Following the first deadline for the EIC Accelerator 2024 in March, the European Innovation Council (EIC) has selected 68 companies for funding through a combination of grants and equity.
The companies were selected after a very tough competition: out of a total of 969 companies that submitted complete proposals, 347 were interviewed by a jury of experienced investors and entrepreneurs, who then selected the 68 best companies to receive funding.
The selected companies will receive a total of an estimated €411 million in funding, of which up to €165 million will be in grants and an estimated €245 million in equity*. Nearly all selected companies (96%) will receive a full blended finance option combining grants and equity investment. The equity investment will be made through the EIC Fund, the EIC's dedicated investment arm that attracts other investors to increase overall investment to more than three times the EIC investment on average. The selected companies are geographically spread across 17 countries, with five of them being proposals from expanding countries. 21% of the selected companies are women-owned.
Here are some examples of innovative businesses that will receive support:
- latitudeThe French rocket company aims to become the world's leading end-to-end space access provider through the development and operation of purpose-built ultra-small rockets.
- VaksdyneThe Spanish biotech start-up is leading innovation with a novel vaccine platform targeting antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections, a major global health threat.
- Mifundois an Estonian company developing the first cross-border AI and data platform. The company provides the technology layer to passport credit history across borders through a single API.
In most cases, businesses will receive grant funding within the next three months, but investment decisions will depend on the urgency of the businesses’ needs.
In addition, 273 applications that received a positive evaluation from the EIC jury but did not secure sufficient funding will be awarded an Excellence Award, which will help these companies find alternative sources of funding, such as from the Recovery and Resilience Fund or the European Regional Development Fund.
The March deadline saw an increase in companies joining through the “plug-in” scheme, where funding agencies administering programmes in accredited countries or regions can submit projects from their portfolios directly to the EIC Accelerator’s full application stage.
Background information
The EIC Accelerator offers start-ups and SMEs a combination of grants of up to €2.5 million and equity investments ranging from €500,000 to over €15 million through the EIC Fund. In addition to financial support, all projects benefit from a wide range of business acceleration services that provide access to leading experts, companies, investors and ecosystem actors.
Companies can submit their ideas to the EIC Accelerator at any time and they will be evaluated within 6-8 weeks. Since the launch of EIC in 2021, more than 12,000 startups have submitted their ideas so far. For ideas that meet the EIC criteria for excellence, impact and risk level, companies are invited to prepare a full application by the regular closing date. As announced in the EIC 2024 work programme, the next closing date for full proposals for the EIC Accelerator is scheduled for October 3, 2024.
For more information
* The amount of the shares will not be the amount requested by the companies but will be estimated based on the average investments made by EIC funds under Horizon Europe following a due diligence process.
