals through:

Can you apply

Your proposal must build on results (demonstrated proof of principle) achieved within an eligible project. In 2022, EIC Transition is restricted to proposals based on results generated by the following eligible projects:

If you are applying on the basis of an eligible project for which the grant is still active, you may apply if the project has been active for at least 12 months (i.e. the start date of the grant is more than 12 months before the date of the selected EIC Transition call cut-off).

If you are applying on the basis of an eligible project which has already been completed, you may apply within 24 months of the completion of the project (i.e. the end date of the grant for the eligible project is less than 24 months from the date of the selected EIC Transition cut-off).

You do not need to be a participant, Principal Investigator or result owner of the previous projects; on the contrary, new participants are welcome and encouraged to apply.

If you were part of the linked EIC Pathfinder, FET or ERC Proof of Concept project whose results are further developed in the EIC Transition proposal, you need to confirm in your proposal that you are the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) owner or holder, or have the necessary rights to commercialise the results of the project.

If you were not part of the linked EIC Pathfinder, FET or ERC Proof of Concept project whose results are further developed in the EIC Transition proposal, you need to include in your proposal a commitment letter from the relevant owner(s) of the result(s), which confirms the commitment of the owner of the linked project research result to negotiate with you fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory access to such results, including IPR, for the purpose of future commercial exploitation.

You can apply for EIC Transition either as:

Consortia may for example include universities, research organisations, SMEs or larger companies, user/customer organisations or potential end users (e.g. hospitals, utilities, industry, regulatory and standardisation bodies, public authorities).

Your proposal will only be evaluated if it is admissible and eligible (see Annex 2 as well as Annex 3 for eligibility of third country applicants).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 131.36 million, of which EUR 40.5 million will be funded through Next Generation EU as this call contributes to the objectives to rebuild a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe. EUR 70.86 million of the total indicative budget will be allocated to Transition Open and EUR 60.5 million to Transition Challenges (see Annex 1).

If successful, you will receive a grant for a Research and Innovation Action to cover the eligible costs necessary for the implementation of your project. For this call, the EIC considers proposals with a requested EU contribution between EUR 0.5 million and EUR 2.5 million and duration between 1 and 3 years as appropriate. Nonetheless, in exceptional cases, this does not preclude you to request larger amounts, if very well motivated and explained. The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs.

The projects funded through EIC Transition are eligible:

In addition to funding, projects will receive tailor-made access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services and matchmaking events (see Section V).

How do you apply; how long does it take

The cut-off dates for 2022 are: 37

It is expected that, during 2022, the preparation and submission of EIC Transition proposals will be moved to the EIC artificial intelligence-based IT platform already used for EIC Accelerator. Until then, you must submit your proposal via the EU Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal before the given cut-off. 38

Sections 1 to 3 of part B of your proposal must consist of a maximum of 20 A4 pages.

Your proposal will be evaluated first by EIC expert evaluators. You will be informed about the result of this evaluation, including feedback on your proposal, within 9 weeks after the cut-off.

If your proposal successfully passes this first evaluation phase, you will be invited for a face to face interview, which will be organised approximately 13 weeks after the cut-off. At the interview, you will be assessed by a panel of maximum 6 EIC jury members. You will be informed about the result of the interview within 4 weeks from the start of the interviews.

If you are successful, your grant agreement will be signed within 6 months from the call deadline (indicative).

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

In a first step, at least three EIC expert evaluators will evaluate and score your proposal against each award criterion (see below). The overall score for each evaluation criterion will be the average of the corresponding scores attributed by the individual evaluators. The total score of your proposal will be the sum of the overall scores from the three evaluation criteria.

Starting with the highest scoring proposal and in descending order, a pool of the best ranked proposals (highest scoring) requesting an aggregated financial support equal to approximately the double of the budget available, will be invited to the next step. 39

If in that pool: at least 30% of the applications are submitted by women-led SMEs or consortia (see definitions in the Glossary), only the applications of that pool will be invited to face-to-face interviews; if less than 30% of the applications are submitted by women-led SMEs or consortia, the pool will be expanded to subsequent best ranked applications (starting with the highest scoring in descending, sequential order and at least equal score under Excellence criterion) submitted by women-led SMEs or consortia until reaching, if possible, a composition of the pool of at least 30% of applications submitted by women-led SMEs or consortia. 40 All such applicants invited to interview must have met all evaluation criteria thresholds from the remote evaluation (Table 4).

If your proposal is scored below threshold in any one of the three criteria during the remote evaluation, you will be allowed to resubmit an improved proposal once in the following 12 months. In case the proposal is scored below threshold in two or more evaluation criteria, no resubmission within the following 12 months is permitted.

The second step is a face to face interview with an EIC jury. At the interview your proposal may be represented by a maximum of five persons. Only individuals mentioned in the proposal and involved in the future project implementation can represent your proposal at the interview. 41

The jury will be composed of a maximum of six members, which may include an EIC Programme Manager with expertise in your area or managing one of the EIC Portfolios your project could be allocated to. During the interview you should convincingly pitch your proposal to the jury, who will ask you questions aimed at clarifying various aspects of your proposal in line with the award criteria (in particular those regarding the quality of the team and the milestones).

The jury will recommend your proposal for funding or not (‘GO’ or ‘NO GO’) and will not provide a separate assessment against the criteria. The budget will be allocated approximately equally between the cut-offs. In case the amount allocated to GO applicants is less than the budget available for that cut-off, or additional budget becomes available as a result of the award of the EIC grants, then the remaining available budget will be allocated to the subsequent cut-offs. 42

Proposals will be assessed according to the following award criteria (Table 4). For the face to face interviews, the jury may ask questions concerning any of the award criteria.

EIC Transition Open

This topic has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application.

For any chosen field, EIC Transition projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development, possibly including iterative learning processes based on early customer or user feedback.

These activities should include, subject to the level of maturity of the technology, a suitable mix of research, technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of principle to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e. up to Technology Readiness Level 5 or 6).

The activities must in all cases address market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, business case, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) and other relevant aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation, aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment-ready.

The expected outcomes of your EIC Transition project are a) a technology that is demonstrated to be effective for its intended application and b) a business model, its initial validation and a business plan for its development to market.

EIC Transition Challenges

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 60.5 million, of which approximately half is reserved for the topic “Green digital devices for the future”, and the remaining budget is divided equally between the other two topics.

EIC Transition Challenge: Green digital devices for the future – Introduction and scope

Digital devices and technologies in a wider sense are an essential part of our modern life. We cannot talk about a modern economy without digital devices. Digital devices and technologies are a matter of Europe’s competitiveness and the competition for the most efficient and advanced devices is a race about technological and industrial leadership.

However, current digital technologies are gradually reaching the limits of performance and miniaturisation while consuming higher and higher amounts of energy. For example, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and ever-increasing quantities of data put more and more pressure on current computing paradigms and cause an ever-increasing energy consumption.

Europe is a global leader in energy efficiency, and this will be a key requirement for next generation digital devices. Improvements will affect the whole spectrum of ICT technologies and applications, from high-performance data centres to small computing devices used in mobile applications and the wide ICT landscape of components, systems and subsystems.

At the end of their life, digital devices generate an ever-increasing ecological footprint in terms of e-waste and rare and/or heavy metals that raise economic dependency issues and are difficult or impossible to recycle. European legislation is already setting ambitious targets for recycling e-waste and this level of ambition is only expected to grow.

Next generation green and efficient digital devices designed and produced in Europe must rethink the whole concept and address this important aspect by design. This represents a business opportunity for start-ups and SMEs deploying disruptive innovative technologies in their competition or collaboration with the more established players.

Next generation green and efficient digital devices and architectures are evolving from existing approaches, but also from the maturation of emerging technologies such as neuromorphic, spintronics, optical computing, nano/micro electromechanical systems (NEMs/MEMs), cell and bacterial computing, etc. They could include devices, architectures, systems, subsystems and components, including intelligent behavior of systems.

They aim to radically improve or solve one or several of the following key issues: energy efficiency, use of non-critical and non-toxic raw materials, ensuring circular approaches and/or a high degree of recyclability, while maintaining or even improving on performance and miniaturisation.

