The EIC Work Programme 2025

In this issue

Dear EIC data lovers and members of the deep-tech ecosystems all across the member states and associated countries, today the EC has released the EIC Work Programme 2025. This time you won't find the usual data & stats on the EIC Accelerator. This newsletter provides instead a high-level, yet detailed summary of the freshly released EIC Work Programme (WP) 2025.

Highlights

• For the first time ever, the EIC has launched a new funding scheme called STEP Scale Up. It’s specifically designed to provide equity-only funding to scale-ups in line with the EU key strategic priorities. The budget for 2025 is €300mn;
• Pathfinder has a budget of €262mn split in Open and four Challenge calls;
• Transition has a budget of €98mn;
• Accelerator has a budget of €634mn split in Open and five Challenge calls. The max equity component has been reduced to €10mn. Up until last year it was €15mn;
• Considering the four aforementioned funding schemes and €80mn reserve amount for follow-on investments, the total budget for 2025 is €1.374bn.

EIC Pathfinder

The EIC Pathfinder’s 2025 budget is €262mn. The Open call’s deadline is on 21/05/2025 and the budget is €142mn. There are 4 Challenge calls, €120mn has been allocated for them and the deadline is on 29/10/2025. The selection process, as in the previous years, consists of submitting an application that will be remotely evaluated. The max project budget for Open proposals is €3mn and €4mn for the Challenge calls. The funding rate is 100%.

EIC Transition

The EIC Transition is Open-call only, the deadline is on 17/09/2025 and the budget is €98mn. The selection is a two-step process:? applications are first evaluated remotely; selected proposals are then invited to a Face-to-Face interview with a jury panel. The max project budget is €2.5mn. The funding rate is 100%.

EIC Accelerator

The total budget for the EIC Accelerator in 2025 is €634mn: €384mn is allocated for the Open call, €250mn for the five Challenge calls. The indicative budget for each challenge is €50mn. The budget is further split for the grant component - 45% of the total, and equity component - 55% of the total. In particular:

• Open call: €173mn is reserved for the grant component, €211mn for the equity component;
• Challenge calls: €112mn for the grant component, €138mn for the equity component;
• An additional €80mn is available as a “reserve amount for follow-on investments”, a provision mainly for previously selected grant-first beneficiaries, but also those that have already received equity support, and available in the form of an equity component up to €10mn.

The funding types

The three EIC Accelerator funding types are:

• Grant only;
• Blended finance;
• Equity only.

The funding rate for the grant component remains at 70%. The grant component is up to €2.5mn, while the investment component goes from 0.5mn to €10mn.

The selection process

The EIC Accelerator selection process did not change since the start of the programme in 2021. Applicants have to pass through a short application, a full application, and a face-to-face interview before being deemed eligible for funding. However, the Fast Track and the Plug-In schemes allow selected companies to start the process directly from the Full Application (FA).

Short Application

Applicants have to submit/complete on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal:

• 12-page short proposal;
• A 10-slide deck;
• A 3’ video.

Four remote expert evaluators will review the documents and decide whether it has merit to advance to the Full Application stage. The outcome of the evaluation will be sent to the applicant within 4 to 6 weeks from the date of the submission. Only short applications that receive 3 GOs out of 4 from the evaluators will be invited to submit a Full Application.

Full Application

Applicants have to upload/submit on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal:

• A 50-page business plan with EIC Accelerator specific information;
• 2 financial spreadsheets;
• A pitch deck;
• A 3’ video;
• A Freedom to Operate report;
• Annexes.

Three remote expert evaluators will review the documents and complete an evaluation summary report. To be invited to the Face-to-Face Interview an applicant needs to receive a GO from each evaluator for all evaluation criteria. If two evaluators give a no-go on any criteria, the applicant will not be invited to attend a face-to-face interview. If just one evaluator gives a no-go on one or more evaluation criteria, the outcome will be decided in a consensus meeting. A unanimous decision at the consensus meeting is required for the applicant to receive an invitation to the Face-to-Face Interview.

