Who should read this document

This document presents the 2025 European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It sets out how the EIC will allocate its funding of over EUR 1.4 billion for the year 2025 and has been prepared following the advice of the EIC Board 1.

The Work Programme defines the calls for applications targeting innovative researchers, startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), scale up companies, and funders and other organisations and individuals interested in innovation. The focus is on breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations which are high risk and with a high potential for impact and to scale up internationally and become market leaders.

A broad range of support is available, ranging from grants, investments through the EIC Fund, prizes to Business Acceleration Services (including access to coaching and mentoring, expertise and ecosystem partners). The Work Programme sets out the type of support available, how to apply, and how selection decisions are taken.

It's important for those seeking funding opportunities through the EIC to carefully read and understand the Work Programme to ensure they align with the objectives and meet the eligibility criteria as well as understand each step of the process.

Potential applicants, and those interested in the EIC in general, can find more information, including background to the EIC mission, organisation and practical guidance (e.g. challenge guides, frequently asked questions), on the EIC website: EIC website.

Support and advice for potential applicants is available in each EU Member State and Associated Country, through National Contact Points of Horizon Europe (see Funding & Tenders Portal – National Contact Points) and through the Enterprise Europe Network ( Enterprise Europe Network).

Applications can be submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal ( EU Funding & Tenders Portal), which can also be accessed via the EIC website ( EIC website).

Introduction

Strategic goals and Key Performance Indicators

The EIC was established to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and companies, which are critical for EU policies to achieve the green and digital transition and help ensure future open strategic autonomy in critical technologies.

The EIC Board provides strategic advice for the EIC Work Programme 1. For the period 2021-27 the EIC Board has recommended six strategic goals, with associated Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), providing clear direction, track progress, and guide implementation and potential new actions 2. The baselines and progress against KPI targets will be included in the annual EIC impact reports. The KPIs represent mid to long term targets.

Six Strategic Goals for the EIC:

In addition, the EIC Board has published a set of recommendations to improve the participation of innovators from widening countries in the EIC 4. The recommendations are taken forward in the implementation of the EIC Work Programme, for example in the outreach activities and selection of EIC experts and jury members.

Overview of the 2025 Work Programme

The funding and support available in 2025 is organised into four main funding schemes:

In each case, the direct financial support to innovators is complemented with access to a range of Business Acceleration Services (Section VI) providing access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors.

Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator provide for “Open” funding which can support technologies and innovations in any field without any predefined priority areas. In the case of the Pathfinder and Accelerator, this Open funding is complemented by a set of “Challenges” which target specific technologies and innovations of strategic interest for the Union, including to support initiatives such as Net Zero Industry 8, Critical Raw Materials 9, the Chips Act 10, and Health Emergency Responses 11.

The EIC STEP Scale Up call targets technologies and innovations within the fields of digital technologies, clean and resource efficient technologies, including net-zero technologies; and biotechnologies. Outside of the calls, a budget is also set aside to support follow on investments to companies selected under previous EIC Work Programmes.

In 2025, support for start-ups in semiconductor technologies and quantum technologies will be pursued in particular through the STEP Scale Up call which foresees larger investments targeting strategic technologies including in support of the Chips Act. The EIC Accelerator Open call remains available in general for startups and SMEs including for quantum and semiconductor technologies.

The Work Programme also supports a number of innovation prizes (Section VII), and additional supporting actions allowing the functioning of the EIC such as expert contracts, data management, communication and IT (Section VIII).

Linkages between these funding schemes will be maximised through proactive management (see below) and new approaches, such as additional ‘Booster’ grants to EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition projects (Annex 5), the Fast Track scheme to accelerate the access of successful projects from EU programmes to the EIC Accelerator (Annex 3) and the Plug in for access of projects stemming from national programmes (Annex 4).

In complement to the EIC Work Programme it is envisaged that the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 part on Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area (WIDERA), will introduce a pilot EIC Pre-Accelerator call to support early-stage deep tech startups to develop the technology, business and investment readiness to levels that would enable them to successfully apply and attract funding from EIC Accelerator or other sources. In anticipation of this call, the EIC Work Programme foresees the eligibility of beneficiaries under the Pre-Accelerator call for certain Business Acceleration Services and the Fast Track to the EIC Accelerator.

Table 1. Summary of main calls in 2025 12.

Main changes of the 2025 Work Programme

The 2025 Work Programme incorporates adjustments, improvements and simplifications compared to the 2024 Work Programme, following the recommendations of the EIC Board, the budget available and lessons learned during implementation.

A major development is the introduction of a EIC STEP Scale Up call to provide larger investments in companies to develop certain technologies (see Section V). This is introduced as a pilot call and has a number of novelties as described in the call text, including a shortened evaluation process and a link to complementary support from Venture Debt from InvestEU implementing partners.

Key features of EIC support

A combination of financial and non-financial support to accelerate and grow EIC innovations and companies.

The EIC support goes far beyond funding, and it aims at supporting the emergence, acceleration and growth of EIC innovations and deep tech companies. In order to further leverage the EIC investments, all EIC Awardees will be provided with access to a range of externally contracted, bespoke Business Acceleration Services (BAS) at any stage of development of their activities. The EIC uses its pan-European reach to connect EIC Awardees with partners from all around Europe and beyond, thereby also contributing to further develop the innovation ecosystem in Europe by providing access to and from a deal flow of top-level European innovators.

Proactive project and portfolio management by EIC Programme Managers 13.

A tailored approach to proposal evaluation.

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 concept, proposals will first be evaluated remotely, scored, and ranked based on criteria and thresholds. For the top ranked applicants which are invited to the 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 interviews based on a binary scoring (GO/NO GO) 14 (see Section IV). For the EIC STEP Scale Up, which supports promising companies developing critical technologies 15, including those with prior EIC support, to help them secure larger funding rounds for further scaling their businesses (see Section V).

Economic security.

Following the Communication on the European Economic Security Strategy 17 and the Commission Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU's economic security 18 a number of provisions have been made to protect Europe from economic security risks.

Details of the above economic security measures are provided in the call texts below.

EIC investments.

The requirements concerning the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes issued by the Council (OJ C 438, 19.12.2017, p. 5) are applied by the EIC in respect of EIC Accelerator investments.

The EIC Fund shall not enter into any contract or maintain a business relationship with any institution or individual listed on sanction lists, and in particular shall not make any funds available directly or indirectly to any institution or individual listed in sanction lists 21 22.

The EIC applies the EU rules, policies and procedures addressing the requirements in respect of money laundering, terrorism financing, tax avoidance, tax fraud, tax evasion contained in Article 158(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation 23 and complies with the prohibition to enter into new or renewed operations with entities incorporated or established in jurisdictions listed under the relevant Union policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions or that are identified as high-risk third countries 24 or that do not effectively comply with Union or internationally agreed tax standards on transparency and exchange of information, as well as the possibility to derogate from this requirement when the action is physically implemented in one of those jurisdictions, contained in Article 158(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation 25.

The breach of these obligations may lead to the interruption of the equity investment process.

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. Collaboration areas include the Fast Track process by EIT KICs to allow proposals from companies selected by the EIT KICs to enter the EIC Accelerator evaluation at the second stage, access by EIC beneficiaries to services provided by the EIT KICs via BAS partnerships, the “Next Generation Innovation Talents” scheme for secondments, and joint actions to promote women entrepreneurs including the EIC Women Leadership Programme and women innovator’s prizes.

Outlook for 2026 and future years

The EIC Work Programme for 2026 will be prepared following the advice provided by the EIC Board. It is envisaged that the main calls on Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator will continue without major changes. The experience with the STEP Scale Up call will be assessed with a view to the continuation and improvement of this support. The identification of the challenges will draw from the insights of the EIC Programme Managers and reflect the EU policy priorities. Changes or pilot actions may be considered following the mid-term review of Horizon Europe.

Glossary

The Agency entrusted by the European Commission with the implementation of Horizon Europe EIC activities, except for the EIC Fund, is the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).

Deep tech 27 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 innovations are understood to be those that have the potential to deliver transformative solutions, rooted in cutting-edge science, technology and engineering, including innovation that combines advances in the physical, biological and digital spheres. Deep tech is distinct from ‘high tech’ which tends to refer only to R&D intensity 28.

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

The EIC Awardees or EIC recipients are the beneficiaries identified in an EIC Grant agreement (Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator), or investees (for EIC Accelerator including EIC Step Scale-up Call), as well as winners of EIC Prizes. The Horizon Europe model grant agreements and contracts are available on the EU Funding and Tenders portal 29.

EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) are support services provided to the EIC Awardees and other eligible organisations as defined in Section VI to support the innovation development of EIC project results and the commercialisation and scaling up of EIC supported innovations, including access to coaches and training, access to services of the EIC Ecosystem Partners, and access to global partners (leading corporates, investors, procurers, distributors, clients), see Section V for more detail.

EIC business coaches are independent external experts with entrepreneurial and investment backgrounds who provide business development insights and guidance to EIC Awardees and applicants. They are part of the Business Acceleration Services.

EIC Community platform is a platform available to all EIC Awardees and Awardees of EIC Seals of Excellence , EIC Pre-Accelerator Seals of Excellence and EIC Sovereignty (STEP) Seals , facilitating links to Business Acceleration Services as well as enabling discussions, exchanges and matchmaking. The EIC Community platform3031 is a virtual meeting place where EIC Awardees can connect with peer inventors, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs as well as other actors from the ecosystem, including corporates, investors, business angels, mentors and coaches, innovation procurers, innovation agencies, business associations, clusters, accelerators, incubators, technology transfer offices and many more.

EIC Ecosystem Partners are organisations that have been selected to provide Business Acceleration Services or other support to EIC Awardees. EIC Ecosystem Partners can include, for example, investors, business angels, mentors and coaches, innovation agencies, business associations, clusters, accelerators, incubators, technology transfer offices, venture builders, etc. They may also include the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the EIT, members of the Enterprise Europe Network and Startup Europe, and the European IP Helpdesk.

EIC Expert Evaluators are external independent experts in their field who assess proposals for funding against the criteria defined in the Work Programme. The EIC expert evaluators are selected from the EU Funding & Tenders portal Expert Database.

EIC expert monitors are external independent experts in their field who assist the Agency and, in some cases, EIC Programme Managers in the monitoring of projects’ implementation.

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

The EIC Fund is an alternative investment fund (AIF) that has been established for the specific purpose of investing in companies selected through EIC Accelerator calls. An external alternative investment fund manager (AIFM, the “EIC Fund Manager”) manages the EIC Fund. The European Investment Bank (EIB) supports the EIC Fund as Investment Advisor.

The EIC Fund Manager makes investment and divestment decisions on the companies selected through the EIC Accelerator call by following a due diligence performed by the EIB according to the EIC Investment Guidelines 32. The EIC Fund Manager manages the EIC portfolio of invested companies, supported by the EIB, and in close coordination with the grant support provided to investee companies by the European Commission and managed by the Agency, as well as the provision of Business Acceleration Services (including access to other potential investors via the EIC Co-Investment Platform) and the performance of technology due diligence by the Agency.

The EIC Forum brings different innovation drivers and levels of governance closer together to discuss openly and informally relevant policy issues 33. The policy recommendations and activities of the EIC Forum will aim at supporting and complementing initiatives undertaken in Horizon Europe.

EIC Juries are panels of specifically selected EIC expert evaluators (including, for example, independent investors, business angels and entrepreneurs) who conduct face to face interviews with applicants to the EIC Transition, EIC Accelerator and EIC STEP Scale Up calls as part of the evaluation procedure. EIC Programme Managers and, in the case of the EIC Accelerator, representatives of the EIB as Investment Adviser to the EIC Fund, may participate in jury interviews as observers, but will not be members of the jury and will not take part in the jury’s decisions. Interviews with EIC Juries may take place in either a physical or virtual setting.

Marketplace is due to be developed as an EIC-dedicated space supported by the Horizon Results Platform, where results on the EIC Pathfinder and Transition projects will be made available in order to cross-fertilise activities and stimulate and nurture potential innovation. The Marketplace is expected to become available during 2025.

EIC Portfolio is a set of actions presenting thematic similarities (Thematic Portfolio) or contributing to the same EIC Challenge (Challenge Portfolio). Further information can be found in the proactive project and portfolio management by EIC Programme Managers section. EIC Programme Managers are high-level experts in specific fields of technology, business and innovation and who manage one or more EIC Portfolios. They are appointed to work in the Agency for a limited duration, in order to develop visions for breakthrough technologies and innovations, and to proactively manage portfolios of projects to achieve these breakthroughs. They are supported by EIC Project Officers as well as by EIC Tech to Market advisers. The EIC Programme Managers are subject to strict rules concerning conflicts of interest and confidentiality.

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 cooperation with EIC 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 are officials and other agents appointed by the Agency to manage an action.

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.

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.

Next Generation Innovation Talents scheme supports EU funded researchers (from European Innovation Council (EIC), European Research Council (ERC), European Institute of Technology (EIT), Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA)) to carry out an innovation internship in a startup funded by the EIC or EIT. The aim is to enable researchers and aspiring innovators to better understand and gain direct experience of real-world innovation and entrepreneurship while allowing innovative start-ups to access new ideas and insights from the cutting edge of research.

Seal of Excellence: is a quality label awarded to excellent proposals which could not be funded due to lack of available budget and meeting the conditions set out in the call text, in order to facilitate access to funding from other sources 34. Awardees of the Seal of Excellence also have access to Business Acceleration Services. Member States may decide to transfer budget from European Regional Development Programmes to the Agency to fund directly Seal of Excellence proposals.

Sovereignty (STEP) Seal: is awarded to all proposals that meet the evaluation thresholds in calls contributing to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). It concerns both those proposals selected for funding (to support access to complementary funding sources) and those not selected for funding due to a lack of budget (to support access to alternative funding sources). It provides access to Business Acceleration Services. For proposals not selected for funding, Member States may decide to transfer budget from European Regional Development Fund Programmes to the Agency to fund directly Sovereignty (STEP) Seal proposals.

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. A full definition is provided in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC 35 36. Under the EIC, this category includes start-ups.

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

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 37, as described in the award criteria of the call texts. The following definitions of TRLs apply, recognising that there are important differences between technological fields 38.

Women-led SMEs (including start-ups) means companies where the position of either the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) is held by a woman at the time of application, interview and award of the EU financial support.

Women-led consortia means consortia where the consortium coordinator is a woman and at least 50% of Work Package leaders, including the consortium coordinator, are women at the time of application, interview and award of the EU financial support.

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 by realising innovative technological solutions through:

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 provide solutions for global challenges. EIC Pathfinder Open supports early-stage development of such future technologies (e.g., various activities at low Technology Readiness Levels from 1 to 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: you may set out to try things that will not work; you may be faced with questions that nobody knows the answer to yet; you may realise that there are many aspects of the problem that you do not master. On the contrary, if the approach you want to follow is incremental by nature or known, EIC Pathfinder Open will not support you.

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. By bringing diverse areas of research together, often with different perspectives, terminologies and methodologies, within individual projects and within a portfolio of projects, really new things can be generated, and entirely new areas of research can be opened up. It is up to you to compose the team that you need, that you can learn from, and that you can move forward with.