Specific objectives

Proposals submitted to this EIC Transition Challenge should focus on demonstrating novel digital devices and/or architectures that have a clear and quantifiable advantage with respect to one or several of the key issues mentioned above compared with existing alternatives for a class of relevant problems or applications.

Proposals should focus their work on harnessing a physical, chemical, or biological process not previously explored, or revisit existing devices while operating them in novel modes or regimes leading to a novel approach with quantifiable and demonstrable advantages.

Applicants should identify the limits of the current paradigms they are trying to improve and propose relevant metrics or KPIs to track progress and demonstrate success or a superior paradigm compared with current state of the art.

Proposals should describe how the proposed novel device, architecture, system or subsystem is controlled and programmed (if applicable) and address relevant input/output (I/O) interface aspects.

Expected outcomes and impacts

In the medium term, the expected outcome is the commercial emergence of a new class of green digital devices that radically improve or solve one or several of the issues mentioned (i.e., energy efficiency, use of non-critical, non-toxic raw materials, ensuring circular approaches and/or a high degree of recyclability) while maintaining or even improving on performance and miniaturisation.

The goal is tackling as many of them as possible, ideally all. A business model, its initial validation and a business plan are also expected outcomes of the project.

Projects are expected to contribute to at least one of the following impacts:

At the end of the project, you should come up with a mature prototype device validated or demonstrated in a relevant environment (TRL 5/6) and demonstrate the proposed advantage in specialised, niche applications or in a general-purpose device that can unlock the full potential of the field and generate high impact in terms of economic returns and societal benefits.

Specific conditions

In order to capitalise on and deploy the EU deep-tech know-how as well as comply with the EU policy objectives, activities foreseen in this EIC Transition Challenge will aim to have impact on sustainability, using non-critical and non-toxic raw materials and ensuring circular approaches and/or a high degree of recyclability throughout the whole lifetime.

If at the end of the jury stage the combined budget of GO proposals exceeds the allocated budget, portfolio considerations will be applied. For this specific Challenge, the portfolio consideration will be a balanced portfolio of projects in terms of technologies and/or type of device.

The general Transition eligibility conditions apply.

EIC Transition Challenge: Process and system integration of clean energy technologies

Introduction and scope

Energy recovery, conversion and storage are essential components of the technological efforts to reach 2030 emissions reduction targets and ‘Fit for 55’ goals. 44

Renewable fuels and clean energy technologies are integral parts of these efforts and can provide significant contributions to diversify the fuel supply, while increasing sustainability of energy production, conversion, storage and final use.

These technologies/system components have received vast research and development (R&D) support in the last decades, generating promising application opportunities in residential and industrial sectors, including cross-sector coupling and systems integration of conventional and novel technologies to facilitate the energy transition.

While promising a solid market potential, several of these technologies have insufficient maturity for early adoption and present a low TRL, and therefore still a significant technological risk for private investment.

The integration of these technologies at process or systems level is a critical, yet necessary fundamental step to identify, design, test and de-risk the most suitable application.

The integration sought in this call is the combination of at least one technology resulting from an eligible project in a system or complex process comprising the elements of energy production or conversion, storage (including renewable fuels), and/or final use.

Specific objectives

Proposals submitted to this Challenge call should focus on the following specific objectives:

Reaching these objectives requires the combination of different skills and expertise and contribution from several players in the value chain, by validating existing and exploring new use cases for research results from eligible projects. These results should have already provided promising results in laboratory at the stage of proof of concept.

Expected outcomes and impacts

This EIC Transition Challenge aims at maturing the proposed energy technology through its integration in a fully functioning energy system and the emergence of the ecosystem actors and value chain needed for the market uptake of the technology.

The expected outcomes of your proposal are:

The de-risking process is primarily focused on the technological aspects that represent the higher uncertainty at this stage of development of any energy technology.

Applicants are asked to fully identify the supply and value chain actors necessary to integrate their energy technology inside an energy system. Relevant methodologies to develop this process can include Design, Build, Test and Learn with frequent strategic iterations. The proposals may consider particular applications where conditions of use of the energy system require the involvement of final users.

Specific conditions

If at the end of the jury stage the combined budget of GO proposals exceeds the allocated budget, portfolio considerations will be applied. For this specific Challenge the portfolio consideration will be a balanced portfolio of projects in terms of technologies and/or application domains.

The general EIC Transition eligibility conditions apply.

EIC Transition Challenge: RNA-based therapies and diagnostics for complex or rare genetic diseases

Introduction and scope

With the success of the recent COVID messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines, a new era into the utilisation of mRNA-based technologies has emerged. RNA-based therapeutics has nearly unlimited capacity to address unmet clinical needs and mRNA therapeutics are poised to become an important element in the healthcare landscape.

The number of RNA drugs under development, and in clinical trials, is growing rapidly, and so is the number of biotech start-ups and academic groups in the field with transformative ideas. As of January 2021, 35 RNA therapeutics were approved for clinical use or undergoing clinical trials of which 23 were on mRNA. They address all areas, from infectious diseases to cancers, degenerative diseases and physiological disorders.

The advantage of RNA-based therapeutics relies on the potential to be used for precise and individualized therapy and enable patients to produce therapeutic proteins in their own bodies without struggling with the comprehensive manufacturing issues associated with recombinant proteins.

Compared with current therapeutics, the production of RNA is more cost-effective, faster and more flexible because it can be easily produced by in vitro transcription. Moreover, RNA therapies allow for rapid administration of the medication in a personalised manner.

Along with the great potential from bench to bedside, RNA pharmaceuticals are facing challenges and technical obstacles. Specifically for mRNA-based therapeutics, one of the biggest challenges is the efficient and safe delivery of mRNA to targeted cells. This is because the size of mRNA is significantly larger than other types of RNAs. The clinical translation of mRNA-based therapeutics requires delivery technologies that can ensure stabilisation of mRNA under physiological conditions.

Hence, novel delivery strategies providing more effective and safer delivery of the mRNA-based therapeutic into most types of cells are required for mRNA-based clinical candidates. In addition, other types of RNAs (e.g. transfer RNA (tRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNAs), micro RNAs (miRNAs)), with other mechanisms of action can be used to target nearly all disease-related genes of interest.

In the case of these RNAs too, challenges exist like the intracellular delivery limiting their clinical utility and the possible induction of off-target effects, both of which represent major hurdles. With regards to the latter, and in the case of siRNA, expression of disease-causing genes in tissues outside the liver and kidney has been reported.

Specific objectives

Proposals submitted to this EIC Transition Challenge call should focus on one or more of the following specific objectives:

Expected outcomes and impacts

Proposals are expected to contribute to at least one of the following outcomes:

Proposals are expected to address both technology maturation and demonstration as well as business development activities searching for a sustainable business model.

Proposals submitted to this EIC Transition Challenge should aim to perform the necessary R&D to advance from an existing/demonstrated proof-of-principle technology to a mature version ready to initiate clinical evaluation; and to develop a commercialisation/exploitation strategy, including the formal IP protection (Annex 7) of the novel result, qualitatively and quantitatively outlining the proposed path to patient and describing an investable proposition.

The gender dimension in research content should be considered, where relevant. 45

The starting point in the project should be a preliminary technology or protocol of an RNA-based therapy for complex or rare genetic diseases with unmet medical needs that demonstrates, in a lab or preclinical context, the essential features that underpin the disruptive nature of the innovation (TRL 3-4).

The endpoint in the project should be a completely functional version of the technology suitable for clinical validation (TRL 5-6), supported by a sound and implementable commercialisation/exploitation strategy.

Specific conditions

If at the end of the jury stage the combined budget of GO proposals exceeds the allocated budget, portfolio considerations will be applied. For this specific Challenge, the portfolio consideration will be a balanced portfolio of projects in terms of technologies and/or type of disease addressed. The general Transition eligibility conditions apply.

EIC Accelerator

If your answers to the above questions are ‘yes’, then the EIC Accelerator may be the right funding scheme for you.

Why should you apply

The EIC Accelerator supports companies (principally SMEs, including start-ups) to scale up high impact innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones. The EIC Accelerator provides a unique combination of funding from EUR 0.5 to EUR 17.5 million and Business Acceleration Services (see Section V).

