The European Commission formally adopted the 2026 work programme for the European Innovation Council (EIC), setting aside €1.4 billion in funding opportunities aimed at supporting Europe’s deep-tech and emerging-technology innovators.
Under the 2026 agenda, the EIC’s budget is divided across its main funding instruments:
- €262 million for the EIC Pathfinder scheme targeting visionary research.
- €100 million for the EIC Transition scheme, converting research into innovation opportunities.
- €634 million for the EIC Accelerator, supporting start-ups and SMEs scaling deep-tech innovations.
- €300 million for the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale-Up scheme, facilitating larger equity investments in promising European companies.
- €6 million for new Advanced Innovation Challenges to back high-risk, high-reward frontier technologies.
The programme introduces several procedural improvements, including a streamlined application path for the EIC Accelerator (reducing full proposal length and increasing evaluation frequency) and the launch of challenge-driven calls inspired by ARPA-style models.
In its announcement, the Commission stated that the 2026 EIC work programme “opens funding opportunities worth over €1.4 billion for strategic technologies and scaling up companies.”
The work programme is positioned to support the implementation of the EU’s Startup & Scaleup Strategy, with additional services to link innovators with corporates, investors and international markets.
Information days for applicants are scheduled for 13, 14 and 17 November 2025 across various EIC components.
For more information visit the website.
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