The expected output 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. While your vision is expected to be worthwhile because of its potential for future impact, for instance to create new markets, improve our lives, or provide solutions for global challenges, these are not expected to be achieved in the course of your EIC Pathfinder Open project. However, you are expected to take the necessary measures in the course of the project to allow future uptake to take place. This includes: an adequate formal protection of the generated Intellectual Property (IP) 39, a plan for future exploitation and an assessment of relevant aspects related to regulation, certification, and standardisation.

In addition, 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. This will strengthen Europe’s capacity for exploiting the scientific discoveries made in Europe throughout the steps to market success or for solving global challenges. You are particularly encouraged to empower female researchers in your project and to achieve gender balance among your work package leaders.

The Model Grant Agreement 41 can be found on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

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 as identified in the proposal; 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, a portfolio of projects will be established that explore different perspectives, competing approaches or complementary aspects of the Challenge. The complexity and high-risk nature of this research will require multi-disciplinary collaborations.

A dedicated Programme Manager, who establishes a common roadmap and proactively steers the portfolio towards the goals of each Challenge, oversees a specific EIC Pathfinder Challenge. Projects in a Challenge portfolio are expected to interact and exchange, remaining flexible and reactive in the light of developments within the portfolio or in the relevant global scientific or industrial community.

You should apply if you have a potential cutting-edge project that would contribute to the specific objectives of the respective Challenge. Your proposed project must aim to deliver by its end the expected outcomes defined in the respective Challenge. In general, the starting point of a proposal answering to a Pathfinder Challenge is early TRL (e.g., 2) to up to proof of concept or validation in the lab (e.g., TRL 3 or 4).

The Model Grant Agreement can be found on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Further information and details about portfolio categories and considerations will be provided in EIC Pathfinder Challenge Guides 46.

What happens after a proposal is evaluated and retained for funding? The coordinator will receive a letter announcing funding and next steps. Grant agreement preparation and signature is expected within three months. The EIC Project Officer and relevant EIC Programme Manager will support planning of portfolio activities and the preparation of the Challenge roadmap defining collective deliverables, activities and objectives.

Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing – Background and scope

Land based agricultural production is the source of approximately 95% of human food nutrients (UN FAO). Intensive and often inappropriate practices in agriculture have resulted in severe soil degradation, reducing the capacity of soils to support food production and other ecosystem services. Soil degradation is further accelerated by climate change, with abiotic stresses (heat, drought, salinity, waterlogging) and indirect impacts (altered weeds, insects, pathogens, soil microbiome, pollutants) affecting crop production.

Plants react to such stresses with conflicting physiological and metabolic responses which can impact final production including nutrient content. With an increasing human population, there is a rationale to reinforce existing food and nutrient production systems and explore complementary routes that are more efficient, resilient, sustainable and maintain or increase biodiversity.

This Challenge aims to support projects that enhance adaptation pathways for the production of climate-resilient crops and develop alternative pathways to produce high value ingredients in plants by increasing nutrient profile of crops based on plant native and/or non-native ingredients.

Projects must develop a complete methodology for assessing increases of plant growth, yields and climate resilience to single and multiple stresses, and/or assess changes to nutritional value. Proposals should include multi-omics approaches and may leverage technologies such as nanoparticle technology, chemistry, and advanced artificial intelligence. Proposals should address narrow genetic diversity of novel crops, consider regulatory aspects, and build on relevant work by the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA), where appropriate.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts: In support of Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU 47, the Mission Soil 48, the EU Green Deal 49, Farm to Fork strategy 50, the Nature Restoration Law 51, Fit for 55 52, and REPowerEU 53 policy actions, the key overall goal is to support the production of sustainable and nutritious food from plants. This Challenge aims to support the development of climate smart crops and the production of high value plant native and non-native ingredients cost-effectively and environmentally friendly to improve sustainability, efficiency, biodiversity and resilience of the European food supply chain and secure long-term competitiveness while decreasing dependency on imports.

Portfolio composition principles include: synergy among selected projects; balanced representation of native/non-native ingredients and conventional/NGTs; diversity of crops and stress combinations; and diversity in technological approaches. All projects will participate in a work package dedicated to developing monitoring and prediction methodologies for climate adaptation assessment and life-cycle-analysis.

Generative-AI based Agents to Revolutionize Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer

Imaging is a crucial component of cancer clinical protocols, providing detailed morphological, structural, metabolic, and functional information. However, harnessing the full potential of the data generated through medical imaging remains challenging due to difficulties in integrating diverse and large-scale data, leading to suboptimal outcomes and inefficiencies.

The integration of AI with medical imaging can transform healthcare, but most applications are still in their infancy and face challenges such as monomodal focus, data scarcity and generalizability (including gender-sensitivity), and poor interpretability. This Challenge aims to create interactive GenAI autonomous agents and/or super-agents providing clinicians a holistic end-to-end perspective of patient care. Other advanced AI (e.g., topological/geometric deep learning, neural fields, GNNs) can complement GenAI.

The Challenge will support early-stage groundbreaking research projects to develop and validate novel approaches for integrating and interpreting multimodal medical imaging and health data and generating reliable synthetic medical data to form a common database for algorithm development.

Appropriate performance metrics must be used to evaluate robustness and quantify uncertainties, with rigorous testing across diverse datasets. Proof-of-concept studies in controlled settings should demonstrate improved diagnosis and treatment, including validating a super-agent assisting or replacing clinicians across the clinical pathway.

Focus should include interpretability of AI models/agents (e.g., causal inference, explainable AI, novel visualization). Models must comply with the EU concept for Trustworthy AI 54, relevant ethical principles 55, and the AI Act 56. Proposers are encouraged to use the Cancer Image Europe platform 57 from the European Cancer Imaging Initiative 58 and contribute datasets and tools. Datasets should be described with metadata records in the EU dataset catalogue of the European Health Data Space using Health DCAT-AP 59 60. Projects addressing only one Area or other cancer types are out of scope.

Expected outcomes and impacts: In support of the European AI Strategy 61 and the Cancer Plan for Europe 62 and the Cancer Mission 63, this Challenge aims to develop next-generation models for cancer diagnosis and treatment with Generative AI. It will create a collaborative environment spanning multiple disciplines, improve care quality and reliability, reduce health system pressure and costs, and foster European leadership.

The portfolio will collaborate to: create a shared synthetic image database; compare combinations of agents across cancers; benchmark agents; define innovative oncology pathways; externally validate agents at other partners’ clinical premises; and develop standardized methods/frameworks for evaluating AI Act and MDR-compliant generative AI models. Composition categories include: cancer type, technology type, and access to infrastructure/data/ecosystem integration. Applications concerning the evolution of European communication networks will be subject to restriction (Annex II – Section B1).

Towards autonomous robot collectives delivering collaborative tasks in dynamic unstructured construction environments

On-site construction robotics faces deep challenges due to unstructured, dynamic environments with human presence. Current state-of-the-art focuses on automating legacy tools. Radical innovations are needed to address labour shortages, productivity gaps, safety expectations, and the need for healthier and more affordable living environments.

Multi-robot collaboration and human–robot co-working can accelerate processes and enable new capabilities, potentially via distributed swarms with learning systems, while supporting electrification of equipment. This can drive a shift towards off-site fabrication and on-site assembly, enabling zero-emission sites and structural efficiency.

This Challenge addresses construction tasks for site preparation, substructure, and superstructure, and their coordination towards autonomous electrified equipment. It includes integrating human agents for safe collaboration in shared workspaces.

On-site 3D-printing of cementitious materials or polymers as a primary construction task is outside the scope. Expected impacts include contributions to the European Green Deal 64, the European AI Strategy 65, and Horizon Europe’s strategic orientations 66, addressing labour shortages, productivity, safety, emissions, costs and risks, and serving as a lighthouse for affordable housing, renovation, circular construction, and infrastructure.

The portfolio will span application fields (super-structure, sub-structure, site-preparation, building, infrastructure, other; target environment) and approaches (robot types, number of agents, coordination, autonomy, stability, sensors, resilience, building elements and fixations, integration level). Applications concerning the evolution of European communication networks will be restricted (Annex II – Section B1).

Waste-to-value devices: Circular production of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials

Energy provision is increasingly decarbonized, but fuels, chemicals and materials require carbon atoms as feedstocks. Their production can be “de-fossilized” by using renewable energy and alternative carbon sources; a circular economy approach can also reduce dependencies and source molecular feedstocks (including critical raw materials) from wastes.

This Challenge focuses on technologies that turn problematic waste streams into building blocks of a circular economy, specifically non- or hard-to-recycle synthetic polymers (e.g., mixed plastics, composites, micro-/nanoplastics, untreated plastic waste, diapers, rubber), flue gases, wastewater and seawater desalination brines. Proposals must target real-life waste streams where current recycling faces barriers (impurities, noxious additives, inseparable mixtures, non-biodegradables) and deliver products of higher economic value than waste destruction.

Target technologies (low TRLs) include solar reforming 67 and synthetic biology devices, brine mining 68, and integrated capture and conversion technologies 69. Microbial-based and photocatalytic remediation processes are included. Thermochemical approaches (pyrolysis, gasification) and dark chemical recycling are out of scope; food/biomass waste, bulk metal waste, glass, paper, cardboard, and mono-PET are also out of scope.

Proposals must address the full waste-to-value process (not half-reactions), with integrated hybrid approaches encouraged. Devices must reach TRL 4 within 3–4 years, avoid down-cycling, be energy/material-efficient and sustainable, and use safe, stable, recyclable-by-design materials. A holistic chain view is required, with robust, easy-to-handle systems for minimally pre-treated real-life waste streams, and benchmarking against industrial and emerging recycling methods.

Expected outcomes and impacts: Aligned with REPowerEU 70 and Fit for 55 71, compliant with the Renewable Energy Directive 72, Waste Framework Directive 73 and Critical Raw Materials Act 74, supporting the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan 75 and Plastics Strategy. Builds on the Industrial Carbon Management strategy 76, Sustainable Carbon Cycles 77, and the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources 78. The portfolio is expected to collectively cover Areas 1–3, with one proposal each from Areas 2 and 3, and several from Area 1 across device categories. Contributions include local energy/resource supply, increased recycling share, micro-/nanoplastic removal towards zero-brine discharge, and decentralised circular production reducing fossil demand and emissions.

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, a portfolio of projects will be established that explore different perspectives, competing approaches or complementary aspects of the Challenge. The complexity and high-risk nature of this research will require multi-disciplinary collaborations.

A dedicated Programme Manager, who establishes a common roadmap and proactively steers the portfolio towards the goals of each Challenge, oversees a specific EIC Pathfinder Challenge. Projects in a Challenge portfolio are expected to interact and exchange, remaining flexible and reactive in the light of developments within the portfolio or in the relevant global scientific or industrial community.

They will progress together towards common goals and create new opportunities for radical innovation. This section refers to common criteria for all EIC Pathfinder Challenges. Please refer to the description below of each Challenge for specific information and requirements.

Why should you apply

You should apply if you have a potential cutting-edge project that would contribute to the specific objectives of the respective Challenge. Specifically, your proposed project must aim to deliver by its end the expected outcomes defined in the respective Challenge.

In general, the starting point of a proposal answering to a Pathfinder Challenge is early TRL (e.g., 2) to up to proof of concept or validation in the lab (e.g., TRL 3 or 4). Project results should also include top-level scientific publications, adequate formal protection of the generated intellectual property (IP) as well as an assessment of relevant aspects related to regulation, certification and standardisation.

In addition, you are encouraged to involve and empower in your team key actors that have the potential to become future leaders in their fields such as excellent early-career researchers or promising high-tech SMEs, including start-ups.

Your proposed project should reinforce the mind-set for targeted research and development aimed at high-impact applied results. You are particularly encouraged to empower female researchers in your project and to achieve gender balance among your work package leaders.

Before you decide to apply, you are strongly encouraged to read the respective EIC Pathfinder Challenge Guide that will be published on the EIC website and the Funding & Tenders Portal after the call opening. The Challenge Guide will provide you with more information about the objectives of the Challenges, technical information underpinning the objectives and portfolio considerations used for the final selection of proposals to be funded.

Can you apply

In order to apply, your proposal must meet the general eligibility requirements (see Annex 2) as well as specific eligibility requirements for the Challenge (if applicable). Please check for particular elements (e.g., specific application focus or technology) in the respective Challenge chapter below.

The EIC Pathfinder Challenges support collaborative or individual research and innovation from consortia or from single legal entities established in a Member State or an Associated Country (unless stated otherwise in the specific Challenge chapter). In case of a consortium your proposal must be submitted by the coordinator on behalf of the consortium.

Consortia of two entities must be comprised of independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries. Consortia of three or more entities must include as beneficiaries at least three legal entities, independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

The legal entities may for example be universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, natural persons. In the case of single beneficiary projects, mid-caps and larger companies will not be permitted.

Applications with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1).

The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions and the eligibility of applicants from third countries are detailed in Annex 2. The scope of proposals should be in line with the Do No Significant Harm principle (see Annex 2).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 120 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, necessary for the implementation of your project, including the portfolio activities. For this call, the EIC considers proposals with an EU contribution of up to EUR 4 million as appropriate. Nonetheless, this does not preclude you to request larger amounts, if duly justified or stated otherwise in the specific Challenge.

The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. Applicants must therefore propose the amount of the lump sum based on their estimated project costs as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). 43

It is advised to include a work package dedicated to portfolio activities and allocate at least 10 person-month to it. In addition to funding, successful applicants will receive tailor-made access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services (see Section V) and interactions with EIC Programme Managers and other actions in the portfolio of projects selected (see Section I).

Projects funded through EIC Pathfinder (including grants resulting from certain EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open and Proactive calls) may be eligible: 44

The Model Grant Agreement can be found on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The call deadline for submitting your proposal is 29/10/2025 at 17h00 Brussels local time. 45 You must submit your proposal via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline.

Sections 1 to 3 of the part B of your proposal, corresponding respectively to the award criteria Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, must consist of a maximum of 30 format A4 pages.

You will be informed about the outcome of the evaluation by 5 months after call deadline (indicative), and, if your proposal is accepted for funding, you can expect your grant agreement to be signed by 8 months after the call deadline (indicative).

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

After the submission of your proposal, it will be evaluated in two steps: Step 1 assesses each proposal separately, and Step 2 applies portfolio considerations across proposals.

Step 1 (assessment of each proposal separately): Your proposal will be first evaluated and scored individually by at least three EIC expert evaluators with respect to the award criteria. After the individual evaluation, these evaluators will get together in a consensus group to agree on a common position on comments and scores.

After the consensus phase, the evaluation committee will check consistency across the evaluation of each individual proposal and finalise the scores and comments for all proposals. For step 1, proposals will be assessed according to the following award criteria (Table 3).

All proposals that meet the thresholds defined in the award criteria will be considered in step 2.

Step 2 (portfolio considerations): In step 2, the evaluation committee will consider each proposal’s contribution to setting up a consistent Challenge Portfolio of projects.

First, the evaluation committee will map the proposals in a number of categories stemming from the overall goal and specific objectives of the Challenge. Possible categories are: building blocks or subsystems, technical areas and/or competing technologies, platforms, application areas, risk level and stage of technology readiness level, size, etc.

Following this mapping of proposals against categories, a suitable portfolio of proposals will be selected by the evaluation committee by applying portfolio considerations in order to propose for funding a coherent set of projects that will achieve the expected outcomes and impacts of the Challenge and maximise their impact. Further information and details about the categories and the portfolio considerations will be provided in EIC Pathfinder Challenge Guides. 46

The evaluation committee may also propose some minor adjustments to the proposals as far as needed for the consistency of the portfolio approach. These adjustments will be in conformity with the conditions for participation and comply with the principle of equal treatment.