The EIC Accelerator focuses in particular on innovations building on scientific discovery or technological breakthroughs (‘deep tech’) and where significant funding is needed over a long timeframe before returns can be generated (‘patient capital’). Such innovations often struggle to attract financing because the risks and time period involved are too high.

Funding and support from the EIC Accelerator is designed to enable such innovators to attract the full investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe. The EIC Accelerator supports the later stages of technology development as well as scale up.

The technology component of your innovation must therefore have been tested and validated in a laboratory or other relevant environment (e.g. at least Technology Readiness Level 5/6 or higher and have fully completed Technology Readiness Level 4). The EIC Accelerator looks to support companies where the EIC support will act as a catalyst to crowd in other investors necessary for the scale up of the innovation.

Applicants to EIC Accelerator can submit proposals through:

Can you apply

To be an eligible applicant to EIC Accelerator, you must apply as one of the following eligible entities:

The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions are detailed in Annex 2 and information on eligible Associated Countries in Annex 3. There are limitations on the number of times you can submit a proposal described in the section on resubmission limits below.

If you are currently a participant in an eligible project funded by Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 then you may be able to apply through your existing project under the Fast Track scheme (see Annex 4). This scheme is managed by the funding body responsible for the existing project and for 2022 it applies to funding bodies managing projects under the EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition (including EIC pilot 2018-20); ERC Proof of Concept; the Eureka Secretariat; and Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Applicants may also be able to apply if they have a project financed by an eligible programme managed by a Member State or an Associated Country under the pilot Plug-in scheme. The Plug-in scheme to apply to the EIC Accelerator is detailed in Annex 5.

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 1 167.84 million, of which EUR 396.32 million will be funded through Next Generation EU as this call contributes to the objectives to rebuild a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe. EUR 630.96 million of the total indicative budget will be allocated to Accelerator Open and EUR 536.88 million to Accelerator Challenges (see Annex 1). The total indicative budget for Accelerator Challenges is expected to be allocated in approximately equal shares across the challenges.

The EIC Accelerator provides blended finance (Innovation and Market Deployment Action) which is composed of:

Applicants for EIC blended finance can choose to request the investment component only. You may request a grant component only (‘Grant Only’) or ‘Grant First’ (i.e. maximum EUR 2.5 million to cover TRL 5/6 to 8 and without requesting an investment component for TRL 9) if you have not previously received EIC Accelerator grant-only support. 49

In your proposal for grant-first support, you will have to include a milestone at mid-term or at the latest 6 months before the end of the project, for the EIC to assess deployment perspectives and capabilities. Small mid-caps (i.e. companies that do not comply with the definition of an SME but have fewer than 499 employees) can only apply for the investment component and are not eligible to receive the grant component.

EIC Accelerator investment component

The minimum investment component is EUR 0.5 million and the maximum is EUR 15 million. A more than EUR 15 million investment request is allowed in duly justified cases for proposals in technologies that are strategic for the Union, where there is global competition, and where the funding needs significantly exceed what is available in Europe. 50

The investment component is intended to finance market deployment and scale up but may also be used for other purposes (including co-financing or even fully financing innovation activities).

Within the maximum budget awarded by the Commission, the terms of investment will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis by the EIC Fund. In the case of equity, investments will not exceed 25% of the voting shares of the company (except where for strategic reasons the Commission subjects its support to the acquisition of a blocking minority). Investments will normally be made with a long average perspective (7-10 years) with a maximum of 15 years (‘patient capital’). The Fund’s main guiding principles are described in the Investment Guidelines. 51 52

The investment component of the EIC is designed to fill the funding gap for high risk innovations to a stage where they can be co-financed or financed under the InvestEU programme or by private investors alone. The lack of such investors at the initial stage would not prevent the EIC investment to be agreed.

When implementing investments approved by the Commission, the EIC Fund will ensure that supported companies keep most of their value, including their IP, in the EU or in the Associated Countries in order to contribute to their economic growth and job creation.

EIC Accelerator grant component

Eligible costs for the grant component are reimbursed up to a maximum of 70%. The remaining 30% of the costs for these activities and the costs incurred for the commercial introduction of the product or service and full scale up operations (e.g. Technology Readiness Level 9 or above) will not be reimbursed by the grant but can be financed by the investment component if and when this investment component is awarded and implemented.

The grant component should normally not exceed EUR 2.5 million but may be for a higher amount in exceptional and well justified cases. 53 The innovation activities to be supported should normally be completed within 24 months but may be longer in well justified cases. The proposed duration should genuinely reflect your current TRL and the nature of the technology to be developed and demonstrated. The grant component may be used for subcontracting including, only if justified, for activities which are essential for the objectives of the project.

Grant Only and Grant First

If the milestone assessment for a Grant First proposal is positive, you will be required to demonstrate that you have sufficient financial means to finance any remaining innovation activities and the deployment and scaling up of your innovation, or be invited to enter due diligence and negotiations to receive an EIC equity investment (conditional to the due diligence assessment).

To provide for the co-financing of TRL 5 to 8 activities, the EIC, in cooperation with EIC investment partners, may introduce the option for grant-first applicants to request in their full proposal an investment component to co-finance the 30% of the costs for their TRL 5 to 8 activities not covered by the grant component. If and when this option becomes available, the application form will be modified accordingly.

All successful proposals will receive, in addition to funding, tailor-made access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services (see Section V). The EIC Accelerator model contract for the grant component can be found on the Funding and Tenders Portal.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The application process consists of a number of steps:

Submission of short proposals

You may submit a short proposal at any time via the European Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal that will direct you to the EIC artificial intelligence based IT platform. The short proposal consists of:

All personal data and information in your proposal will be kept strictly confidential. 54 However, before submitting your full proposal, you will be offered the opportunity to share basic or all data and information with your Member State or Associated Country National Contact Point, for any support they may provide you with.

Within approximately 4 weeks, you will receive the evaluation result of your short proposal specifying whether or not your proposal met the evaluation criteria and can therefore proceed to submit a full proposal. In both cases, you will receive feedback from the expert evaluators.

Submission of full proposals

If your short proposal is successful then you will be entitled to receive coaching support to prepare a full proposal which can be submitted to one of the cut-off dates within the next 12 months from the date of the response to your short proposal. You may decide which cut-off to apply to. The cut-off dates for 2022 are: 55

You must prepare your full proposal on the EIC AI-based platform, which includes methodology to help you to develop your detailed business plan and a number of automatic checks and feedback to guide you through the process. The full proposal consists of that full business plan and full information on your company’s finances and structure.

You will also need to propose a set of milestones to be used as a basis for the EIC to manage the funding for your innovation. As support for the development of your full proposal, you will be entitled to receive coaching from one of the business coaches from the EIC Business Acceleration Services. 56

The automatic checks and feedback from the IT platform and the optional coaching support are designed to help you prepare your full proposal. However, it is your decision how to respond to the feedback and support, and the content of your proposal is your sole responsibility.

All personal data and information in your proposal will be kept strictly confidential. 57 However, before submitting your full proposal, you will need to give consent to share necessary information with the EIC Fund. You will also be offered the opportunity to share certain data and information with investors who have undergone a prior EIC due diligence process.

Once you submit your full proposal, it will be assessed remotely against award criteria by EIC expert evaluators. Within approximately five to six weeks you will be informed about the result of the remote evaluation and will receive feedback. If successful, you will be invited to attend a face to face interview with an EIC jury.

Face to face interviews with an EIC jury

All companies receiving a GO from the remote evaluation stage will be invited to the face to face interviews. In case the number of companies to invite exceeds the capacities of the initially planned interview sessions, a first batch of companies will be invited according to the following prioritisation, starting with category ‘a’ below, proceeding to the next:

Face to face interviews will be organised approximately eight to nine weeks after the cut-off date (or longer if there is a need for a further set of interviews). At the interview, you will be assessed by a panel of maximum six jury members. EIC Programme Managers and representatives from EIC Investment Partners may participate in the interview, but will not be members of the jury and will not take part in the jury’s decisions.

You will be informed about the result of the interview within approximately two to three weeks.

Invitation to negotiate grant component and due diligence process

Blended finance will be awarded through a single process under an overall coordination by the Agency. If you are selected for funding, you will be invited to negotiate. Once the grant negotiations are concluded, a single award decision will be adopted by the Commission and will serve as the basis for the signature of the Accelerator Contract.

