Following the October 2021 cut-off date, the European Commission has selected 99 innovative start-ups and SMEs which will receive EUR 627 million of EU funding to help them bring their promising technologies to market. The selected companies will receive grants and/or equity investments, depending on their needs, up to a maximum of EUR 17.5 million.
The applicants were selected following a rigorous process, introduced under Horizon Europe, involving an idea screening stage, and a full application assessed by external experts and an interview with a jury of experienced investors and entrepreneurs.
The selected companies have a wide geographical spread spanning 21 countries, including seven from Horizon Europe “widening countries” that have lower levels of research and innovation performance. The selection also confirms the high demand for EIC equity investments with 65 of the 99 companies requesting equity investments of up to EUR 414 million (out of the total EUR 627 million). In most cases, the companies will receive the grant financing within the coming months, while the equity investment is likely to take longer as the arrangements for implementing EIC equity need to be re-established under Horizon Europe. This delay will also affect companies selected in the previous funding round.
Companies can submit their ideas to the EIC Accelerator at any time. For ideas meeting the EIC criteria for excellence, impact and risk-level, companies are invited to prepare full applications to submit to one of the regular cut-off dates. Due to a delay in the adoption of the EIC Work Programme, the January 2022 cut-off date has been postponed till later in the first quarter.
Technology Innovation International 