You will receive feedback in the Evaluation Summary Report which will comprise the final score and the comments endorsed by the evaluation committee as well as any additional comments. If your proposal was either retained for funding or not retained for funding while it received a score that was higher than other proposals retained for funding under the same Challenge, then you will also be informed about the underlying portfolio considerations.

Comments on the detailed lump sum budget table will be provided in the Evaluation Summary Report only for proposals invited to grant agreement preparation or placed in the reserve list or rejected (possibly in part) due to significant overestimation or underestimation of costs.

What happens after a proposal is evaluated and retained for funding

The applicant/coordinator of the proposal will receive a letter announcing the proposal has been retained for funding and the next steps regarding grant agreement signature. Grant agreement preparation and signature is expected to be completed within three months, but shorter timelines may be specified.

The EIC Project Officer and relevant EIC Programme Manager will contact applicants and provide support during the grant agreement preparation to plan the portfolio activities which will be expected to entail collaboration between projects within the Challenge Portfolio, and to start the preparation of the Challenge roadmap which will define the collective deliverables, activities and objectives of the portfolio of projects selected. 46

During the execution of the project, you will interact continuously with the EIC Project Officer assigned to your project and the EIC Programme Manager, assigned to the Challenge Portfolio of your project, who will oversee all the portfolio projects.

Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing

Background and scope

Land based agricultural production is the source of approximately 95% of human food nutrients (UN FAO). Intensive and often inappropriate practices in agriculture have however resulted in severe soil degradation, thereby reducing the capacity of soils to support food production and other important ecosystem services such as the regulation of water, nutrients, and carbon cycles.

Soil degradation is further accelerated by the effects of climate change, with abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, salinity, and waterlogging, often in combination, having negative effects on the world’s crop production. The direct impact of a changed climate is also frequently accompanied by indirect impacts due to alterations in the composition and behaviour of weeds, insects, pathogens, and soil microbiome, alongside the impacts of increased amounts of human-generated pollutants.

Plants react to such stresses with what are often conflicting physiological and metabolic responses. These may prioritise one acclimatisation/adaptation strategy over the other, a blend of one or more responses, and/or through developing a completely new strategy, all of which can, in turn, impact final production including nutrient content.

When combined with an increasing human population, likely to increase net demand for food, there is a clear rationale to reinforce existing food and nutrient production systems and explore complementary routes to food production that are more efficient, resilient, sustainable and maintain or increase biodiversity.

This Pathfinder Challenge therefore aims to support projects that enhance adaptation pathways for the production of climate-resilient crops and develop alternative pathways to produce high value ingredients in plants by increasing nutrient profile of crops based on plant native and/or non-native ingredients.

Specific Objectives

Innovative ideas put forward under this Challenge must go beyond incremental changes to the state-of-the-art and result in novel production processes that must deliver energy- and resource-efficient, low emission foods that maintain or increase biodiversity and are integral to a healthy diet.

Funded projects are expected to develop breakthrough technologies that reach TRL4 (validation in laboratory environment) with viable plants at the end of the projects. The proposals should work on both the following objectives:

Increasing plant growth, yields and resistance to stress through:

Projects must also develop a complete methodology for assessing the increase of plant growth, yields, and climate resilience to single and multiple stresses, and/or assess changes to the nutritional value of crops, as appropriate.

Proposals should include multi-omics approaches including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics. These approaches can be further underpinned by leveraging technologies such as, but not limited to nanoparticle technology, chemistry, and advanced artificial intelligence to develop and introduce novel defence and acclimation strategies, currently not present in crops to achieve greater tolerance to harsh environmental conditions and/or biomanufacturing of non-native ingredients, to enable the time required for that development to be significantly shortened.

Proposals should also look to address the narrow genetic diversity of novel crops and are also expected to consider regulatory aspects and to build on the work carried out so far by the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA), where appropriate.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

In support of Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU 47, the Mission Soil 48, the EU Green Deal 49, Farm to Fork strategy 50, the Nature Restoration Law 51, Fit for 55 52, and REPowerEU 53 policy actions, the key overall goal of this Challenge is to support the production of sustainable and nutritious food from plants.

This Challenge aims to support the development of climate smart crops and the production of high value plant native and non-native ingredients in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner.

The following principles will be used to select the portfolio of projects:

All projects will participate in a work package dedicated to the development of monitoring and prediction methodologies for climate adaptation assessment and life-cycle-analysis.

Generative-AI based Agents to Revolutionize Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer

Background and scope

Imaging is a crucial component of cancer clinical protocols, providing detailed morphological, structural, metabolic, and functional information. However, harnessing the full potential of the data generated through medical imaging in clinical settings remains challenging.

Clinicians often struggle to combine diverse and large-scale data into a comprehensive view of patient care, disease progression, and treatment efficacy. The inability to seamlessly integrate and interpret diverse data sources results in suboptimal patient outcomes and inefficiencies in the delivery of healthcare.

The integration of traditional Artificial Intelligence (AI) with medical imaging can transform healthcare, but most existing applications are still in their infancy and must overcome a number of challenges to accelerate adoption.

These include AI applications being confined to single data modalities (Monomodal Application), inadequate and insufficient data training leading to data scarcity and a lack of generalizability, and the lack of AI model interpretability. This lack of transparency limits trust in the systems and their usability in clinical settings.

The goal of this Pathfinder Challenge is to create interactive GenAI autonomous agents and/or a combination of them (super-agent) that provide clinicians with a holistic end-to-end perspective of patient care, throughout the entire clinical pathway.

These agents aim to enhance pattern identification, reduce inconsistencies and errors in diagnoses as well as improve cancer treatment. While the focus is on GenAI, we also encourage the integration of other advanced AI technologies, such as topological and geometric deep learning, neural fields, and graph neural networks.

The Challenge will support early-stage groundbreaking research projects that will develop and validate novel approaches and concepts for integrating and interpreting multimodal medical imaging and health data. Additionally, it will involve generating reliable synthetic medical data, which will also be pooled to form a common database and used for the development of advanced algorithms.

Specific Objectives

Project proposals under this Challenge should focus on one (and only one) of the following diseases: breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, stomach cancer or colorectal cancer.

Each proposal should address both the following areas (at least one sub-objective from each of the areas).

Area 1: Technological area

Investigate groundbreaking techniques and methodologies for developing GenAI algorithms that combine multidimensional (e.g. time dimension, space dimension) and multimodal data from various sources.

These include multiple imaging modalities (e.g., MRI, CT, PET, X-ray), clinical data (e.g., electronic health records, lab results, structured and unstructured clinical data, pathology results, genetics and –omics data, videos, knowledge databases, and other resources). The goal is to provide a comprehensive view of the patient’s condition.

Develop GenAI models based on groundbreaking techniques that are in the conceptual or initial experimental phase for medical data augmentation. These models should create highly realistic synthetic medical data and generate complementary data from existing sources.

Create an initial prototype GenAI model for medical knowledge representation and integration to develop a comprehensive and dynamic medical knowledge base, improve model interpretability, and extract new knowledge not previously identifiable by experts without assistance.

Area 2: Clinical Area

Develop an interactive autonomous agent capable of assessing the likelihood of a patient developing cancer by analysing their medical history, imaging data, and genetic information. The agent should provide personalised health risk predictions, enabling early detection and preventive measures.

Develop novel AI algorithms and architectures that leverage multidimensional and multimodal data integration, along with synthetic data generation, to predict the optimal treatment pathway for specific patient conditions, and to forecast disease progression and treatment efficacy.

Appropriate performance metrics should be considered for the continuous evaluation and testing of the scientific and technical robustness (including accurately quantified uncertainties) of all developed algorithms and architectures in Areas 1 and 2.

Projects should conduct proof of concept studies in controlled settings to demonstrate improved and more accurate diagnosis and treatment when compared to current clinical practice. A super-agent could be validated for assisting and/or replacing clinicians through the whole clinical pathway of the patient.

The focus should also be on enhancing the interpretability of AI models/agents, making their decision-making processes more transparent and understandable to clinicians. This could involve causal inference methods, explainable AI frameworks, or novel visualization tools.

The AI models developed under this Challenge are expected to comply with the EU concept for Trustworthy AI 54, relevant ethical principles 55, and the AI Act 56. In addition to focusing on performance, careful attention must be given to data quality, transparency, privacy, and security.

Proposers are encouraged to leverage the data and tools available in the Cancer Image Europe platform 57 (deployed in the context of the European Cancer Imaging Initiative 58) for their proposed work.

In turn they should contribute the datasets, and developed AI tools and models to the platform under agreed conditions. All datasets produced should be described where possible with metadata records in the EU dataset catalogue of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) using the Health DCAT-AP 59 metadata standard. 60

Projects that address only one of the two ‘Areas’ or other cancer types will be considered out of scope.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

In support of the European AI Strategy 61 and the Cancer Plan for Europe 62 and the Cancer Mission 63 this Challenge looks to support the development of the next generation models for cancer diagnosis and treatment, with Generative AI.

This Challenge aims to create a collaborative environment where diverse expertise — including for example data science, informatics, oncology, radiology, pathology, medical physics, bioinformatics, geneticists, healthcare administrators, and patient advocacy groups — converges to address the complexities of developing autonomous agents for holistic patient care.

The Challenge aspires to significantly improve patient care and reduce pressure on the healthcare system by leveraging advanced interactive autonomous agents for diagnosis and personalized treatment. Economically, it promises substantial cost reductions and cost avoidance, leading to long-term improvements in healthcare efficiency and sustainability.

The portfolio of selected projects will be designed to deliver a set of agents/models for improved diagnosis and personalized treatment of the above-mentioned cancers. Specifically, the projects will collaborate to:

The portfolio of projects to be funded under this Challenge will be composed in such a way that they address ideally all cancers mentioned in this call, apply different technologies, and provide access to relevant clinical facilities and research infrastructures. The following categories will be used for the composition:

Specific conditions

Applications for this Challenge with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1).

Towards autonomous robot collectives delivering collaborative tasks in dynamic unstructured construction environments

Background and scope

Robotic automation offers significant advantages to several sectors, yet on-site construction robotics is amongst the most challenging and least understood fields in robotics. The unstructured, dynamic environment with human presence makes navigation and automation of the many concurrent construction tasks deeply challenging.

Further, the current state-of-the-art solutions focus on adding higher degrees of automation to legacy tools, such as heavy equipment designed for diesel engines and human operators. Radical innovations are essential for the sector to address the unprecedented wave of building growth and the need for healthier and more affordable living environments.

Through the collaboration of multiple agents (both humans and machines) construction processes can be accelerated, enabling more complex processes with multiple tasks to be performed simultaneously and collaboratively.

Multi-robotic collaboration, where robotic agents support and complement each other’s tasks and skill sets within the same workspace, may unlock entirely new processes that are not possible using single robotic machines. This could involve multiple distributed swarms of collaborative robots using distributed control algorithms and robot learning systems.

Realising the disruptive potential of novel emerging technology paradigms that reconsider construction processes from the fundamentals can help supplant and substitute the legacy suite of tools with novel autonomous collaborative construction robots in an integrated, designed-for-robotics digital production and assembly chain.

Such developments could also further enhance an emerging paradigm shift from today’s complex mix of on-site construction tasks, towards a future of off-site fabrication and on-site assembly. Off-site fabrication offers industrial economic advantages and can deliver demand-side emissions reductions through electrification.

This Pathfinder Challenge aims to address all construction tasks typically required for site preparation, substructure, and superstructure, as well as the coordination between these tasks to support a transition towards building with autonomous electrified construction equipment.

It includes the role of human agents in construction processes, as even high degrees of multi-robotic autonomy with low degrees of supervision will require a collaborative connection between human and robotic agents, ensuring they can safely collaborate and share the same workspace.

Specific objectives

The overall objective of this Challenge is the development of breakthrough technologies in the domain of autonomous collaborative on-site construction robots for an integrated, designed-for-robotics, digital production and assembly chain.

The Challenge is open to the three main construction tasks applied to the two main construction segments of buildings and infrastructure. Innovative application in adjacent construction segments also falls within scope.

Each funded project shall deliver the following three specific objectives:

Objective 1

Development of a simplified structural, load-bearing, material-robot building system to assemble a representative and future-relevant structure (pavilion) using a multitude of discrete modules (elements, segments, blocks, voussoirs).

This system must demonstrate TRL4 (validation in laboratory environment) of the autonomous collaborative multirobotic assembly. The structure can represent an infrastructure, a building, or other construction elements.

Projects are expected to demonstrate the technologies at least at a relevant human scale in terms of volume, mass and moment of inertia, and ideally at a larger real-world architectural scale, rather than at a laboratory desktop scale.

Solutions are expected to incorporate design-for-robotic-assembly aspects, such as the robot-material interfaces, module interfaces and connectors, and may include innovative approaches such as embedded sensing in the modules.

A virtual simulation of the disassembled state, intermediate assembly stages and final assembled state is expected to be part of the systems development process. The project should include a documented validation of key design decisions against the minimal requirements of the TRL4 demonstration objectives of the autonomous mobile multi-robotic collaborative platform.

Objective 2

Development of an autonomous mobile multi-robotic collaborative platform using at least two, preferably more, mutually aware collaborative robotic systems specifically designed for the assembly tasks outlined in Objective 1.

This objective requires a structured systems engineering approach to conduct a thorough functional system analysis and to allocate system-level functions between humans and machines within the target platform.

The design should include the definition of system states and modes, along with the transitions between them, to ensure safe autonomous operations and effective demonstration of robot-robot and human-robot collaborations and interactions (passive, active, adaptive) at TRL4.

The project should also describe how the proposed technology can be scaled to meet the full dimensions of the intended commercial application in future. Utilizing existing industrial robots or modifying suitable existing construction tools is allowed.

Conversely, novel relative multi-robotic platforms could make full use of the opportunities of the material-robot system independent of scaling limitations in future.

Objective 3

Achieve a TRL4 demonstration of an autonomous assembly sequence using the demonstration building system developed in Objective 1, executed by the autonomous mobile multi-robotic collaborative platform developed in Objective 2.

The demonstration of a subsequent disassembly sequence is optional but encouraged if the building system is designed for disassembly. The demonstration will take place in a laboratory environment, including tests that explore the system’s resilience and limits under controlled unstructured real-world conditions.

The specific objective of this challenge is to advance the digitalized chain of off-site modular production with on-site autonomous mobile multi-robotic collaborative assembly. Therefore, on-site 3D-printing of cementitious materials or polymers as a primary construction task is outside the scope of this challenge.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

This Challenge contributes to the European Green Deal 64, the European AI Strategy 65, and the key strategic orientations of Horizon Europe 66 for the digital and green transitions of the construction sector.

The anticipated impacts include addressing likely shortages and competition in the labour markets, enhancing productivity and competitiveness within the construction industry, and improving worker safety.

It will facilitate a shift towards offsite industrial fabrication coupled with onsite assembly and disassembly, reducing emissions from on-site construction activities, and lowering costs and mitigating risks associated with construction projects.

The portfolio of projects selected will aim to cover a complementary set of projects that span the application and approach fields specified below and combinations thereof:

Specific conditions

Applications for this Challenge with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1).