The single award decision will also define, if applicable, the maximum amount of the investment component. Following the award decision, you will be invited to sign an initial contract that will provide for the grant component and, if applicable, for an indicative amount investment component. You will then receive a first pre-financing payment on the grant component.

In parallel, if your proposal included an investment component, the EIC Fund will start the negotiation process to structure the potential investment agreement (compliance checks, due diligence, syndication of potential co-investors, tranches of investment and related objectives and milestones, etc.). 58

At the end of this process, which should usually take between two to six months, an investment component will be agreed. The initial contract will have to be amended to integrate this agreement, and any relevant corresponding changes (e.g. in definitions of milestones). The decision to invest as well as the amount and the terms of the investment component will be made by the EIC Fund in compliance with the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines.

As an outcome of the due diligence process, the investment may be rejected, notably due to the results of the due diligence, compliance checks, existence of irregularities, in cases of misrepresentation by the applicant or in the case of a manifest error in its assessment. The Commission may also terminate your initial EIC contract covering the grant component in certain cases.

Should the outcome of the due diligence conclude that the innovation or your company is not yet mature for equity investment, the EIC Fund may recommend to the Commission that you start with the grant component first, and that the investment component will be subject to reaching defined milestones that will be included in the contract for the grant component via an amendment.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

The EIC Accelerator is highly selective and only the very best proposals can be funded. Your proposal will be assessed on its merits by leading experts and the Commission will ensure open and fair competition to all eligible proposals submitted.

Evaluation of short proposals

Short proposals will be evaluated by four EIC experts as soon as they are submitted. These four evaluators’ competences will match the area of technology and market application of your innovation. They will have access to analyses (for example on related scientific publications and patents) generated by the EIC artificial intelligence-based IT platform.

Each evaluator will assess whether your short proposal meets each of the evaluation criteria (Table 6) and give a GO or NO GO: If at least two evaluators give a GO, then your short proposal will be successful and you will be invited to prepare a full proposal. If more than two evaluators give a NO GO, then your proposal is considered unsuccessful. 59

Evaluation of full proposals and face to face interviews

Full proposals will be assessed following the cut-off dates listed above. This will start with a remote evaluation where your full proposal will be sent to three EIC expert evaluators, who will be matched against the area of technology and application of your innovation.

Each evaluator will assess whether your full proposal meets each of the award criteria and give a GO or NO GO per criterion: If all three evaluators give a GO for all the criteria, then your full proposal will be successful and you will be invited to a face to face interview with an EIC jury. If one or more evaluators give a NO GO under any of the criteria then you will not be invited to the interview, but you will be eligible to resubmit an improved proposal (see Table 8). 61

At the face to face interviews, the EIC jury will have prior access to your short and full proposal and the evaluation results. Jury members will also have access to analyses generated by the EIC AI-based platform and, in certain cases, the independent assessment of a specialised expert in the field of science or technology.

If the proposal receives a GO and is recommended for funding, the jury may recommend lowering the grant amount if activities above TRL 8 are detected. Should the jury find the level of risk to be lower than initially identified by the applicant, the jury may also recommend another combination of components, including substitution of the grant component by a reimbursable advance. 62

Indicatively, the budget will be allocated approximately equally between the cut-offs. In case the amount allocated to GO applicants is less than the budget available for that cut-off, or additional budget becomes available, then the remaining available budget will be allocated to the subsequent cut-off. In case the amount allocated to GO applicants is above the budget available, then a number of applicants corresponding to the unavailable budget will be awarded funding using the available budget of the subsequent cut-off.

Proposals will be assessed according to the following award criteria (Table 7). The jury may focus the interview on any element of your proposal based on the remote evaluation result and its own assessment.

The following limitations on resubmission apply to the EIC Accelerator proposals submitted in 2021 and in 2022 (both Open and Challenge based topics) (Table 8):

EIC Accelerator

EIC Accelerator Open

EIC Accelerator Open has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of technology or application. 66

The EIC Accelerator supports the later stages of technology development as well as scale up. The technology component of your innovation must therefore have been tested and validated in a laboratory or other relevant environment (e.g. at least Technology Readiness Level 5/6 or higher). The EIC Accelerator looks to support companies where the EIC support will act as a catalyst to crowd in other investors necessary for the scale up of the innovation.

The EIC Accelerator focuses on innovations building on scientific discovery or technological breakthroughs (‘deep tech’) and where significant funding is needed over a long timeframe before returns can be generated (‘patient capital’). Such innovations often struggle to attract financing because the risks and time period involved are too high.

EIC Accelerator Challenges

EIC Accelerator Challenge: Technologies for Open Strategic Autonomy

Introduction

In a multipolar world characterised by increasingly strong economic rivalries, Europe seeks to preserve its open strategic autonomy. Such an open strategic autonomy increasingly relies on technologies and innovative solutions that respond to social needs, that are the cornerstones of new markets and wealth, and that may have an impact on individual and collective security.

In this context, Europe needs to maintain its capacity to act autonomously by building and strengthening its supply and value chains for strategically important deep-tech solutions for Europe, and to avoid situations where it remains dependent on other regions for access to or development of the related technologies.

Furthermore, strategic technologies underpin and accelerate the shift to a greener and digital economy, are instrumental in modernising Europe’s industrial base and drive the development of entirely new knowledge-based industries. These aims are key to Europe’s renewed industrial strategy and action plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries.

Scopes and specific objectives

This EIC Accelerator Challenge identifies the following set of key strategic areas and corresponding specific objectives for which highly innovative start-ups and SMEs are invited to propose new technologies, pioneering solutions and breakthrough innovations:

Expected impacts

The expected impact of this Challenge is a significant reduction of the European dependency on other regions for deep-tech innovations and services of EU key strategic interest, and consequently strengthening of European competitiveness, security and open strategic autonomy.

This EIC Accelerator Challenge targets highly innovative SMEs (including start-ups, spinouts) and small midcaps from any sector provided that they are developing innovative solutions within key strategic areas defined above.

Specific conditions

Applications to this EIC Accelerator Challenge may request an investment component above EUR 15 million in duly justified cases. In order to protect the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, the Commission may set specific conditions and milestones if this is necessary to ensure that technologies of a strategic nature for open autonomy are not directly or indirectly controlled by third countries not associated to Horizon Europe or by legal entities of non-associated third countries.

EIC Accelerator Challenge: Technologies for ‘Fit for 55’ – Introduction

In July 2021, the Commission adopted the ‘Fit for 55’ package of proposals to make the EU's climate, energy, land use and transport fit for reducing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Achieving these emissions net reductions is a key milestone in reaching climate neutrality by 2050, making the European Green Deal a reality. 67

The radical changes needed to achieve a climate neutral economy and the ‘Fit for 55’ plan require breakthrough, scalable solutions in the related areas by start-ups and SMEs. These innovations together with sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion are key core values in line with the ambition of the New European Bauhaus initiative. 68

Scope and specific objectives

This EIC Accelerator Challenge aims at supporting the development and scaling up of technologies and boosting breakthrough innovations that strengthen the green transition. Breakthrough innovations for this Challenge should have the potential to create significant economic, competitiveness and employment benefits for Europe.

This Challenge targets ground-breaking innovations in any field of technology that have a high potential to meet the following goals:

Expected impacts

This EIC Accelerator Challenge seeks to support highly innovative SMEs (including start-ups, spinouts) and small midcaps that are developing novel and breakthrough innovations that can contribute effectively to the goals enshrined in the ‘Fit for 55’ plan, accelerating decarbonisation by having high potential impact on reducing net CO₂ emissions as per the specific objectives set out above and assist further innovation.

Applicants should provide a description and quantitative assessment of impacts such as reduction or avoidance of GHG emissions, indicating the methodology and assumptions, as part of their full proposals.

EIC Community and Business Acceleration Services

The EIC support goes far beyond funding and it aims at supporting the emergence, acceleration and growth of EIC innovations and top deep tech companies. In order to further leverage the EIC investments, as an EIC funded researcher, innovator or entrepreneur you will be provided with access to a range of tailor-made EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) at any stage of development of your activities and of the EIC research and innovation cycle.