Face-to-Face Interview

The Face-to-Face Interview is the last step of the EIC Accelerator selection process and the decisive one. Invited companies will face a panel with max. 6 jury members. They will start by pitching for 10 minutes using the pitch deck submitted at the FA stage. The rest of the time is allocated for the Q&A. The jury panel will then decide if to deem the company eligible for funding or give a NO GO and not award any funding. The EIC Accelerator interviews are organised in-person in Brussels, or remotely.

The max. 3 submissions rule

If an applicant receives 3 NO GOs throughout the process, at any stage of it, the applicant cannot submit again to the EIC Accelerator under Horizon Europe. Simply put, once reached the limit of three failed submissions the applicant is out of the competition until the next Framework Programme, planned for 2028.

The cut-off dates

The submission of the Short Application remains open at any time. Only two cut-off dates for the full application are planned in 2025.

• 12th of March;
• 1st of October.

Strategic Technologies For Europe Platform (STEP) Scale-up

A novelty in the EIC Work Programme 2025 is the inclusion of a brand new funding scheme: STEP Scale Up.

The goal of the EIC STEP Scale Up is to support the development and manufacturing of critical technologies. It does so by offering additional, large support to promising companies driving game-change innovation in these areas. This support should help them secure larger equity funding rounds to further scale their business.

Specifically, the call targets technologies and innovations within the following fields:

• Digital technologies and deep-tech innovation;
• Clean and resource-efficient technologies, including net-zero technologies;
• Biotechnologies.

Similarly to the other EIC funding schemes, STEP Scale Up is not for every company operating in these fields. Companies interested in applying must meet the following criteria:

• The proposed technologies must bring an innovative, emerging, and cutting-edge element with significant economic potential and must reduce or prevent strategic dependencies of the EU.
• The investment request to the EIC STEP Scale Up should be between €10mn and €30mn, and it should catalyse a major funding round 3 to 5 times the EIC investment (€50mn to 150mn).
• The application must include a non-legally binding pre-commitment for equity investment from a qualified investor that represents min. 20% of the total target funding round.
• Companies must not be directly or indirectly controlled by a non-associated third country or by a legal entity established in a non-associated third country.

2025 represents a pilot action for this new funding scheme and it will have a budget of €300mn.

The selection process

To apply to the EIC STEP Scale Up call, companies must navigate a two-step process:

Application

Applicants have to upload/submit on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal:

• A 50-page business plan, including information on the company’s ownership and financial structure and a justification on the STEP-related objectives;
• A 15-slide pitch deck;
• A pre-commitment from a qualified investor;
• An ownership control declaration.

Applicants can submit an application any time and they will be reviewed in batches (min. one round of reviews every quarter) on a “first come, first served” basis. Applicants will be informed of results 4-6 weeks before the Face-to-Face Interview.

Face-to-Face Interview

Companies successful on the first step will be invited to the second step, a Face-to-Face Interview in front of a max. 6-person jury. The EIC will inform applicants of results within 2 weeks of the interview. The outcome may be one of three possibilities: 1) GO and Sovereignty (STEP) Seal; 2) NO GO and Sovereignty (STEP) Seal; and 3) NO GO.

If GO, companies will go through an ownership control assessment, due diligence, and a negotiation on the investment agreement with the EIC Fund.

To conclude

All the official information, data, requirements, and selection criteria are included in the EIC WP 2025. Before deciding to apply and/or starting an application, make sure to read the EIC WP and consult with your National Contact Point (NCP).?Please consult the official EIC WP 2025 available here >>> https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-2025-work-programme_en

On the brand new STEP Scale-up call, please consult:

• The EU 2024/795 Regulation >>> https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202400795
• The Guidance Note >>> https://strategic-technologies.europa.eu/document/download/e204ce9e-0407-4f03-82f8-6f518ce12886_en?filename=C_2024_3148_F1_COMMUNICATION_FROM_COMMISSION_EN_V6_P1_3408774.PDF

I hope you will find this newsletter helpful. We will publish more content on STEP this week. Until next newsletter, take care and keep following us!