Waste-to-value devices: Circular production of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials

Background and scope

Fossil fuels supply a majority of the world’s energy and also provide the raw materials, or feedstocks, for many essential everyday products. While energy provision is becoming increasingly decarbonized, the production of fuels, chemicals and materials requires carbon atoms as feedstocks.

However, their production can be de-fossilized by utilising renewable energy and alternative carbon sources. Likewise, a circular economy approach offers scope to reduce external dependencies and source other essential molecular feedstocks including critical raw materials from wastes.

This Pathfinder Challenge focuses on the development of next generation technologies that turn today’s problematic waste streams into essential building blocks of a future circular economy.

It specifically focuses on currently non- or hard-to-recycle types of synthetic polymer materials (including mixtures of plastics, polymeric composite materials, micro-/nanoplastics, untreated plastic waste, diapers, rubber, etc.), flue gases, wastewater and seawater desalination brines.

Proposals must target real-life industrial and household waste streams where current recycling methods face insurmountable barriers. An important side effect is the remediation of waste streams with respect to micro-/nanoplastics, trace metals and noxious substances.

The scope of technological solutions is limited to the following technologies with currently low TRLs, where significant synergies by working in a Challenge portfolio are expected: solar reforming 67 and synthetic biology devices, brine mining 68 and integrated capture and conversion technologies 69. Microbial-based and photocatalytic remediation processes are included as well.

Computational material science and AI, and bottom-up synthetic biology are supported as key enablers at the fundamental research level. Thermochemical approaches (such as pyrolysis or gasification) and dark (not light-driven) chemical recycling are out of scope.

Likewise, food and biomass waste, traditional bulk metal waste, glass, paper, cardboard and mono-PET waste are also out of scope.

Specific objectives

The Challenge seeks ambitious proposals that address one (and only one) of the following focus areas.

Area 1: Fully integrated waste-to-value devices

This includes devices for converting waste streams into feedstock for fuels, chemicals and materials and devices for remediation; where processes are solely driven by renewable energy sources (preferably directly by sunlight) and focus on the selective production of added value products, beyond hydrogen as the sole end product:

Proposals addressing only parts of the full waste-to-value process (e.g., half reactions) will not be considered. Integrated hybrid approaches and autonomously operating devices continuously optimized with AI are particularly welcome.

The resulting devices must reach TRL 4 within the 3–4-year project lifetime and must not down-cycle the waste substrate but create products of higher economic and environmental value as compared to the initial waste stream.

They must be energy and material-efficient and fully sustainable, minimising the associated energy, water, chemicals and land footprint. Operating conditions should be optimised and the circular use of process consumables maximised.

They must deploy environmentally safe, stable materials, with non-toxic degradation products and the developed devices must be recyclable-by-design. Proposals must take a holistic view of the complete waste valorisation chain.

Systems must be robust and easy-to-handle to allow operations independent from large-scale infrastructures, with extended lifetimes and a capability to treat real-life waste streams which have undergone minimal sorting and pre-treatment.

Proposals have to clearly indicate how the proposed solution benchmarks against industrially deployed recycling methods and emerging recycling methods.

Area 2: Understanding underlying mechanisms by means of computational material science and AI

Projects must deliver advances and scientific breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of the underlying physical, chemical, and biological processes that will enable fully sustainable and scalable waste-to-value devices. Projects should address all the following specific objectives:

Area 3: Cells from scratch by means of bottom-up synthetic biology

Projects must look to deliver scientific breakthroughs in bottom-up synthetic biology to enable the use of tailored microbial cell factories for the degradation and valorisation of waste and the production of fossil-free fuels, chemicals, and materials. Projects should address all the following specific objectives:

Expected outcomes and impacts

This Challenge is in line with REPowerEU 70 and Fit for 55 71. It is compliant with the Renewable Energy Directive 72, the Waste Framework Directive 73 and the Critical Raw Materials Act 74. It supports the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) 75 and the Plastics strategy.

It builds on the Industrial Carbon Management strategy 76, the Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles 77, and the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources 78.

The portfolio of projects selected under this Challenge is expected to collectively cover Areas 1, 2 and 3, with a maximum of one proposal from each of Areas 2 and 3, and several proposals across Area 1 categories.

Combining these aspects into a single portfolio with close interaction between the projects and a commonly developed vision is expected to significantly speed up the innovation journey by driving synergies and mutual learning.

The resulting portfolio of projects will in time contribute to:

EIC Transition

Have you identified EU-funded project result(s) with promising commercial potential that could be the basis for ground-breaking innovations and promising new businesses?

If the answer to each and every of these questions is a clear ‘yes’, then EIC Transition may be the right call for you.

Why should you apply

EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3). It supports both the maturation and validation of your novel technology from the lab to the relevant application environments as well as explorations and development of a sustainable business plan and business model towards commercialisation into high potential markets.

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 commercial 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 a suitable mix of technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of concept to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e., applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3 up to TRL 5 to 6 at the end of the project).

The activities must in all cases address improving market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, refine incipient business plan 79 and validate incipient business model 80, intellectual property protection, etc.) 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 validated business model and a business plan 81 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 6).

EIC Transition can support several different pathways beyond fundamental research, from technology development and product design to business modelling and commercialisation strategy to reach the market.

Technology Transfer Offices or business schools are encouraged to actively participate in the EIC Transition project, as they can play a key role in enabling and supporting researchers with the development and commercialisation of their research results.

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 an SME, including start-ups or spin-offs), seek other investors or sources of funding, 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 must include specific milestones together with concrete and verifiable KPIs during the implementation of your project.

The EIC Transition project is expected to mature your innovation both in its TRL and market and business readiness 82 from the beginning of the project and with both tracks going in parallel and interacting between them.

Applicants to EIC Transition can submit proposals through an EIC Transition Open call which has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application. 83

Can you apply

In order to apply, your proposal must meet the general eligibility requirements (see Annex 2) as well as specific eligibility requirements described in this section.

Your proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project that are, at least, at experimental proof of concept (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3) or, ideally, technology validated in the lab level (TRL 4). Proposals building on project results at other TRL levels are not eligible.

EIC Transition is restricted to proposals based on results generated by the following eligible projects: 84

If you are applying on the basis of an eligible project for which the grant is still ongoing, you may apply if the start date of the grant is more than 12 months before the cut-off date of the relevant EIC Transition call).

If you are applying on the basis of an eligible project which has already been completed, you may apply within 30 months of the completion of the project. You do not need to be a participant, Principal Investigator or result owner of the previous projects; new participants including start-ups, SMEs or other innovation actors are welcome and encouraged to apply.

You can apply for EIC Transition either as:

Only one proposal can be submitted per eligible originating ERC Proof of Concept funded in Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe and FET Innovation Launchpad project in the same call. Consortia may include start-ups, SMEs, research organisations, larger companies, user/customer organisations or potential end users.

The applicant must specify which path to market will be explored and pursued during the execution of the EIC Transition project: direct exploitation by coordinator or beneficiary, creation of a spin-off company in a Member State or an Associated Country, licensing to an established company (not part of the consortium) or other path to be described.

Applications with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 98 million. 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 of more than EUR 0.5 million and less than 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 duly explained.

The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. Applicants must therefore propose the amount of the lump sum based on their estimated project costs as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). 91

The projects funded through EIC Transition are eligible to receive Booster grants of a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 to undertake complementary activities and to submit an EIC Accelerator proposal via the Fast Track scheme (see Annex 3).

In addition to funding, projects will receive tailor-made access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services and matchmaking events (see Section V). The Model Grant Agreement can be found on the Funding & Tenders portal.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The deadline for submitting your proposal is 17 September 2025 at 17h00 Brussels local time. 92 You must submit your proposal via the Funding & Tenders Portal before the given deadline.

Sections 1 to 3 and the cover page (that includes the information about the related project on which the current EIC Transition proposal is built on) of part B of your proposal must consist of a maximum of 22 format 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, indicatively within 9 weeks after the call deadline.

If your proposal successfully passes this first evaluation phase, you will be invited for an interview, which will be organised approximately between 11-13 weeks after the deadline. You will be informed about the result of the interview indicatively within 4 weeks from the start of the interviews.

If you are successful, you can expect your grant agreement to be signed within 6 months from the call deadline (indicative) and you are expected to start your project within 2 months after signing the grant agreement.

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. The overall score for each evaluation criterion will be the average of the corresponding scores and the total score will be the sum across the three criteria.

Starting with the highest scoring proposal and in descending order, a pool of the best ranked proposals requesting an aggregated financial support equal to approximately 2.2 times the budget available will be invited to the next step.

The Agency will seek assistance from the European Patent Office to analyse the technological novelty, the inventive merit and the proposed future strategy of EIC proposals shortlisted for EIC Jury interview. EPO experts will not participate directly in the evaluation process.

The second step is an 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.

The EIC Jury will be composed of between four and six members and may additionally include one EIC Programme Manager as observer. The EIC Jury will recommend your proposal for funding, place it on a reserve list or not (GO, GO Reserve, NO GO).

Proposers who succeed in securing EIC Transition funding will be strongly encouraged to undertake the Investor Readiness training provided by EIC Business Acceleration Services.

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

You will receive as feedback of the evaluation an Evaluation Summary Report from the first evaluation step. If you have been invited for an interview, you will also receive feedback from the jury.

If you meet all evaluation criteria thresholds at the first step but are not selected for funding (including from a NO GO recommendation from the jury), you will be awarded a Seal of Excellence. If the proposal is submitted by a consortia, the Seal of Excellence will be awarded to the coordinator of the proposal, listing the other participating legal entities.

EIC Transition

Have you identified EU-funded project result(s) with promising commercial potential that could be the basis for ground-breaking innovations and promising new businesses?

If the answer to each and every of these questions is a clear ‘yes’, then EIC Transition may be the right call for you.

Why should you apply

EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3). 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 plan and business model towards commercialisation into high potential markets.

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 commercial 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 technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of concept to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e., applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3 up to TRL 5 to 6 at the end of the project). The activities must in all cases address improving market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, refine incipient business plan 79 and validate incipient business model 80, intellectual property protection, etc.) and 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/commercial 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 validated business model and a business plan 81 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 6).

EIC Transition can support several 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:

Technology Transfer Offices or business schools are encouraged to actively participate in the EIC Transition project, as they can play a key role in enabling and supporting researchers with the development and commercialisation of their research results.

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), and 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 must include specific milestones together with concrete and verifiable KPIs during the implementation of your project to assess progress towards the market.

The EIC Transition project is expected to mature your innovation both in its TRL and market and business readiness 82 from the beginning of the project and with both tracks going in parallel and interacting between them.

Applicants to EIC Transition can submit proposals through an EIC Transition Open call which has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application. 83

Can you apply

In order to apply, your proposal must meet the general eligibility requirements (see Annex 2) as well as specific eligibility requirements described in this section.

Your proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project that are, at least, at experimental proof of concept (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3) or, ideally, technology validated in the lab level (TRL 4). Proposals building on project results at other TRLs level are not eligible.

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 ongoing, you may apply if the start date of the grant is more than 12 months before the cut-off date of the relevant EIC Transition call).

If you are applying on the basis of an eligible project which has already been completed, you may apply within 30 months of the completion of the project (i.e. the end date of the grant for the eligible project is less than 30 months from the cut-off date of the relevant EIC Transition call).

You do not need to be a participant, Principal Investigator or result owner of the previous projects; on the contrary, new participants including start-ups, SME or other innovation actors are welcome and encouraged to apply:

In all cases you need to specify in your application the grant number and acronym of the eligible project(s) which generated the result together with reference to where the result has been reported (in the periodic reporting, the Horizon results platform, EIC Transition ‘innovation discovery’ tool 88 powered by the Innovation Radar or CORDIS).

You can apply for EIC Transition either as:

Only one proposal can be submitted per eligible originating ERC Proof of Concept funded in Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe and FET Innovation Launchpad project in the same call. Consortia may for example include start-ups, SMEs, research organisations, or larger companies, user/customer organisations or potential end users (e.g., hospitals, utilities, industry, regulatory and standardisation bodies).

The applicant must specify which path to market will explore and pursue during the execution of the EIC Transition project: direct exploitation by coordinator or beneficiary, creation of a spin-off company in a Member State or an Associated Country, licensing to an established company (not part of the consortium) or other path to be described.

Participation restrictions

Applications with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 98 million.

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 of more than EUR 0.5 million and less than 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 duly explained.

The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. Applicants must therefore propose the amount of the lump sum based on their estimated project costs as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). 91

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). The Model Grant Agreement can be found on the Funding & Tenders portal.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The deadline for submitting your proposal is 17 September 2025 at 17h00 Brussels local time. 92 You must submit your proposal via the Funding & Tenders Portal before the given deadline.

Sections 1 to 3 and the cover page (that includes the information about the related project on which the current EIC Transition proposal is built on) of part B of your proposal must consist of a maximum of 22 format 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, indicatively within 9 weeks after the call deadline.

If your proposal successfully passes this first evaluation phase, you will be invited for an interview, which will be organised approximately between 11-13 weeks after the deadline. 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 indicatively within 4 weeks from the start of the interviews.

If you are successful, you can expect your grant agreement to be signed within 6 months from the call deadline (indicative) and you are expected to start your project within 2 months after signing the grant agreement.

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 requesting an aggregated financial support equal to approximately 2.2 times the budget available will be invited to the next step.

All such applicants invited to interview must have met all evaluation criteria thresholds from the remote evaluation (Table 4). The Agency will seek assistance from the European Patent Office to analyse the technological novelty, the inventive merit and the proposed future strategy of EIC proposals shortlisted for EIC Jury interview.

EPO experts will not participate directly in the evaluation process but will provide their assessment to the EIC Jury as material ‘for information’. The assessment by the patent examiners will not be binding and the Jury appointed by the EIC will have complete freedom to decide on its relevance.

The second step is an interview with an EIC jury. At the interview your proposal may be represented by a maximum of five persons. 94 Only individuals mentioned in the proposal and involved in the future project implementation can represent your proposal at the interview.

The EIC Jury will be composed of between four and six members and may additionally include one EIC Programme Manager as observer 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 EIC 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, the different elements already developed within the incipient business plan and incipient business model, the milestones and KPIs).

The EIC Jury will recommend your proposal for funding, place it on a reserve list or not (‘GO’, ‘GO Reserve’ ‘NO GO’). If the jury recommends a proposal to be placed in a reserve list (‘GO Reserve’) the proposal may then be funded if additional budget becomes available. The remote evaluation score will be used to rank the proposals in the reserve list 95.

Proposers who succeed in securing EIC Transition funding will be strongly encouraged to undertake in the project’s first year the “Investor Readiness training” (including business plan development and/or investor pitch preparations) provided by EIC Business Acceleration Services.

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

The following award criteria are applied coherently with the level of technological and business maturity expected from an EIC Transition proposal as described in this Work Programme.

You will receive as feedback of the evaluation an Evaluation Summary Report from the first evaluation step. If you have been invited for an interview, you will also receive feedback from the jury.

If you meet all evaluation criteria thresholds at the first step but are not selected for funding (including from a No-GO recommendation from the jury), you will be awarded a Seal of Excellence. If the proposal is submitted by a consortia, Seal of Excellence will be awarded to the coordinator of the proposal, listing the other participating legal entities.