The EIC uses its pan-European reach to connect you with partners from all around Europe, across borders and will also contribute to further develop the innovation ecosystem in Europe.

Who can benefit and what services are offered

All the EIC awardees (from the EIC Accelerator, EIC Transition, EIC Pathfinder and Women Tech.EU funding schemes) have access to BAS. 69 Some of the services will also be made available to EIC Accelerator applicants (invited to prepare a full proposal), to companies receiving the Seal of Excellence as well as to innovators and companies coming from other European or national initiatives that have entered into a specific agreement with the EIC. 70

Specific actions will be taken to support promising green innovations as well as EIC funded SMEs reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Women innovators, including those supported under the Women Tech.EU funding scheme, will be offered a targeted leadership and development programme including coaching and mentoring (EIC Women Leadership Programme).

The services described below are available through the EIC Community platform or provided through the EIC Investment Partners.

The EIC BAS are structured around three main pillars:

Access to coaches, mentors, expertise and training

EIC researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from tailor-made coaching, mentoring, expertise and training delivered by specialised providers and adapted to their innovation stage.

Business coaching focuses on providing insights on business development shortcomings and guidance to improve business performance. Coaching topics cover the entire entrepreneurial and innovation endeavour from challenging the value proposition and business model, IP management, data protection, improving strategy and investor business case, building the team and leadership, to international expansion.

Mentoring aims to develop the business and leadership skills, such as resilience, tenacity and strategic insight, of the individual founders and CEOs. The impact is especially high when mentors share their own experience about business innovation and fundraising.

Specific mentoring will be provided to companies receiving EIC blended finance in coordination with the management of the equity component. When looking for co-investors, the EIC will also incentivise other investors to provide mentoring tasks and independent advice to the company.

As part of proactive portfolio management by EIC Programme Managers, access to specific expertise, trainings, incubation or acceleration will be provided to meet individual needs of the EIC awardees and their innovations. Such services could include: expertise in the area of Intellectual Property protection, legal & financial advisory, privacy and data protection, certification and standardisation, competition analysis, and assistance in negotiations.

Regarding business coaching, EIC Accelerator applicants invited to submit a full proposal, Seal of Excellence companies and all EIC awardees will receive three coaching days. Additional coaching days for EIC awardees (in principle up to 12 days) will depend on the project review and input from Programme Managers. When duly justified for exceptional cases the amount of coaching days could be extended. 71

Access to global partners (leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients)

The BAS facilitate cooperation and co-creation with international business partners: leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients. This includes exploration of commercialisation potential with industry, dedicated and impact-focused matchmaking events (e.g. Corporate Days, Procurers Days), venture client model, structured pilot and trials collaborations with corporates and private and public innovation procurers.

EIC funded SMEs will be offered specific support when expanding to new markets within Europe and abroad in the form of participation to global business trade fairs, visiting major European innovation hubs and specific soft landing programmes.

The EIC will facilitate collaboration with (co-) investors for the EIC Community through a dedicated matching platform, for both investments and tailor-made services including mentoring, strategic advice, curated presentation to investors’ networks as well as investment readiness preparation and pitching sessions.

Access to innovation ecosystem and peers

The EIC ambition is to engage partners from across the European innovation ecosystem within the EIC Community, in order to benefit from cross-fertilisation and diversity inspiring innovation and creativity. It aims to stimulate unprecedented and unforeseeable encounters between peer inventors, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs as well as other actors from the ecosystem.

The EIC Community Platform

The EIC Community relies on the EIC Community platform: an exclusive, virtual meeting place where EIC awardees can connect with their peers and leverage potential business partnerships complemented by Community activities.

It hosts matching and collaboration features including partner search, groups, as well as stories and event calendars. Another EIC Community challenges feature within the EIC Community Platform enables any EIC Community member to post a challenge and ask the Community to provide solutions.

A new tool will be the development of an EIC Marketplace that will collect and organise information on preliminary findings and results generated by EIC projects and proactively make this information, together with supporting services and expertise, available to potential partners, investors and entrepreneurs.

Budget and implementation

The described activities are implemented through multiannual contracts, some of them initiated under Horizon 2020. The 2022 budget includes the following activities.

These coaching services will be provided by highly qualified specialised business coaches. Under the terms of the call, applicants to become EIC business coaches must have at least five years of professional experience in managerial positions with responsibilities in developing business innovation and at least five years of coaching experience supporting new business development.

EIC business coaches will receive EUR 1 000 per day of coaching (EUR 500 per half day). The EIC Coaching Casetracker system will be updated to provide improved user experience, responsiveness, monitoring and reporting features of the coaches’ activities.

Type of action: Expert contracts action. Indicative budget: EUR 4 500 000 from 2022 budget. Indicative timetable: from Q1 2022.

EIC Prizes

EU Prize for Women Innovators

Objectives and scope

The EU Prize for Women Innovators celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind game-changing innovations. The Prize is awarded to the women who have created the largest impact on the EU innovation ecosystem by transforming ideas into new and advanced products and services to benefit people and planet.

The Prize is launched and managed by the Agency, and the winners are chosen by an independent expert jury. There are two prize categories: Women Innovators and Rising Innovators.

In the first category, three prizes of EUR 100 000 each are awarded to the three highest-ranked applications. In the second category, three prizes of EUR 50 000 are awarded to the three highest-ranked applications from promising ‘Rising Innovators’ under the age of 35.

Eligibility criteria

Those applying for the Rising Innovators category must be under 35 at the start of the call year. There is no age limit to apply for the Women Innovators category, though applicants eligible for both prize categories can only apply to one. 76 Applicants are expected to provide proof of eligibility upon request.

Applicants must support their written application with an inspiring video message about themselves and their achievements, lasting no more than 90 seconds.

Award criteria

The prize is awarded to the applicants who in the opinion of the jury best address the following criteria: Breakthrough innovation, Impact, and Inspiration.

The jury will review and score all eligible applications, and invite the shortlisted applicants to a hearing to defend their application. This hearing may take place remotely.

Further details on the evaluation and award criteria will be specified in the rules for this contest published at the launch of the contest. For the common Rules of Contest for Prizes please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Expected results

The prize will boost public awareness of the potential, importance and contribution of women to the EU innovation ecosystem and create strong role models, inspiring more women to become innovators themselves.

Indicative Timetable

Indicative Budget

The European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital)

Objectives and Scope

Cities are faced with severe societal and sustainability challenges, but also have the means to develop and apply effective innovative solutions. They are the place where ideas, people, public and private actors meet and engage to improve the quality of citizens’ lives.

The European Capital of Innovation Awards will recognize the cities’ role as catalysers of the local innovation ecosystem and will stimulate new activities aimed at boosting game-changing innovation.

Categories

In 2022, the European Capital of Innovation Awards will feature two categories: the European Capital of Innovation category (minimum 250 000 inhabitants) and the European Rising Innovative City category (50 000 to 249 999 inhabitants).

The winners will receive EUR 1 000 000 and EUR 500 000 respectively, and two runners up in each category will receive EUR 100 000 and EUR 50 000 respectively.

Eligibility criteria

Award criteria

The award will be given to cities that best address: Experimenting, Escalating, Ecosystem building, Expanding, and City innovative vision.

Indicative budget (2022)

Indicative timetable of the contest(s)

The European Innovation Procurement Awards

Objectives and scope

Innovation procurement boosts the process of transforming research results and ideas into innovative solutions and represents an untapped potential to stimulate the demand for innovation. The Awards aim to recognise public and private buyers and entities supporting these practices across Europe.

These Awards complement other EIC initiatives aimed at supporting and fostering innovation procurement in the European Union. 77

Categories

Each category will reward the winner with EUR 75 000 (1st ranked) and one runner-up (ranked 2nd) with EUR 25 000.

Eligibility criteria

Eligible applicants include public and/or private procurers, individuals/natural persons and/or legal entities located in Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe, with practices started after 1 January 2018 (where applicable).

Award criteria

Prizes will be awarded to applicants who best address the following cumulative criteria: Transformation, Uptake, Collaboration, and Societal impact.

Indicative timetable of the contest

Indicative budget (2022)

The European Social Innovation Competition

The European Social Innovation Competition aims at stimulating the potential of social innovation to provide solutions to societal challenges and to foster sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe. It will engage people, businesses and start-ups in a large range of sectors, as well as universities, engineering schools and civil society organisations.