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 grant and investment funding 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 and other relevant environment (e.g., at least Technology Readiness Level 5). 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. There are limitations on the number of times you can submit a proposal described in the section on application submission limits as explained 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 3). 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 (see Annex 4).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The total indicative budget for this call is EUR 634 million. EUR 384 million of the total indicative budget will be allocated to EIC Accelerator Open and EUR 250 million to EIC Accelerator Challenges. The total indicative budget for each Accelerator Challenges is provided in Challenge descriptions below. 99

The indicative budget for investment components is EUR 348 million and is managed by the EIC Fund. This budget may be increased by unused amounts allocated to the EIC Fund under previous EIC Work Programmes.

The EIC Accelerator provides:

All successful proposals will receive, in addition to funding, tailor-made access to a wide range of Business Acceleration Services (see Section V). The 30% co-funding of the work packages to be covered by the grant component has to be financed by the beneficiary through its own resources.

The EIC Accelerator model grant agreement can be found on the Funding & Tenders Portal 102.

EIC Accelerator investment component (for blended finance and equity only proposals)

The minimum investment component is EUR 0.5 million and the maximum is EUR 10 million 103. Higher amounts are available under the EIC STEP Scale-up call.

The investment component is intended to finance market deployment and scale up and it can be requested in parallel to the grant (and may be used for co-financing innovation activities) or at a later stage during the lifetime of their grant agreement. Within the maximum budget awarded by the Commission, the terms of investment will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis 104 in accordance with the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines 105.

The investment component of the EIC is designed to fill the funding gap for high-risk innovations to a stage where they can be fully co-financed or financed under the InvestEU programme or by private investors alone. As the EIC Accelerator is designed to bear the risk of potential breakthrough market creating innovations in order to attract private investors in a second stage, the lack of such investors at the initial stage does not prevent the EIC investment to be agreed.

When implementing investments, 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. Where necessary to protect European interests in strategic areas, the EIC Fund will be requested to take appropriate safeguard measures for individual companies on a case-by-case basis in order to protect European interests as defined in the Investment Guidelines (see Introduction, section on economic security).

EIC Accelerator grant component (for blended finance and grant-only proposals)

Eligible costs for the grant component are reimbursed up to a maximum of 70% within the ceiling of the maximum grant amount, i.e. EUR 2 499 999), but for blended finance the grant component may be for a higher amount in exceptional and well justified cases.

EIC Accelerator grant funding covers innovation activities, including demonstration of the technology in the relevant environment, prototyping and system level demonstration, R&D and testing required to meet regulatory and standardisation requirements, intellectual property management, and marketing approval (e.g. at least TRL 6 106 to 8).

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. Applicants must therefore propose the amount of the lump sum based on their estimated project costs as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). 107

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. The Agency may object to a transfer of ownership or the licensing of results under certain conditions in accordance with the provisions set out in the grant agreement.

How do you apply; how long does it take

The application process consists of a number of steps:

All personal data and information in your proposal will be kept strictly confidential 109. However, before submitting your full proposal, you will be offered the opportunity to share basic data and information with your Member State or Associated Country National Contact Point and other bodies so that they can provide additional support.

Short applications will be batched and sent for evaluation the first Tuesday of every month. From the date of the batching, you will be informed within approximately 4-6 weeks, and you will receive the evaluation result of your short proposal specifying whether or not your proposal met the admissibility, eligibility and award criteria.

The optional coaching support is designed to improve the value proposition, business plan and investor pitch. However, it is your decision how to respond to the feedback and support, and the content of your proposal is your sole responsibility.

If you succeeded with your short application under the 2025 Work Programme, your full proposal can be submitted to any of the following cut-offs during 2025, and any of the cut-offs for 2026. Applicants who succeeded with a positive evaluation of their short proposal under the 2023 or 2024 EIC Work Programme may apply to any of the following cut-offs in 2025 111.

The cut-off dates for 2026 will be announced in the 2026 Work Programme due to be adopted in Autumn 2025. The full proposal consists of: a full business plan and full information on the company’s finances and structure of the potential beneficiary/final recipient company, including a set of milestones; and a pitch-deck in pdf format and a video pitch of up to three minutes 112.

All personal data and information in your proposal will be kept strictly confidential. However, before submitting your full proposal, you will need to give consent to share necessary information with the EIC Fund, if applying for investment.

Once you submit your full proposal, it will be assessed remotely against award criteria evaluation elements by three EIC expert evaluators. Within approximately eight to nine weeks 113 you will be informed about the result of the remote evaluation and will receive feedback. If successful, you will be invited to attend an interview (which may be in person or online) with an EIC Jury.

Interviews will be organised approximately four to five weeks after applicants are informed of the result of the remote evaluation (or longer if needed). You will be informed about the result of the interview within approximately two to three weeks after the finalisation of the interviews 113. The Agency may reimburse the cost of applicants invited to attend on-site interviews during the evaluation of their proposals.

Blended finance: a single award decision will be adopted by the Commission covering both grant and investment components. The maximum amount for the investment component will follow the amount requested by the applicant, with an additional flexibility amount of maximum EUR 2 million per proposal.

The relevant information from your proposal will be transmitted to the EIC Fund and its investment advisor (the European Investment Bank), to structure the potential investment agreement (compliance checks 114, due diligence, syndication of potential co-investors, tranches of investment and related objectives and milestones, etc.).

At the end of this process, which should usually take approximately between two to six months since the selection for funding, an investment component will be decided by the EIC Fund 115. The investment amount decided by the EIC Fund will be within the maximum set by the Single Award Decision, as well as within the total amount available to the EIC Fund for investments.

Should the outcome of the due diligence conclude that the innovation or your company is not yet mature for 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.

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, misrepresentation by the applicant or in case of a manifest error. In such a case, the Agency may also request amendments to the grant agreement.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be funded

Each evaluator will assess whether your short proposal meets each of the evaluation elements (Table 6) and give a GO or NO GO. If at least three out of the four evaluators give a GO, then your short proposal will be successful. If at least two out of the four evaluators give a NO GO, then your proposal is considered unsuccessful and will be rejected.

If two of the three evaluators give a GO for all the evaluation elements, then there will be a consensus meeting to decide if you will be invited to an interview with an EIC Jury. For proposals submitted to either the Open or Challenge topics, all three experts must give a GO during the consensus meeting for the proposal to be invited to interview.

If two or more of the evaluators give a NO GO on any of the evaluation elements, then your proposal will be rejected. The EIC jury will have access to the remote evaluation results of your full proposal but will not have access to your short proposal or the evaluation results of your short proposal.

EIC Jury members, based on your interview and their overall assessment, will recommend your proposal for funding (GO) or not (NO GO). If the proposal receives a GO, the EIC Jury may recommend providing a lower grant amount than requested; for the investment component, the EIC jury will not recommend a different amount.

If your proposal receives a NO GO and is not recommended for funding, your proposal will be awarded a Seal of Excellence 117. If your proposal is submitted under one of the STEP-relevant Challenges calls, your project will be awarded the Sovereignty (STEP) Seal 118.

Following the notification of the outcome of your application, you will receive an official rejection letter (and your Seal of Excellence and Sovereignty (STEP) Seal, if awarded). Seals may be funded by national or European programmes for both grant and investment components and may also be supported for only the grant component.

Indicatively, the budget for grant components will be allocated approximately equally between the cut-offs. If there is remaining budget, it may be allocated to the subsequent cut-off, or vice versa.

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

Application submission limits

The EIC Accelerator applies limitations on the number of unsuccessful submissions of the same/improved proposal by the same legal entity. After three unsuccessful submissions 119 of the same/improved proposal by the same legal entity to the EIC Accelerator call, an applicant may not apply again under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.

In all cases, applicants are expected to take into account the feedback on their previous submission and only reapply if they have made significant improvements.

Approach for follow-on investments by the EIC Fund

The EIC Fund may provide follow-on investments in companies that have already been selected and awarded equity support, within a maximum of EUR 10 million 120 and subject to availability of budget. Such follow-on investments will be subject to a project review by external experts and an amended Award Decision, as well as a renewed assessment (due diligence) by the EIB as investment adviser to the EIC Fund 121.

Such follow-on investments will be limited to the following exceptional categories of cases 122:

The EIC Fund may also provide investments to companies that received “Grant first” support under the EIC Work Programmes 2021 to 2023, subject to these companies achieving the milestones set for proceeding with the investment component.

Approach in specific cases relating to a parent or holding company and an operating company

In some cases of EIC Accelerator it may be necessary for the EIC Fund to invest in the parent or holding company and not in the company that applied for EIC Accelerator support and is the beneficiary of the grant component. Applicants should indicate in their application if they have a parent or holding company for the purposes of the investment component.

The EIC Fund may decide to invest not in the beneficiary but in its parent or holding company if the parent or holding company fulfils all relevant criteria (including SME status, non-bankability for the purpose of the EIC Accelerator, and establishment in an EU Member State or Associated Country) and the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines are followed 124.

In these cases, and where there is a grant component of support, the grant agreement with the beneficiary will include the parent or holding company as an affiliated entity in its role as investee 125.

EIC Accelerator Open

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

If an application to the Open call falls within the scope of the Challenges topics below, grant funding is subject to eligibility in accordance with the specific conditions applicable to those topics: GenAI4EU: Creating European Champions in Generative AI; Innovative in-space servicing, operations, space-based robotics and technologies for resilient EU space infrastructure.

Furthermore, in case of an investment support for applications in the areas of AI, quantum, semiconductors and biotechnology, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security as well as Annex 2).

EIC Accelerator Challenges

The total indicative budget for EIC Accelerator Challenges is EUR 250 million. In case of underutilisation, this amount may be transferred between Challenges and, if still underutilised, to the Accelerator Open 126.

The Accelerator Challenges have been identified in areas where breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations developed by start-ups or SMEs can have a major impact on EU objectives. In 2025, these objectives include the AI Act, Net Zero Industry Act, the Communications on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing, and on Advanced Materials, as well as the list of critical technologies identified in the strategy on Economic Security 127.

All Challenge applicants are encouraged to develop synergies with relevant activities under other Horizon Europe Work Programmes. In 2025, support for start-ups in semiconductor technologies and quantum technologies will be pursued in particular through the STEP Scale Up call which foresees larger investments targeting strategic technologies including in support of the Chips Act.

All the Accelerator Challenges included in the 2025 EIC Work Programme support technologies that fall within the scope and objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) legislation. Hence, applicants to all Challenges will be awarded the Sovereignty (STEP) Seal in accordance with the provisions in Section IV.

Advanced Materials are defined as materials that are engineered with a view to enhancing functional performance above and beyond that of existing materials 128. They are key enablers for the development of game-changing products and innovative solutions in many industrial sectors, such as energy, mobility, electronics, and construction.

As stated in the European Commission Communication “Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership” 129, there is an urgent need to boost all the stages of development of advanced materials, such as their design, scale-up and manufacturing capacity (from lab to fab), as demand for these materials is expected to increase significantly in the coming years.

This requires investment to identify and bring breakthrough innovations to the market that cover the full value chain from developers and producers of advanced materials alongside those companies developing digital tools for designing, synthesising, modelling and characterising advanced materials including those supported by Artificial Intelligence / machine learning.

This Challenge therefore aims at scaling SMEs belonging to the whole value chain of advanced materials and addressing one or more of these four key application areas: energy, mobility, electronics, construction. It contributes to a common European approach in accelerating the scaling up of advanced materials, a critical technology identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) 130, and thereby addresses the risks to the EU’s future strategic autonomy in this area.

The advanced materials and associated processes in the above mentioned four key application areas must be developed minimizing the use of resources, in particular critical raw materials (CRMs), and the environmental footprint. The latter is to be measured with a life-cycle analysis that includes an evaluation of the cost and social impact.

Companies selected for support under this Challenge will become part of the wider advanced materials ecosystem to be fostered by the different actions set out in the Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership, amongst these the new co-programmed partnership IAM4EU 136.

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

Agriculture is the source of 11% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions, including over 54% of all methane (CH4) emissions. It is also the source of 94% of all ammonia (NH3) emissions. Livestock generates GHG emissions from enteric fermentation (CH4) and from manure management (CH4 and N2O), contributing respectively to 48% and 17% of total agricultural emissions.

Furthermore, current agricultural practices that feature an inefficient use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides also have a highly detrimental effect on the biosphere and biodiversity. Radically decreasing GHG emissions and the wider environmental footprint of the food production system requires further action on several fronts.

In keeping with the ambitions of the Commission Communication on Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU 137, a critical technology identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) 138, this Challenge focuses on supporting novel biotechnology driven solutions in four areas, which can in combination offer a GHG mitigation potential of nearly 1.5 billion tons (tCO2e) 139.

Regardless of the specific area addressed, companies are encouraged to leverage digital tools such as AI, as appropriate, to facilitate the development of processes and make the resulting products and services suitable for integration into existing production systems.

All projects must provide a lifecycle assessment (LCA) considering environmental, social and economic considerations. Proposals are also expected to consider regulatory aspects alongside issues surrounding consumer acceptance and articulate suitable strategies to support market entry within and beyond the EU.

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are already delivering significant improvements in many sectors, generative AI (GenAI) is expected to further transform these fields. GenAI faces challenges such as hallucinations and a lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making, which are critical in sensitive or safety-critical settings.

In line with the AI innovation package supporting AI startups and SMEs and with the EU AI Act 150, this Challenge fosters a European, human-centric approach to AI that embodies EU values and supports Europe’s tech sovereignty in a critical technology area identified under STEP 151.

The aim is to support start-ups and SMEs committed to bringing transformative AI-driven solutions to market that safeguard human autonomy and enhance human expertise, providing significant added value to decision-making, services or industrial workflows.

The developed models must go beyond the state of the art and overcome current limitations to support human expertise in areas aligned with the AI communication 152, such as healthcare, energy, security, public sector, cultural and creative sectors/industries, manufacturing, education, and science.

The selected beneficiaries will receive favourable access to European supercomputing resources for training large foundation models, in the context of the AI Factories in line with the EuroHPC regulation 155.

Specific conditions: technologies must be developed robustly with attention to safety, security and ethics. To safeguard strategic assets and autonomy, recipients of grants and equity components must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country except for specified partners 156 157 158 159.

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

Satellites are currently designed, built and launched without functionalities for servicing, repair, upgrade or refuelling, leading to reduced operational lifetimes, growing debris, and the need for in-space mobility and slot preservation.

Spacecraft are exposed to threats such as cyberattacks, signal spoofing, RF interferences, jamming and intrusion, which must be anticipated to ensure a resilient EU space-based infrastructure. Europe lacks cost-effective, cyber-secure, scalable, and resilient capabilities for autonomous space operations.

This Challenge supports cost-effective, scalable and resilient solutions for in-orbit servicing and augmentation, in-orbit refuelling, debris reduction, and protection of EU space infrastructure, aligned with STEP 160.

Specific conditions: to safeguard strategic assets and security, recipients of grants and equity components must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country 166 167. Furthermore, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security).

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

The EU aims for climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. Transport emissions have been rising and contribute significantly to environmental and health problems, especially in urban areas.

The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 168 sets an action plan to deliver a 90% cut in mobility emissions by 2050 through a smart, competitive, safe, accessible, and affordable transport system. Further breakthroughs beyond the drivetrain are needed.

This Challenge supports cost-effective and scalable deep tech breakthroughs reducing mobility-related emissions from vehicle manufacture to use, including digital tools to improve transport system efficiency. It develops capabilities in areas such as sensing, manufacturing and resource efficient technologies alongside sustainable alternative fuels identified under STEP 169.

Energy vectors based on electrification and hydrogen fall outside the scope of this Challenge call (but can be supported through the Open calls). Digital tools for charging and capacity management are in scope.

Projects must take into account the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework 170, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and circularity approaches. Links with relevant industrial partnerships and alliances, including the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain Industrial Alliance, are encouraged 171.

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

EIC Accelerator Challenges

The total indicative budget for EIC Accelerator Challenges is EUR 250 million. However, in case of underutilisation, this amount is subject to the following conditions on budget flexibility and potential transfers to the EIC Accelerator Open: if there are insufficient applications selected for funding for a Challenge, the budget will be transferred to the other Challenges; in case there are insufficient applications selected for all the Challenges, the remaining budget will be transferred to the Accelerator Open. 126

The Accelerator Challenges have been identified in areas where breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations developed by start-ups or SMEs can have a major impact on EU objectives. In 2025, these objectives include the AI Act, Net Zero Industry Act, the Communications on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing, and on Advanced Materials, as well as the list of critical technologies identified in the strategy on Economic Security.

All Challenge applicants are encouraged to develop synergies with relevant activities under other Horizon Europe Work Programmes.

In 2025 support for start-ups in semiconductor technologies and quantum technologies will be pursued in particular through the STEP Scale Up call which foresees larger investments targeting strategic technologies including in support of the Chips Act. The EIC Accelerator Open call remains available in general for startups and SMEs including for quantum and semiconductor technologies.

All the Accelerator Challenges included in the 2025 EIC Work Programme support technologies that fall within the scope and objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) legislation. 127 Hence, applicants to all Challenges will be awarded the Sovereignty (STEP) Seal in accordance with the provisions in Section IV.

Acceleration of advanced materials development and upscaling along the value chain

Background and scope

Advanced Materials are defined as materials that are engineered with a view to enhancing functional performance above and beyond that of existing materials. 128 They are key enablers for the development of game-changing products and innovative solutions in many industrial sectors, such as energy, mobility, electronics, and construction.

As stated in the European Commission Communication “Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership”, there is an urgent need to boost all the stages of development of advanced materials, such as their design, scale-up and manufacturing capacity (from lab to fab), as demand for these materials is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. 129

This requires investment to identify and bring breakthrough innovations to the market that cover the full value chain from developers and producers of advanced materials alongside those companies developing digital tools for designing, synthesising, modelling and characterising advanced materials including those supported by Artificial Intelligence / machine learning.

This Challenge therefore aims at scaling SMEs belonging to the whole value chain of advanced materials and addressing one or more of these four key application areas: energy, mobility, electronics, construction. It contributes to a common European approach in accelerating the scaling up of advanced materials, a critical technology identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and thereby addresses the risks to the EU’s future strategic autonomy in this area. 130

Specific objectives

Companies supported under this Challenge should target one or both of the following areas, taking into account the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework, including Life Cycle Assessment and circularity approaches:

The advanced materials and associated processes in the above mentioned four key application areas must be developed minimizing the use of resources, in particular critical raw materials (CRMs), and the environmental footprint. The latter is to be measured with a life-cycle analysis that includes an evaluation of the cost and social impact.

Expected outcomes and impacts

In support of the Commission Communication on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership, the European Green Deal industrial plan, the New European Innovation Agenda, Digital Europe and the EU Economic Security Strategy, this Challenge is expected to: 131 132 133 134 135

Companies selected for support under this Challenge will become part of the wider advanced materials ecosystem to be fostered by the different actions set out in the Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership, amongst these the new co-programmed partnership IAM4EU. 136

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

Biotechnology driven low emission food and feed production systems

Background and scope

Agriculture is the source of 11% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions, including over 54% of all methane (CH4) emissions. It is also the source of 94% of all ammonia (NH3) emissions. Livestock generates GHG emissions from enteric fermentation (CH4) and from manure management (CH4 and N2O), contributing respectively to 48% and 17% of total agricultural emissions. Furthermore, current agricultural practices that feature an inefficient use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides also have a highly detrimental effect on the biosphere and biodiversity.

Radically decreasing GHG emissions and the wider environmental footprint of the food production system requires further action on several fronts. In keeping with the ambitions of the Commission Communication on Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU, a critical technology identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), this Challenge focuses on supporting novel biotechnology driven solutions in four areas which can in combination offer a GHG mitigation potential of nearly 1.5 billion tons (tCO2e), through approaches that: 137 138 139

Specific Objectives

The start-ups and SMEs to be supported under this initiative must focus on one (or more) of the following areas:

Regardless of the specific area addressed, companies are encouraged to leverage digital tools such as AI, as appropriate, to facilitate the development of processes and make the resulting products and services suitable for integration into existing production systems.

All projects must provide a lifecycle assessment (LCA) considering environmental, social and economic considerations. Proposals are also expected to consider regulatory aspects alongside issues surrounding consumer acceptance and articulate suitable strategies to support market entry within and beyond the EU.

Expected Outcomes and Impact

In support of the Commission Communication on Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU, Mission Soil, the EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork strategy, Fit for 55 and REPowerEU policy actions, the Nature Restoration Law and the Communication on Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers, this Challenge aims to improve the sustainability, efficiency, and resilience of the European agri-food sector. By targeting breakthrough solutions, it will also support Europe’s future strategic autonomy and enhance the competitiveness of Europe’s agricultural sector by helping it overcome challenges linked to climate change and environmental stresses including biodiversity loss and pollution. 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

GenAI4EU: Creating European Champions in Generative AI

Background and scope

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are already delivering significant improvements in healthcare, aiding climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhancing production systems through predictive maintenance, and increasing the security of European citizens and business, generative AI (GenAI) is expected to revolutionize these fields further. GenAI promises a transformative impact on our daily lives by significantly advancing capabilities across various domains.

GenAI however still faces notable challenges, such as unexplained inaccuracies (i.e., hallucinations) and a lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making, which undermines trust and poses questions regarding the safety and reliability of the systems. These are even more critical in the case of more advanced applications, needing greater scale and integration within user workflows, particularly in sensitive or safety-critical settings like clinical workflows or the management of critical infrastructures.

In line with the AI innovation package supporting Artificial Intelligence startups and SMEs, and with the EU AI Act, targeted at the development, deployment and take-up of trustworthy AI in the EU, this Challenge contributes to fostering a European, human-centric approach to AI, that embodies EU values and works towards guaranteeing Europe’s tech sovereignty in a critical technology area identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). 149 150 151

The aim of this Challenge is to support start-ups and SMEs committed to bringing transformative AI-driven solutions to market. The proposed solutions should safeguard human autonomy and enhance human expertise thus providing significant added value to decision-making processes, services or industrial workflows. Novel solutions with broad future applicability are particularly encouraged.

Specific Objectives

This Challenge will support start-ups and SMEs that are either:

The developed models must go beyond the state of the art and must look to overcome the current difficulties that limit the extent to which they support human expertise with a particular focus on one of the following areas, and in line with the sectors and applications listed in the AI communication: 152

Expected Outcomes and Impact

This Challenge will support the further development and validation of GenAI models and/or downstream applications, which are “European-Value driven” and contribute to the ambitions of the AI Act and the European approach to Artificial Intelligence. The AI models developed under this Challenge are expected to comply with the EU concept for Trustworthy AI and the relevant ethical principles with due attention paid to data quality, transparency and accountability, privacy, and security. 153 154

In the medium to longer term, it is expected to reduce dependencies and support companies in leveraging the advances in generative AI, enhance their products and develop new ones that:

The selected beneficiaries will receive favourable access to European supercomputing resources for the training of their large foundation models, in the context of the AI Factories in line with the EuroHPC regulation. In addition, they may benefit from additional actions aimed at creating strategic partnerships with major industries or attracting further capital. Where relevant, opportunities may be explored to provide the selected beneficiaries with access to scientific datasets through the European Open Science Cloud or to provide users of the European Open Science Cloud with access to the tools developed by the beneficiaries. 155

Specific conditions

Any technology under this Challenge must be developed in a robust manner, paying specific attention to safety, security and ethics considerations in future applications.

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source. Projects under this challenge will contribute to ensure autonomy for Europe in AI and developing world-class technologies serving the needs of all types of European industries. For this reason, and in line with Article 136 of the Financial Regulation, recipients of the grant and of the equity component of Accelerator funding must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country or a legal entity established in a non-associated third country other than such third countries or legal entities established in OECD member countries, Mercosur member countries, countries with which the EU cooperates under a Trade and Technology Council, and countries with which the EU has a Digital Partnership. 156 157 158 159

Furthermore, in case of an investment support, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security).

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

Innovative in-space servicing, operations, robotics and technologies for resilient EU space infrastructure

Background and scope

Satellites are currently designed, built and launched into space without the functionalities to be serviced, repaired, upgraded or refuelled. In combination with recent trends this has resulted in:

Furthermore, these spacecrafts are exposed to a number of space-based threats, such as cyber, signal spoofing, Radio Frequency (RF) interferences, jamming and intrusion that must be anticipated to ensure a resilient EU space-based infrastructure.

Approaches that extend the lifetime and protect in-space infrastructure can thus offer both essential resilience and significant cost savings for satellite operators and less debris in space. However, despite the emerging commercial trend for in-orbit servicing, Europe lacks cost-effective, cyber-secure, scalable, and resilient capabilities that can deliver autonomous space operations. This encompasses the use of in-space robotics to inspect, dock, capture and extend the lifetime of satellites. Such critical capabilities have increasing strategic importance considering the development of the next generation of flexible, serviceable and resilient spacecraft that will require such capabilities.

This Challenge therefore focuses on supporting companies developing cost-effective, scalable and resilient solutions to service and/or augment satellite capabilities, perform in-orbit refuelling, contribute to space debris reduction, and protect EU space infrastructure. It develops capabilities in areas such as cyber security control technologies, satellite-based secure connectivity, robots and robot-controlled precision systems identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and thereby addresses risks to the EU’s future strategic autonomy. 160

Specific objectives

The start-ups and SMEs to be supported under this initiative must deliver solutions that address one of the following areas:

Expected outcomes and impact

This challenge contributes to the strategic autonomy of the EU and to the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Space R&I, the EU Approach to Space Traffic Management, the EU In-Orbit Demonstration and Validation initiative (IOD/IOV) and planned initiatives such as the in-Space Operations and Services (ISOS) pilot mission under the Act in Space activities, notably by contributing satAPPs or other component plug-ins to the ISOS Pilot Mission. 161 162 163 164 165

Specific conditions

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source. Projects under this Challenge will contribute to ensure open strategic autonomy in developing, deploying and using global space-based infrastructures, services applications and data. For this reason, and in line with Article 136 of the Financial Regulation, recipients of the grant and of the equity component of Accelerator funding must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country or a legal entity established in a non-associated third country. 166 167

Furthermore, in case of an investment support, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security).

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

Breakthrough innovations for future mobility

Background and scope

The European Union has charted a path to climate neutrality by 2050 with an ambition to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The transport sector, including road transport, aviation, waterborne and rail, has however been steadily increasing its emissions at an average yearly rate of 1.7% since 1990. The resulting emissions are also one of the main contributors to environmental and health problems, which are particularly acute in urban areas.

The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy includes an action plan to deliver on a 90% cut in mobility emissions by 2050, delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible, and affordable transport system. This encompasses all road vehicles, aircraft, rail, waterborne vessels, infrastructure and new mobility services in increasingly climate-neutral cities and rural areas. 168

The electrification of road transport alongside the increasing electrification and use of zero and low carbon fuels of waterborne transport and aviation are expected to reduce these emissions, but further breakthroughs beyond the drivetrain are needed to deliver an effective and safe low emission transport system.

This Challenge therefore focuses on supporting companies developing cost-effective and scalable deep tech breakthroughs that will help deliver reductions in mobility-related emissions in its many facets, from the manufacture of vehicles to their use. It also includes approaches that deliver improvements in the efficiency of the transport system through for example the use of digital tools. It thereby develops capabilities in areas such as sensing, manufacturing and resource efficient technologies alongside sustainable alternative fuels identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and thereby addresses risks to the EU’s future strategic autonomy. 169

Energy vectors based on electrification and hydrogen fall outside the scope of this Challenge call but can be supported through the Open calls. However, digital tools for charging and capacity management are in scope.

Specific objectives

The start-ups and SMEs to be supported under this Challenge must focus on developing cost-effective and scalable solutions that deliver against at least one of the following areas:

Projects must take into account the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and circularity approaches. 170

Companies selected under this Challenge will become part of the ecosystem fostered under the European industrial partnerships in the areas of Clean Aviation, Towards zero-emission road transport (2ZERO), Connected, Cooperative and Automated Driving (CCAM), Zero-emission waterborne transport and Transforming Europe's rail system. Furthermore, connections with the Industrial Alliance “Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain” will be encouraged. 171

Expected outcomes and impact

This Challenge contributes to the strategic autonomy to the EU, the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the Net-Zero Industry Act, which seeks to foster the EU’s net-zero technology industrial base – products, components, and equipment necessary for manufacturing net-zero technologies – to deliver an affordable, reliable, and sustainable clean transport system. 172 173 174

Indicative budget: EUR 50 million

EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up Call

If you answered yes to all questions, then the EIC Strategic Technology for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up call could be your launchpad to success. This call provides significant funding to fuel groundbreaking innovation in strategic technologies, propelling Europe's economic, industrial, and technological competitiveness. This is a new call that has been introduced as a pilot action following the STEP Regulation to address an important market gap in financing deep tech scale up companies in Europe and to inform decisions on future support. 175 176 177

Why should you apply

The EIC STEP Scale Up call presents a unique opportunity for ambitious scale up companies (SMEs and small mid-caps) with game-changing innovations in Europe's critical technology areas. It offers a powerful combination of financial and strategic support designed to propel your groundbreaking solution to the forefront of these sectors.

The companies selected under the EIC STEP Scale Up call can receive investments ranging from EUR 10 to EUR 30 million. This investment can significantly accelerate the development and market launch of your technology, product, or service. Crucially, this investment is designed to catalyse major funding rounds, e.g. in the range of EUR 50 to 150 million, and at least 3-5 times the EIC investment.

This call is part of the implementation of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) which supports the development or manufacturing of critical technologies throughout the Union or safeguarding and strengthening their respective value chains. Besides support from the EIC, the projects may be eligible for support under other EU programmes included in STEP. 178

In 2025 support for start-ups in semiconductor technologies and quantum technologies will be pursued in particular through the STEP Scale Up call which foresees larger investments targeting strategic technologies including in support of the Chips Act. The EIC Accelerator Open call remains available in general for startups and SMEs including for quantum and semiconductor technologies.

Can you apply

In order to apply, your innovation must be within the scope of the priority areas defined in the STEP regulation and further developed in the Guidance note. 179 180

These technologies are deemed critical where they meet either of the following conditions:

The Commission Guidance Note concerning certain provisions of STEP Regulation adopted on May 2024, provides detailed information on the criticality conditions. 179

This call targets companies raising significant funding rounds and you must demonstrate an initial market interest such that the EIC investment acts as a catalyst for larger funding rounds. You will therefore need to demonstrate that the company already has a pre-commitment for an equity investment. 182

The following entities are eligible to apply:

Specific conditions

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths. For this reason, and in line with Article 136 of the Financial Regulation, recipients of the Accelerator funding under this call must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country or a legal entity established in a non-associated third country. 184 185

Furthermore, in case of an investment support, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security).