This competition is launched and managed by the Agency. It is composed of the European Social Innovation Challenge Prize 2022 and the European Social Innovation Impact Prize 2022.

The European Social Innovation Challenge Prize 2022 – Objectives and scope

The 2022 edition will focus on ‘the future of living, innovation for affordable, and sustainable housing districts’. The objective of the New European Bauhaus movement is to re-invent our current way of living to meet the goals of the European Green Deal. 78

Social innovation can be a driver to make housing districts not only spaces to live, but also more livable, sustainable, inclusive and closer to the residents’ needs. Gender-sensitive solutions with regards to energy consumption, mobility patterns, waste management, and other sustainable living aspects should be taken into account, where relevant. 79

Proposals should bring forward innovations expected to generate economic and/or societal benefits. Proposed solutions that significantly harm the environment or social welfare are not eligible. 80

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must be natural persons or legal entities located in Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe. Proposed solutions must relate to ongoing (even in an early phase) or completed initiatives started after 11 December 2019 (only work achieved by the submission deadline will be considered). 81

Winners of all categories of previous editions of the European Social Innovation Competition are not eligible. Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.

Award criteria

The award criteria are: Degree of Innovation, Impact, Sustainability, and Scalability and replicability. The competition is organised in two stages: short applications (up to 30 finalists) and full applications (three winners of EUR 50 000 each).

Indicative timetable of the competition

Indicative budget

The European Social Innovation Impact Prize 2022 – Objectives and scope

This prize recognises the efforts made by the semi-finalists of the 2021 edition to evolve their original applications, develop the best impact methodology, and demonstrate the best results among all participants.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must have been one of the 30 semi-finalists of the 2021 edition. Winners of the 2021 Challenge Prize are not eligible.

Award criteria

The criteria are: Quality and clarity of the theory of change and of the impact measurement methodology, and Demonstrated results over the previous year, on the basis of the chosen indicators.

Indicative timetable of the competition

Indicative budget

Objectives and Scope

The traditional city innovation ecosystem is opening up to new models of innovation engaging citizens. An increasing number of cities are acting as test beds for innovation and run citizens-driven initiatives to find solutions for their relevant societal challenges.

The public domain is particularly challenged with finding effective ways to ensure the mainstreaming of these practices into the ordinary urban development process. Successful practices are particularly crucial to enhance the city's capacity to attract new resources, funds and talents to stimulate the growth of breakthrough innovations. Moreover, collaboration and strengthening synergies among innovation ecosystems boost cities’ development and resilience to tackle urban challenges.

For this reason, the European Capital of Innovation Awards will recognize the cities’ role as catalysers of the local innovation ecosystem and will stimulate new activities aimed at boosting game-changing innovation.

Categories

In 2022, the European Capital of Innovation Awards will feature two categories. The first one, the European Capital of Innovation category, would include cities which have a population of minimum 250 000 inhabitants and, based on the below cumulative criteria, would reward the winner (ranked 1st) with EUR 1 million and two runners up (ranked 2nd and 3rd) with EUR 100 000 each one.

The second one, the European Rising Innovative City category, would include towns and cities which have a population of 50 000 and up to 249 999 inhabitants; and, based on the below cumulative criteria, would reward the winner (ranked 1st) with EUR 500 000 and two runners up (ranked 2nd and 3rd) with EUR 50 000 each one.

Each application must contain a specific endorsement to apply signed by the city Mayor (or the equivalent highest political representative).

Eligibility criteria

Award criteria

The award is launched and managed by the Agency. For this yearly competition, six prizes will be awarded after closure of the contest to the applicants who, in the opinion of the jury, best address the following cumulative criteria:

The jury will review and score eligible applications, and invite the shortlisted applicants to a hearing in front of the jury members to defend their application. This hearing may take place remotely.

Further details on the evaluation process and award criteria, as well as promotional activities will be specified in the rules for this contest published at the launch of the yearly contest. For the common rules of contest for prizes, please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Expected results

A European prize to the most innovative cities’ ecosystems. The award will raise the profile of the cities that have developed and implemented innovative policies; established frameworks that boost breakthrough innovation; enhanced the city attractiveness towards investors, industry, enterprises and talents; helped to open up connections and strengthen links with other cities, promoting the replication of best practices in the innovation field; enhanced citizens' involvement in the decision-making process; and supported cities’ resilience.

Type of Action: Recognition Prize

Indicative budget: the following 2022 budget will be allocated as follows

Indicative timetable of contest(s)

The European Innovation Procurement Awards

Objectives and scope

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the global context and created an opportunity for the EU to redefine and affirm its role as a leader to achieve the necessary transformations ahead. Innovation procurement should play a key role to supporting the European priorities set up in the Green Deal 77 and to securing the European technological sovereignty.

Innovation procurement boosts the process of transforming research results and ideas into innovative solutions. It represents an untapped potential to stimulate the demand for innovation. By using innovation procurement, the public and private sectors can provide state-of-the-art services and goods to the society and, at the same time, offer new growth and commercialisation opportunities for suppliers of disruptive solutions, particularly start-ups and SMEs.

The European Innovation Procurement Awards aim to recognise public and private buyers, natural persons and those legal entities supporting these practices across Europe in their efforts to promote and stimulate innovation procurement and the innovative ways the solutions are procured.

The Awards also aim to demonstrate how innovation procurement positively transforms the economy by not only creating new and sustainable markets, but also by tackling societal challenges such as climate change.

These Awards complement other EIC initiatives aimed at supporting and fostering innovation procurement in the European Union.

Categories

In 2022, the European Innovation Procurement Awards will feature the following three categories:

Each category would reward the winner with EUR 75 000 (1st ranked) and one runner-up (ranked 2nd) with EUR 25 000.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.

Award criteria

The award is launched and managed by the Agency. The prize will be awarded after closure of the yearly contest to the applicants who, in the opinion of the jury, best address the following cumulative criteria:

The jury will review and score eligible applications, and will invite the shortlisted applicants to a hearing in front of the jury members to defend their application. This hearing may take place remotely.

Further details on the evaluation process and award criteria, as well as promotional activities, will be specified in the rules for this contest published at the launch of the yearly contest. For the common rules of contest for prizes, please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Expected results

The awards would:

Indicative timetable of the contest

Type of Action: Recognition prize

Indicative budget: the following 2022 budget will be allocated as follows

The European Social Innovation Competition

The European Social Innovation Competition aims at stimulating the potential of social innovation to provide solutions to societal challenges that we face and to foster sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe. It will directly support ideas best illustrating this rationale. It will engage people, businesses and start-ups in a large range of sectors, as well as universities, engineering schools and civil society organisations thereby creating new connections, sources of sustainable growth and meaningful job opportunities.

This competition is launched and managed by the Agency. This competition is composed of the European Social Innovation Challenge Prize 2022 and the European Social Innovation Impact Prize 2022.

The objective of the New European Bauhaus movement is to re-invent our current way of living to meet the goals of the European Green Deal. By creatively addressing the way we construct and renovate our city buildings, major determinants of greenhouse gas emissions, the EU Bauhaus Initiative aims to engage citizens and all relevant actors to ignite a cultural change leading to more sustainable living. The ‘Renovation Wave for Europe strategy’ 78 is pivotal to contributing to this aim and to achieving a successful EU post-COVID recovery and long-term green transition. Beyond addressing energy poverty of the current building stock in the EU, the Renovation Wave – and the Affordable Housing Initiative in particular – represents a chance to rethink and restore not only the economic activities linked to renovation of buildings and housing districts, but also the way we live in them.

Social innovation can be a driver to make housing districts not only spaces to live, but also more livable, sustainable, inclusive and closer to the residents’ needs. Social innovation in this case can boost employment and improve energy efficiency, while ensuring cities’ and regions’ sustainability and citizens’ well-being. When approached from an innovative perspective, renovation of buildings shifts from a cost into an opportunity for local creativity and business’ market.

Against this background, the European Social Innovation Challenge Prize 2022 will support proposals coming from social innovators and bringing forward innovations expected to generate economic and/or societal benefits (i.e. positive impacts on employment, societal, environmental, scientific, vulnerable groups etc.). Gender-sensitive solutions with regards to energy consumption, mobility patterns, waste management, and other sustainable living aspects should be taken into account, where relevant. 79

In addition to non-technological social innovations, the competition will look for projects with a particular focus on breakthrough, market-creating and deep-tech innovations embracing the policy objectives of this year’s editions, which will boost innovation within housing districts and, consequently, will have an impact on local prosperity and sustainability.

Eligibility criteria

Award criteria

For the 2022 edition, this prize is organised in a two-stage submission. The same award criteria apply to both stages, as specified below. Three prizes will be awarded after closure of the contest to the applicants who, in the opinion of the jury of independent experts, best address the following cumulative criteria:

In the 1st stage, applicants will be required to submit a short application. Based on the four award criteria mentioned above, the jury of independent experts will review and score eligible applications and shortlist a maximum of 30 applicants.

Afterwards, the 30 finalists will be required to submit a full application of their original application, which will be evaluated based on the same four award criteria mentioned above. On this basis, the jury will propose three winners (ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd). Each winner will receive EUR 50 000.

The competition provides other benefits for finalists. In this regard, once the competition is finished, all 30 finalists will be offered business acceleration services during a maximum period of three months.

Further details on the evaluation process and award criteria, as well as promotional and supporting activities, will be specified in the rules for this contest published at the launch of the yearly contest. For the common rules of contest for prizes, please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Expected results

The European Social Innovation Challenge Prize aims at raising awareness about social innovation across a wide audience, sparking the creation of new socially innovative ideas, creating a network of like-minded practitioners and supporting finalists to transform early-stage ideas into structured businesses.

Indicative timetable of the competition

Type of Action: Recognition Prize

Indicative budget

Eligibility criteria

Award criteria

For the 2022 edition, one prize will be awarded after closure of the contest to the applicant who, in the opinion of the jury of independent experts, best addresses the following cumulative criteria:

The jury will review and score eligible applications.

Semi-finalists of the 2021 edition will be invited to submit an impact report with their application to show the progress of their idea presented to the European Social Innovation Competition 2021. On the basis of the impact reports received, the jury will propose the winner of the impact prize (1st ranked) rewarded with EUR 50 000.

Further details on the evaluation process and award criteria, as well as promotional and supporting activities, will be specified in the rules for this contest published at the launch of the yearly contest. For the common rules of contest for prizes, please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Expected results

The European Social Innovation Impact Prize 2022 aims at raising awareness about social innovation across a wide audience, sparking the creation of new socially innovative ideas, creating a network of like-minded practitioners and supporting semi-finalists to transform early stage ideas into structured businesses.

Indicative timetable of the competition

Type of Action: Recognition Prize

Indicative budget

International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority, other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions and when provided for in the specific call conditions

Single legal entity (‘Mono-beneficiary’) and consortium (‘multi-beneficiary’) composition

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions:

Annex 4 Fast Track scheme to apply for the EIC Accelerator

The ‘Fast Track’ scheme is a novelty under Horizon Europe and a specific process applicable to the EIC Accelerator. It provides for a specific treatment of proposals that result from existing Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 projects.

Under the Fast Track scheme, applicants do not apply directly to the EIC Accelerator call (Section IV). Instead, a project review is carried out by the responsible funding body to assess the innovation or market deployment potential of an existing project, to decide whether the project is suitable for support under the EIC Accelerator.

The project review – implemented by the funding body responsible for the programme – must be conducted using:

The responsible funding body can submit the outcome of the project review to the EIC Accelerator, if the project review concludes that the following conditions are met:

The applicant will then be invited to prepare a full proposal for the EIC Accelerator to one of the cut-off dates within the next 12 months following initial review. Applicants are free to decide to which cut-off date within the next 12 months they apply. They will receive support through the EIC artificial intelligence based IT platform and coaching as specified in Section IV.

Full proposals to the EIC Accelerator stemming from the Fast Track scheme will be assessed as set out in Section IV, and will be treated in exactly the same way as all other full proposals.

In 2022, the funding bodies and schemes which are eligible for the Fast Track for EIC Accelerator cut-off dates are:

These funding bodies are responsible for implementing the Fast Track scheme in accordance with the above provisions. They may decide not to implement the scheme or to introduce it at a later stage.

Subject to experience with the Fast Track scheme in 2021 and 2022, it may be opened to other parts of Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020, and to the funding bodies responsible for their implementation.

The EIC website will provide up to date information about how the Fast Track scheme will be implemented by the relevant funding bodies.

Annex 5 Pilot Plug-in scheme to apply for the EIC Accelerator

The pilot Plug-in scheme is a novelty under Horizon Europe and a specific process applicable to the EIC Accelerator only. Its process is equivalent to the Fast Track scheme’s, as described under Annex 4, except that it applies to proposals that result from existing national or regional programmes.

Following the results of a mapping of national and regional programmes, a pilot initiative by the European Commission in close cooperation with Member States and Associated Countries, is included in the first Work Programme of Horizon Europe.

Under the 'Plug-in' scheme, applicants do not apply directly to the EIC Accelerator call (Section IV). Instead, a project review is carried out to assess the innovation or market deployment potential of an existing project at national or regional level, to decide whether the project is suitable for support under the EIC Accelerator.

The project review - implemented by the funding/managing body responsible for the programme or by another appointed authority under the responsibility of the funding body - must be conducted using:

The responsible funding/managing body or other appointed authority under the responsibility of the funding body can submit the outcome of the project review to the EIC Accelerator, if the project review concludes that the following conditions are met:

The applicants will then be invited to prepare a full proposal for the EIC Accelerator to one of the cut-off dates within the next 12 months following initial review. Applicants may decide to which cut-off they apply. They will receive support through the EIC artificial intelligence based IT platform and coaching as specified in Section IV.

Full proposals to the EIC Accelerator stemming from the Plug-in scheme will be assessed as set out in Section IV and will be treated exactly the same way as all other full proposals.

The pilot Plug-in scheme will be implemented with a limited number of programmes, which are assessed by a group of experts and certified by the Commission. To guarantee the effective implementation of this pilot, only public programmes – both national and regional – will be considered initially. The experts will assess the programmes 116 submitted by the Member States and Associated Countries, their related national or regional evaluation procedures, and whether the project review is equivalent to the assessment of proposals under the EIC Accelerator.

The Commission will certify which programmes are suitable for the pilot Plug-in scheme based on the experts’ assessment. The experts will collaborate with the EIC plug-in contact points (representatives of Member States and Associated Countries) who will have to provide accurate information regarding the programmes. Only programmes for which all the key elements and information are provided by the EIC Plug-in contact points will be considered for the certification. The mapping exercise is the basis and starting point of the experts’ work. The result of the mapping exercise and the certification will be published on the EIC website.

The Commission services 117 will be notified if any future changes in the criteria and/or evaluation of the regional or national programmes may impact the assessment and certification of those programmes.

The Commission may withdraw the certification, if it finds out that:

The funding/managing bodies in charge of these national/regional programmes, or another appointed authority under the responsibility of the funding body, are responsible for implementing the Plug-in scheme in accordance with the above provisions. They may decide not to implement the scheme or to introduce it at a later stage. A coordination among the different national and regional funding bodies will have to be ensured at national level to avoid duplication of the proposals.

The EIC website will provide information about how the Plug-in scheme will be implemented by the relevant funding/managing bodies.

After the certification process is concluded, the responsible funding/managing bodies or other appointed authorities under the responsibility of the funding body will be entitled to present the projects that have passed the project review and were funded under those certified programmes.

Plug-in proposals will be accepted starting from the first EIC Accelerator cut-off in 2022 at the earliest. The pilot Plug-in scheme will be subjected to an assessment after the first implementation to verify the effectiveness of the process and the quality of the proposals, in view of the renewal of the Plug-in process under subsequent cut-offs and possibly the inclusion of other programmes.

Annex 6 EIC Booster grants for EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition awardees

The Awardees of EIC Pathfinder projects (including grants resulting from certain EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open and FET-Proactive calls, see Section II) and of EIC Transition projects are eligible to receive EIC Booster grants with fixed amounts of up to EUR 50 000, as specified in the relevant call sections of this Work Programme.