What support will you receive if your proposal is funded

The EIC STEP Scale Up call offers a total indicative budget of EUR 300 million for 2025, which is expected to rise to EUR 900 million for the period 2025-2027. Any unused amount from this budget will be allocated with priority to the EIC Accelerator Open call. 186 187

The support will be in the form of equity-only investments managed by the EIC Fund. Applicants to this call will not receive a grant component. Applicants should apply for an investment of a minimum of EUR 10 million and maximum of EUR 30 million, to co-invest in a funding round aiming at least three to five times the amount of the requested EIC contribution. 188

EIC STEP Scale Up is designed to fill the funding gap for companies to invest in the scale up of high-risk innovations where the amount needed for the scale up cannot be fully financed by other investors, including InvestEU implementing partners. Applicants are encouraged to consider complementarity with Venture Debt from InvestEU implementing partners in order to meet their financing needs. 190

When implementing investments, the EIC Fund will ensure that supported companies keep most of their value, including their IP, in the EU or in the Associated Countries to contribute to economic growth and job creation. Beyond funding, your company will benefit from a strong support system through Business Acceleration Services. Applicants who meet the evaluation thresholds will also be awarded a Sovereignty (STEP) Seal to facilitate and provide privileged access to funding and support from other EU programmes and other funders and investors. 189

How do you apply; how long does it take

You may submit an application to the EIC STEP Scale Up call at any time. Evaluations will be organised at regular intervals with at least one per quarter or more frequently in urgent cases. You must submit your proposal via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.

All personal data and information in your proposal will be kept strictly confidential. However, before submitting your full proposal, you will need to give consent to share necessary information with the EIC Fund.

You will be asked whether your company would be interested in Venture Debt support from InvestEU implementing partners. Upon submission, your proposal will be assessed on scope, pre-commitment, and eligibility. If your application meets the eligibility requirements, you will be invited to attend a jury interview, typically within approximately 4–6 weeks from the start of the evaluation process. 190

At the interview, you will be assessed by a Jury of maximum six members. You will be informed about the result of the interview within approximately two weeks. If you are successful, an ownership control assessment will be conducted to assess eligibility to receive EIC STEP Scale Up support.

An award decision will be adopted by the Commission which will authorise a maximum amount of investment by the EIC Fund following the amount requested in the application, with an additional flexibility amount of maximum EUR 5 million per proposal. The relevant information from your proposal will be passed to the investment adviser for the EIC Fund for due diligence and, subject to a positive decision, the investment agreement.

How does the EIC decide if your proposal will be selected for a potential investment by the EIC Fund

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. The call utilises a “first come, first served” approach to evaluate proposals, while taking account of overall budget availability across the year.

Proposals will be assessed according to the following award criteria (Table 8). The EIC Jury members, based on your interview and their overall assessment, will recommend one of three outcomes for your proposal:

Business Acceleration Services

The Business Acceleration Services (BAS) provide EIC Awardees and other eligible organisations with services aiming at matching with business partners, gaining new contacts and skills they need to bring their innovations to the market and grow their businesses. BAS is a distinctive feature of the EIC that enables it to provide not only “money”, but “smart money”.

BAS services are procured from external contractors or delivered by selected ecosystem partners via the EIC Service Catalogue. They consist mainly of business coaching, business advice, networking opportunities to expand the client base and to find co-investors, and access to testing/scaleup facilities. The BAS services are also part of the tools available to EIC Programme Managers and EIC Project Officers to proactively manage the EIC portfolios. EIC Service Catalogue

The BAS are tailored to EIC Awardees’ needs and should adapt quickly to the changing nature of markets and the overall economic environment. The flexibility for piloting new services and approaches and adapting or even stopping the ones that are not efficient is built in all BAS implementing contracts.

The following entities are eligible to receive BAS services:

Unless otherwise specified in the specific calls, eligible entities can apply to BAS through open calls published on the EIC Community Platform. The selection is done based on assessment from business partners or market experts or on a first come first served basis. EIC Community Platform events

A core set of BAS includes:

All BAS services are listed on and accessed through the EIC Community Platform. The EIC will also seek operational synergies with Enterprise Europe Network, national and regional clusters, the European IP Helpdesk, Start-up Europe, EIT KICs, national innovation agencies and the National Contact Points networks. 195

EIC business coaches (direct EIC services)

Business coaching focuses on providing insights on business development 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.

The EIC coaching services are provided by highly qualified business coaches registered via a continuously open call-for expression of interest, including on the EIC Coach Platform. Selection follows Article 242 of the Financial Regulation. EIC Coach Platform 198

EIC business coaches will receive EUR 1 000 per day of coaching (EUR 500 per half day), proportionate to their high-level strategic support.

Type of action: Expert contracts action. Indicative budget: EUR 2 million. Indicative timetable: from Q1 2025.

EIC Community and Women Leadership Programme

This action will maintain and improve the functionalities and services of the EIC Community and its online platform, coordinate BAS communication and programmes, implement a CRM tool, organise online/offline events, and coordinate and organise the EIC Women Leadership Programme.

Type of action: Public Procurement. Indicative budget: EUR 2 million. Indicative timetable: from Q2 2025.

Investors’ Outreach Activities

Together with the EIC Fund, this action will provide specialised support to EIC Awardees in fundraising and help develop a community of investors for co-investing alongside the EIC Fund. Activities include investor matching events, direct introductions, and strengthening networks of capital providers and strategic partners. EIC Fund has been recognised as one of the most active deep tech investors in Europe. 199

Type of action: Public Procurement. Indicative budget: EUR 3.5 million. Indicative timeline: from Q1 2025.

VI.4. Ecosystem Partnership Programme & promotion of ESG reporting

This action reinforces the EIC mission to be a pivotal connector in the European innovation ecosystem by engaging Ecosystem Partners through an open call, maintaining the EIC Service Catalogue, promoting the offer, and co-organising joint activities. It will also develop training sessions, tools and promotion to support ESG reporting for EIC Awardees.

Type of action: Public Procurement. Indicative budget: EUR 1.5 million. Indicative timetable: from Q1 2025.

VI.5 EIC Participation to trade fairs in 2026

This action will support EIC Awardees (SMEs) to attend European and international trade fairs, including exhibition space in an ‘EIC Pavilion’, market training, business meetings, promotion, and side events.

Type of action: Public Procurement. Indicative budget: EUR 2.5 million. Indicative timetable: from Q2 2025.

VI.6 Global Soft-landing programme

This action will support EIC Awardees (SMEs) in global expansion to new markets outside the EU through a customised programme of guidance and tools (coaching, training, pitching, communication), identification of opportunities and partners, and deep understanding of target innovation hubs.

Type of action: Public Procurement. Indicative budget: EUR 2 million. Indicative timetable: from Q1 2025.

EIC Prizes

The European Prize for Women Innovators

Facing fast-paced developing technologies and science, it is crucial to involve women and girls in the design, development and up-take of innovative solutions. Achieving gender equality and diversity benefits not only individuals, but also increases the performance of business, research and innovation.

Nevertheless, women continue to face multiple barriers in bringing new ideas to the market and raising capital for their companies. The European Commission put in place a Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025, and the New European Innovation Agenda highlights that supporting women innovators strengthens the European research and innovation system. 200 201

The European Prize for Women Innovators celebrates women entrepreneurs behind Europe’s game-changing innovations, inspiring future scientists, innovators, and tech leaders. The prize is awarded every year to women from across the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe.

There are two EIC prize categories funded under this Work Programme: Women Innovators and Rising Innovators. In the first category, three prizes of EUR 100 000, EUR 70 000 and EUR 50 000 are awarded. In the second category, three prizes of EUR 50 000, EUR 30 000 and EUR 20 000 are awarded to ‘Rising Innovators’ under the age of 35.

Eligibility criteria

Those applying for the Rising Innovators category must be aged under 35 at the start of the call year. There is no age limit for the Women Innovators category. 209

Applicants must support their written application with a video message (≤90 seconds). The jury’s assessment will be based on the application and the video.

Award criteria

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.

The European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital)

Cities and/or towns face major societal and sustainability challenges but also have the means to develop and apply innovative solutions. The New European Innovation Agenda sets out a vision for harnessing innovation to drive growth, social progress, and the green and digital transition, strengthening and connecting innovation ecosystems to close the innovation divide. 210

Categories: European Capital of Innovation (≥250,000 inhabitants; winner EUR 1,000,000; two runners-up EUR 100,000) and European Rising Innovative City (50,000–249,999 inhabitants; winner EUR 500,000; two runners-up EUR 50,000). Each application must include an endorsement signed by the city Mayor (or equivalent highest political representative).

Eligibility criteria

Award criteria

Expected results: The Awards champion inspiring municipality-enabled innovation, raise city profiles, enhance attractiveness to investors and talent, and strengthen links with other cities.

Other Actions

Honoraria and expenses of the EIC Board

Members of the EIC Board, as highly qualified, specialised, independent advisors, will be remunerated for their services. Remuneration will be proportionate to their tasks, including honoraria for participation in meetings and compensation for travel and other expenses for in-person meetings.

These amounts are adapted to comparable high-level expert roles and are in line with Article 49(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation. 214

Type of action: Expert contract action. Indicative budget: EUR 500 000. Indicative opening: From Q1 2025.

External expertise for monitoring, ethics and policy advice

The EIC uses external independent experts for monitoring of projects and ethics compliance, other compliance checks, technology assessments (including risks to economic security), policy advice, scientific/technological/innovation intelligence, proactive portfolio management, and project reviews for increases in Accelerator support. 215 216

The EIC could reimburse the costs of applicants invited to attend interviews during the evaluation of their proposals. A special allowance of EUR 450/day will be paid to experts appointed in their personal capacity who act independently and in the public interest. 217

Type of action: Expert contracts. Indicative budget: EUR 5 300 000. Indicative opening: From Q1 2025.

Communication, outreach, events

This action will prepare and implement communication and outreach activities for the EIC, covering the EIC website, social media, content creation, campaigns, media relations, stakeholder engagement, and events including the EIC Summit 2026 and EIC Awards ceremonies. It will also support a prominent EIC presence at key events to strengthen visibility and impact. 217

Type of action: Public procurement actions. Indicative opening: From Q1 2025. Indicative budget: EUR 3 200 000.

EIC Data management and IT systems integration

This action will provide the technical means to achieve EIC Programme objectives, covering the lifecycle of relevant IT tools, evolutive maintenance, cloud infrastructure, testing, helpdesk and user support, security and governance compliance.

Focus in 2025: harmonise data sources; expand tools for EIC operations and due diligence; update and maintain the EIC Community (integration with corporate tools such as CORDIS, Horizon Results Platform, Innovation Radar, Newsroom); improve the EIC Coaching system; develop event management tools; support capacity development; improve usability and integration; ensure maintenance and user support. Code should be released in open source. 218

Type of action: Public procurement action. Indicative budget: EUR 2 900 000. Indicative opening: From Q1 2025.

Danish presidency conference

Support the organisation of a conference on deep tech innovation and the role of the wider ecosystem, organised by the Technical University of Denmark during the Danish Presidency (Autumn 2025). Type of Action: Coordination and support action (CSA) / Grant to a named beneficiary (per HE Regulation Article 24(3)(b) and Financial Regulation Article 198(e)).

Expected outcomes include identifying best practices for deep tech start-ups, debating roles of key stakeholders, and exploring success factors.

Indicative budget: EUR 300 000. Indicative timeline: Q4 2024.

Polish presidency conference

Support for a conference on best practices in building well-connected deep tech innovation ecosystems and closing technology/business/investment readiness gaps, organised by the National Centre for Research and Development under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education during the Polish Presidency (January–June 2025). Type of Action: CSA / Grant to a named beneficiary (per HE Regulation Article 24(3)(b) and Financial Regulation Article 198(e)).

Expected outcomes include best practice identification across ecosystems of varying maturity, stakeholder role discussions, and knowledge building on NEIA actions and widening recommendations.

Indicative budget: EUR 300 000. Indicative timeline: Q1 2025.

Women TechEU initiative

Women TechEU supports early-stage women-led deep-tech start-ups across Europe, aiming to enhance competitiveness and prepare participation in future EIC calls. Eligible companies are registered/established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country for at least six months, founded/co-founded by women holding top management positions (CEO, CTO, CSO, or equivalent).

The selected consortium will design, organise and manage the initiative; implement calls, evaluation and awards; link to BAS and the EIC Community; implement project reviews for Fast Track to EIC Accelerator; promote the scheme; organise landmark events; promote cooperation and diversity; and report to the Commission.

At least two calls per year are expected, with multiple cut-off dates encouraged. Grants (financial support to third parties) must represent at least 75% of the total budget, with a maximum of EUR 75 000 per third party for activities such as product/service refinement, UX, business model and plan updates, partner and investor search, and market validation. 221 222

Women TechEU third parties will be eligible for BAS mentoring and coaching under the Women Leadership Programme.

Type of Action: Coordination and support action (CSA). Call Opening: 01.04.2025. Indicative budget: EUR 15 million. Deadline: 01.09.2025 at 17:00 Brussels time.

Expert Group on the EIC Plug in scheme

This expert group will assess programmes and related evaluation processes submitted by Member States and Associated Countries for the Plug-in scheme certification, provide recommendations on improvements, and offer country-specific advice where relevant. A special allowance of EUR 450/day will be paid to experts appointed in their personal capacity who act independently and in the public interest.

Type of action: Expert contracts. Indicative budget: EUR 100 000. Call opening: From Q1 2025.

Marketplace

Development of a Marketplace hosted by the Corporate Horizon Results Platform to collect and organise information on preliminary findings and results from EIC projects, making them available to potential partners, investors and entrepreneurs, together with services and expertise.

Type of Action: Service Level Agreement. Indicative budget: EUR 1 million.

Fees for the European Investment Bank for tasks related to the investment component of the EIC Accelerator

In line with Council Decision 2021/764/EU, the Commission has entrusted tasks related to the investment component of the EIC Accelerator (including EIC STEP Scaleup and reserve for follow-on investments) to the European Investment Bank as the implementing partner. The EIB will receive an annual fee for these tasks.

Type of Action: Contribution agreement. Indicative budget: EUR 1 million.

Expert Group on the EIC Plug in scheme

This action will support the EIC operation and the implementation of the Plug-in scheme for the EIC Accelerator (see Annex 4). This expert group will assess the programmes and related evaluation processes submitted by Members States and Associated Countries on a regular basis and will recommend certification of those programmes suitable for the Plug-In scheme.

The expert group will also provide recommendations on improvements to the scheme based on the experiences of implementation. The expert group may be requested to provide country specific recommendations for those Member States and Associated Countries who have not proposed relevant programmes or where those programmes have not been certified.

The terms of reference will be co-created and co-designed with the Member States under the Working Group of the EIC Forum.

A special allowance of EUR 450/day will be paid to the experts appointed in their personal capacity who act independently and in the public interest. This amount is considered to be proportionate to the specific tasks to be assigned to the experts, including the number of meetings to be attended and possible preparatory work.

Type of action: Expert contracts

Indicative budget: EUR 100 000 Indicative opening:

Call Opening: From Q1 2025

As determined in the decision authorising the use of financing not linked to costs for the Women TechEU actions under the Horizon Europe Programme (2021-2027). 221

Marketplace

As anticipated in previous work programmes a new tool will be the development of a 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 that could take the results further or incorporate in their innovations.