In line with Article 47(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation, 118 the EIC Booster grants are not subject to any call. They reflect the necessity and hence the possibility for the EIC to proactively support, at any stage of a project implementation, the assessment of any potentially innovative lead stemming from an EIC Pathfinder project, or reinforce the coordination and management of an EIC Portfolio where needed.

These EIC Booster grants will fund either complementary activities to explore potential pathways to commercialisation or portfolio activities.

Complementary activities to explore potential pathways to commercialisation could include, but are not limited to:

Portfolio activities could include, but are not limited to:

These EIC Booster grants do not fund research or activities that were already foreseen in the original project or that cannot be obtained from other EIC services, in particular through Business Acceleration Services. A maximum of three EIC Booster grants can be awarded for each EIC Pathfinder project and more than three may be awarded in exceptional and duly justified cases. A maximum of one EIC Booster grant can be awarded for each EIC Transition project. Any such EIC Booster grant can be awarded to an individual EIC awardee or a group of EIC awardees. 119

EIC awardees, after discussion with an EIC Programme Manager or following a project review, can apply for such an EIC Booster grant. Each proposal will be assessed in accordance with Article 29, paragraph 2, of Horizon Europe Regulation taking into account the following considerations:

For activities to explore potential pathways to commercialisation:

For portfolio activities:

The final decision will be motivated and communicated to the EIC awardees and the Programme Committee. Successful applicants will be invited for grant preparation, which might take into account adjustments proposed by the EIC Programme Manager.

Following successful grant preparation, the Agency will award the EIC Booster grant (Coordination and Support Action) 120 to cover the eligible costs necessary for the implementation of the proposed activities. The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs.

Annex 7 Additional provisions concerning Intellectual Property for EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition

In accordance with the Horizon Europe Regulation, 121 the Work Programme may provide for additional exploitation obligations, in particular to put more emphasis on exploitation of results, and highlight the role the Commission should play in identifying and maximising exploitation opportunities in the Union.

Together with specific intellectual property rules provided for under Annex 2 in relation to emergency situations and standardisation, the following rules will apply to EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition actions and be reflected into the applicable Model Grant Agreement adopted by the Commission.

In addition, the said Model Grant Agreement will also address the specific objectives and means assigned to the EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition activities by the Council Decision 122 adopting the Horizon Europe Specific Programme, i.e. the regrouping of projects into EIC Portfolios, 123 with the aim to stimulate cross-fertilisation, exchange between innovation actors and to nurture market-creating innovation out of EIC Pathfinder results, but also the role to be played by EIC Programme Managers 124 in this context and in developing a proactive management culture of EIC activities.

Definitions

The following definition is complementing those provided in the Glossary in the introductory section of this Work Programme for the purpose of this Annex.

EIC Inventors: with reference to information and results owned by any EIC awardee that is a not-for-profit legal entity, any of their employees and subcontractors, established in a Member State or Associated Country, and appearing or entitled to appear as inventor in any corresponding publication or patent filing.

Exchange of information for the purpose of EIC portfolio activities

Access to information about preliminary findings and results

At any time and without prejudice to the EIC awardee’s ownership and its rights and obligations to protect personal data and results according to the grant agreement, the EIC Programme Manager may request any EIC awardee to make available through the EIC Marketplace information on preliminary findings and results generated by the action, subject to paragraphs b) and c) below, with the aim to probe their potential for further innovation.

Where any such preliminary finding or result was not already made public through agreed dissemination activities or a patent or protection by any other intellectual property right, that information must be earmarked and treated by the Agency as confidential and disseminated only to:

Where, based on that confidential information, any of these entities request disclosure or access to the underlying detailed data and results, the EIC awardee may refuse it based on its legitimate interests, including commercial exploitation and any other constraints, such as data protection rules, privacy, confidentiality, trade secrets, Union competitive interests, security rules or intellectual property rights.

EIC awardees may object to the obligation provided for under paragraph b) when:

Non-disclosure obligations

Where EIC awardees are informed on or given access or disclosure to any preliminary findings, results or other intellectual property generated by other EIC actions, and where this information is earmarked as confidential in accordance with section 2.1.b, they must:

The EIC awardee may disclose any such information to its employees and, with the prior authorisation of the owner, to its subcontractors established in a Member State or an Associated Country and:

No obligations are imposed upon the EIC awardee where such information:

The restrictions in this section do not apply to the extent that any such information is required to be disclosed by any law or regulation, by any judicial or governmental order or request, or pursuant to disclosure requirements relating to the listing of the stock of the EIC awardee on any recognised stock exchange.

Upon the end or termination of the grant agreement or of the participation of the EIC awardee, it must immediately cease to use the said information, except if otherwise directly agreed with the owner, or if the EIC awardee remains a member of the EIC Community referred to under section 2.1.b.

The provisions of this section will be in force for a period of 60 months following the end or the termination of the grant agreement or of the participation of the EIC awardee, at the end of which period they will cease to have effect.

Specific provisions on intellectual property and related dissemination and exploitation activities

Plan for exploitation and dissemination

EIC awardees must report to the Agency on their exploitation and dissemination activities:

The Granting Authority may also request an update of the plan for exploitation and dissemination of the results at any time during the implementation of the action.

EIC awardees must address and agree in their Consortium agreement on all related intellectual property issues, from ownership and co-ownership of results to the consortium’s internal approval process for their dissemination. EIC awardees must also identify therein any pre-existing technology fitting the action’s needs and objectives and try to reach appropriate licensing agreements between them to prevent research funding redundancy.

The EIC awardees are deemed to have signed the Consortium agreement at the date of the signature of this grant agreement. The Agency may require a copy at any time in accordance with the grant agreement.

Dissemination activities

Each EIC awardee will propose and undertake dissemination activities of the plan for exploitation and dissemination agreed by the Agency with the aim of supporting innovation in the European Union and fostering the development of the EIC Community, opting for publications as the main route to bring technical and scientific knowledge to the public.

When approving the plan for exploitation and dissemination of the results or any update, the Agency may subject any proposed dissemination activity to one or a combination of the following conditions:

Where the Agency disagrees with a dissemination activity, it will actively assist the EIC awardees to achieve compliance with the required conditions, without unreasonable delay and in due time, notably by proposing complementary EIC support for exploitation or support of the EIC Business Acceleration Services, as detailed and referred to under section 3.5. Where the Agency agrees to a dissemination activity, it will abide by the grant agreement.

The Agency is hereby entrusted with the right to also disseminate and promote the exploitation of any results that are made public by the EIC awardee or with its assent.

Exploitation of results

EIC awardees must use their best efforts to exploit their results or have them exploited by a third party, in priority those established in a Member State or an Associated Country, including through transfer or licensing.

Each EIC awardee agrees that any of its EIC Inventors is entrusted upon signature of the grant agreement with the necessary access rights 125 to the result they have contributed to for the purpose of further developing and exploiting it. If the EIC awardee provides support to the EIC Inventor for any such exploitation, royalties may be shared with the EIC awardee in mutually beneficial terms, provided the conclusion of any such agreement does not prevent the EIC Inventor(s) from exercising their rights.

EIC awardees must report on any exploitation operation at:

Failure to exploit or disseminate

The Agency is entrusted with the right to disseminate and promote the exploitation of results that have not been made public through dissemination activities or patent or protection by any other IPR, where the EIC awardee owning it:

Where the EIC awardee continues to oppose the dissemination by the Agency or refuses to provide any data or document necessary for the said dissemination, the Agency will impose penalties in accordance with the grant agreement.

Possible additional or complementary EIC support for exploitation

Any EIC awardee or group of EIC awardees or the consortium of an EIC Pathfinder action, including EIC inventors, may be awarded an additional EIC Booster grant of up to EUR 50 000 to undertake limited EIC Transition activities in relation to any of its results as set out in Annex 6.

This additional grant may be shared with or fully awarded to a third party partaking in or undertaking the said activities, under the condition that the said third party respects the ownership rights of the EIC awardee and confidentiality conditions detailed in this Annex.

Beneficiaries, including EIC inventors, are eligible to apply for EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator calls under specific conditions detailed therein and to benefit from EIC Business Acceleration Services as set out in the relevant sections of this Work Programme.