The Marketplace will be hosted by the Corporate Horizon Results Platform but will be dedicated to the EIC beneficiaries.

The current action will serve to finance the developments needed of the platform and its services.

Type of Action: Service Level Agreement

Indicative budget: EUR 1 million

Fees for the European Investment Bank for tasks related to the investment component of the EIC Accelerator

In line with Article 11(3) of Council Decision 2021/764/EU establishing the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe, the Commission has entrusted tasks related to the implementation and management of the investment component of the EIC Accelerator (which includes the EIC STEP Scaleup and reserve for follow on investments) to the European Investment Bank as the implementing partner for an indicative budget for investment amounts as shown in Annex 1.

The European Investment Bank will receive an annual fee for these tasks.

Type of Action: Contribution agreement

Indicative budget: EUR 1 million

Annexes

These Annexes set out the general conditions applicable to calls and topics for grants and other forms of funding under the EIC Work Programme 2025. They also describe the evaluation and award procedures and other criteria for Horizon Europe EIC funding.

If a call or topic deviates from the general conditions or includes additional conditions, this is explicitly stated for the call or topic in the main part of this EIC Work Programme.

Applicants are invited to read the call documentation on the topic page of the EU Funding & Tenders portal (‘Portal’) carefully, and particularly these Annexes, the Horizon Europe Programme Guide 223, the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 224 and the EU Grants AGA — Annotated Grant Agreement 225.

Annex 1 Estimated Indicative Budget

Annex 2 General conditions

These general conditions set out the general conditions applicable to calls and topics for grants and other forms of funding under the EIC Work Programme 2025. They also describe the evaluation and award procedures and other criteria for Horizon Europe EIC funding.

If a call or topic deviates from the general conditions or includes additional conditions, this is explicitly stated for the call or topic in the main part of this EIC Work Programme.

Applicants are invited to read the call documentation on the topic page of the EU Funding & Tenders portal (‘Portal’) carefully, and particularly these Annexes, the Horizon Europe Programme Guide 231, the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 232 and the EU Grants AGA — Annotated Grant Agreement 233. These documents provide clarifications and answers to potential questions on preparing the application.

ADMISSIBILITY

Applications must be submitted before the call deadline.

The page limits and sections subject to limits will be clearly shown in the application templates and must be respected. If an application exceeds the limits, there will be an automatic warning and invitation to re-submit a version that conforms to these limits. Excess pages will be automatically made invisible and will not be taken into consideration by the evaluators.

For the EIC Accelerator, the applicant must not be in a situation of concurrent submission/implementation. Concurrent submission exists when an applicant submits more than one proposal for evaluation to any EIC Accelerator call before the evaluation feedback has been provided for the earlier submission.

If a case of concurrent submission is identified, only the proposal submitted last (before the deadline) will be taken into consideration. Concurrent implementation occurs when the awardee of an ongoing EIC Accelerator/EIC Pilot/SME Instrument grant project submits another full proposal with a grant component before the first project reaches its end date. 234

ELIGIBILITY — Entities eligible to participate

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisation (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met together with any other conditions laid down in the specific call or topic. 235 236 237

According to Article 2(16) of the HE Regulation, ‘Legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality as referred to in point (c) of Article 197(2) of the Financial Regulation. 238 239

Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting their application, in order to get a participant identification code (PIC) and be validated by the Central Validation Service before signing the grant agreement. For the validation, they will be asked to upload the necessary documents showing their legal status and origin during the grant preparation stage. A validated PIC is not a prerequisite for submitting an application. For more information, see Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment. Participant Register Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any specific call/topic conditions.

Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons. 241

EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act. Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. ERICs) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. 242

Legal entities established in China are therefore not eligible to participate in Horizon Europe Innovation Actions, including the EIC Accelerator, in any capacity. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.

Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks — The protection of European communication networks has been identified as an important security interest of the Union and its Member States. 243 244 245 246 247 248

Entities that are assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment (and any entities they own or control) are not eligible to participate as beneficiaries, affiliated entities and associated partners. The assessment is based on criteria including likelihood of interference, (cyber-)security practices, and risks identified in relevant assessments. 249 250 251

Exceptions may be requested from the Agency and will be assessed case-by-case, taking into account the criteria provided for in the 5G cybersecurity toolbox, the security risks and availability of alternatives in the context of the action.

EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 TEU and Article 215 TFEU as well as Article 75 TFEU are not eligible to participate in any capacity. 252 253 Special rules also apply to entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05. 254

Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine are not eligible to participate in any capacity. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.

Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — As of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506.

Restrictions on control in Accelerator actions – Where necessary and duly justified and in line with Article 136 of the Financial Regulation, participation as a recipient in Accelerator actions may be limited to legal entities which are not directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible third country or by a legal entity established in a non-eligible third country. 255 256

Entities eligible for funding

To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding. To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries: Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions.

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

As affiliated entities do not sign the grant agreement, they do not count towards the minimum eligibility criteria for consortium composition (if any). Applications for Coordination and Support actions may be submitted by one or more legal entities, which must be established in a Member State, Associated Country, or in exceptional cases and if provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, in another third country. 263

Eligible activities

Eligible activities are the ones described in the call conditions. Applications will only be considered eligible if their content corresponds, wholly or in part, to the topic description for which it is submitted.

Projects must, moreover, comply with EU policy interests and priorities (environment, social, security, industrial policy, etc.).

In general, EIC funding will not be awarded to projects that contravene the objectives of the Green Deal, including for example proposals dedicated to enhancing the use of fossil fuels and related technologies. Exceptions might be established for activities aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from certain fossil fuel-based energy sources as covered by the Complementary Climate Delegated Act. 265 266

All proposals involving AI must describe how they uphold the principles of human agency and oversight, fairness, gender neutrality, diversity, non-discrimination, societal and environmental well-being, transparency and accountability.

Projects involving ethics issues will have to undergo an ethics review to authorise funding and may be made subject to specific ethics requirements which become part of the grant agreement as ethics deliverables (e.g., ethics committee opinions/authorisations required under national or EU law).

Further security recommendations may be added as security deliverables. EIC Awardees must ensure projects are not subject to national/third country security requirements that could affect implementation; any potential security issues must be notified immediately to the Agency.

Gender Equality Plans and gender mainstreaming

Relevant EIC Awardees must take all measures to promote equal opportunities between men and women in implementing the action and, where applicable, in line with their gender equality plan. They must aim to achieve, to the extent possible, a gender balance at all levels of personnel assigned to the action, including at supervisory and managerial level.

To be eligible, legal entities from Member States and Associated Countries that are public bodies, research organisations or higher education establishments must have a gender equality plan meeting minimum process-related requirements (publication, dedicated resources, data collection/monitoring, training).

A self-declaration will be requested at proposal stage. If the mandatory requirements are met through another strategic document, it can be considered as equivalent. This eligibility criterion does not apply to private for-profit organisations (including SMEs), NGOs or civil society organisations.

Financial support to third parties

Where the specific call/topic conditions allow for financial support to third parties, the applicants must clearly describe in their proposal the objectives and the expected results, including the elements listed in the application template.

AWARD CRITERIA

If admissible and eligible, the proposals for Coordination and Support Actions will be evaluated and ranked against the following award criteria.

Evaluation scores will be awarded for the criteria, and not for the different aspects listed. Each criterion will be scored out of 5 (threshold 3). Overall threshold (sum of three scores) is 10. All scores weight 1.

Proposals that pass the individual threshold AND the overall threshold will be considered for funding, within the limits of the available call budget. Other proposals will be rejected.

DOCUMENTS — Submission

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible. Search Funding & Tenders

Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents. The application form has two parts: Part A (administrative information, summary budget, call-specific questions) and Part B (technical description of the project).

Annexes and supporting documents must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system). Proposals should be designed to stay as close as possible to the award criteria. Coordinators confirm mandate and compliance on submission; participants confirm again before grant signature.

For lump sum grants, the estimated budget must be described in a detailed budget table aligned with eligibility conditions for actual cost grants (value for money, absence of conflicts). Applicants may be asked later for further documents (legal entity validation, financial capacity, bank account validation, etc.).

PROCEDURE

Proposals will be checked for formal requirements (admissibility and eligibility) and then evaluated by an evaluation committee composed of independent external experts and, where indicated, representatives of EU institutions.

For proposals with the same score, priority order will consider coverage of call aspects not otherwise covered, then scores for ‘Excellence’ and ‘Impact’ (for Innovation actions: first ‘Impact’, then ‘Excellence’), gender balance, geographical diversity, and other portfolio factors if needed.

At the end of the evaluation, applicants are informed via an evaluation result letter. Invitation to grant preparation does not constitute a formal commitment to funding. Proposals may receive a Seal of Excellence 272 and/or a Sovereignty (STEP) Seal 273. Budget flexibility of up to 20% applies. 222

Evaluation review procedure: If the consortium believes that the evaluation procedure was flawed, the coordinator can submit a complaint within 30 days of access to results. Only procedural aspects may be reviewed. Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Indicative timetable: information on the outcome of the evaluation around 5 months from the deadline for submission; indicative date for the signing of grant agreements around 8 months from the deadline for submission.

LEGAL AND FINANCIAL SET-UP OF THE GRANT AGREEMENTS

During the grant preparation stage, the applicant will be asked to prepare the grant agreement together with the Agency project officer. The applicable model with complete provisions is available on the topic page. General MGA (Horizon/Euratom)

Recommended practices (e.g., early sharing, open peer-review) may be included and are incentivised in evaluation. All EIC funded projects generating or reusing research data or other outputs must develop and update a data management plan and comply with GDPR and applicable frameworks; personal data must not be made public without explicit consent. 275

Annex 3 Fast Track scheme to apply for the EIC Accelerator

The ‘Fast Track’ scheme provides specific treatment of proposals that result from existing Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 projects. Applicants do not apply directly to the EIC Accelerator call; a project review is carried out by the responsible granting authority or national funding body to assess suitability for EIC Accelerator support.

If the project review concludes the proposal meets excellence and impact, avoids duplication of funding, and the applicant meets EIC Accelerator eligibility, the outcome can be submitted to the EIC Accelerator. Fast Track applicants are invited to prepare a full proposal and are subject to the same submission limitations and coaching as per Section IV.

Eligible in 2025: EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition projects (including EIC pilot), relevant EIT KIC schemes, Eurostars-2 and Partnership on Innovative SMEs schemes, companies awarded grant-only under H2020/Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator 277, companies awarded grants under the Pre-accelerator funding scheme, and companies awarded grants under Women Tech.EU.

Annex 4 Pilot Plug-in scheme to apply for the EIC Accelerator

The Plug-in scheme is equivalent to the Fast Track but applies to proposals resulting from existing national or regional programmes. A certified national or regional programme conducts a project review to assess suitability for EIC Accelerator support.

If the project review concludes the proposal meets excellence and impact, avoids duplication of funding with the existing national/regional grant, and the applicant meets eligibility, the outcome can be submitted to the EIC Accelerator. Applicants are then invited to prepare a full proposal under the same basis as Step 1 passers; submission limitations and coaching apply.

Programmes are certified by the Commission based on independent experts’ assessment in collaboration with EIC Plug-in contact points. A pilot set of programmes has been certified; further programmes may be assessed during 2025. A full list of certified programmes is available on the EIC website.

Commission services will be notified of changes that may impact certification. The Commission may withdraw certification if false information was used or the project review did not comply with the Work Programme provisions. 278

Annex 5 Booster grants for EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition Awardees

In line with Article 47(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation, Booster grants of a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 may be awarded outside any call for proposal to EIC Awardees, Technology Transfer Offices, EIC Inventors and other third parties linked to projects already selected under the Pathfinder or relevant Transition calls. 279

Booster grants may support complementary innovation activities or portfolio activities, including market analysis, technology assessment, IP consolidation, freedom to operate, business case development, testing/piloting, start-up/spin-off preparation, incubation/acceleration support, and participation in Tech2Market BAS programmes.

Booster grants do not fund research or activities already foreseen or already funded by other EIC instruments. Max three Booster grants per Pathfinder project (more only exceptionally); max one per Transition project (more only exceptionally). 280

Invitations can follow positive recommendations from an EIC Programme Manager, a project review or participation in Tech2Market BAS programmes. Award criteria for innovation activities: timeliness/pertinence, potential to create new markets or address societal needs, and applicant capability to bring innovation to market; for portfolio activities: contribution to portfolio objectives, timeliness and engagement of projects/partners.

Proposals are evaluated by a mixed committee (Programme Manager, external expert, and an EIC Project Officer or second expert). At least two GO are required to be selected.

In accordance with the Horizon Europe Regulation, 281 the current Work Programme provides for additional dissemination and exploitation obligations in particular to facilitate the exploitation of results, and to enable a more pro-active role to the Commission and EISMEA identifying and maximising exploitation opportunities in the Union.

Together with specific intellectual property rules provided for under annex 5 of the Model Grant agreement, the following rules will apply to EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition actions.

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.

With reference to information and results owned by any EIC Awardee that is a not-for-profit legal entity, EIC Inventors are any of their employees and subcontractors, established in a Member States or Associated Country, and appearing or entitled to appear as inventor in any corresponding patent filing and according to the definition of inventor for the relevant patent jurisdiction.

Exchange of information for the purpose of EIC portfolio activities

Access to information about results 282

Where based on that confidential information any of above mentioned 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.

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:

These EIC Awardees may disclose any such information to their employees and, with the prior authorisation of the owner, to their subcontractors established in a Member State or an Associated Country if these subcontractors:

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

The restrictions in this section do not apply if 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 Agency 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 agreement 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 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 to 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 a support of the Business Acceleration Services, as detailed and referred to under section V.I. Where the Agency agrees to a dissemination activity, it will abide to 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. The Agency may object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results under certain conditions as detailed in the EIC grant agreement.

EIC Awardees must report on any exploitation operation :

Each EIC Awardee agrees upon signature of the grant agreement, to ensure the necessary support or access rights for the further development and exploitation of results that any of its EIC Inventors have contributed to (respecting the transfer rule).

If the EIC Awardee provides financial or other support to the EIC Inventor for any such exploitation, royalties or other returns may be shared with the EIC Awardee on mutually beneficial terms, provided the conclusion of any such agreement does not prevent the EIC Inventor(s) to exercise their rights.

Such financial support should include as a minimum the full or partial funding of the costs of relevant Intellectual Property Right protection in major jurisdictions. Other support includes expertise, access to infrastructure and facilities, or other forms of support. The royalties and other returns to the EIC Awardee should be fair and proportionate to the financial and other support provided.

If the EIC Awardee does not commit to provide support within a maximum period of 6 months from the date of the first formal request from the EIC Inventor, or that support is manifestly inadequate, then the EIC Awardee must entrust sufficient access rights to allow the EIC Inventor to further develop and exploit the result. If the EIC Awardee does not provide support for exploitation, then by default the access rights to the EIC Inventor are royalty free.

The EIC Inventor must inform the EIC Awardee in due time before any exploitation activity they intend to undertake, and report to the EIC Awardee on the implementation of the exploitation activity.

If the EIC Awardee considers that the exploitation activity could negatively affect its own exploitation activities:

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 to the dissemination by the Agency or refuses to provide any data or document necessary for the said dissemination, the Agency may impose penalties in accordance with the grant agreement.