FAQs - EIC Pre-Accelerator

EISMEA will select evaluators with a high level of expertise and professional experience in the field from the Portal Expert database for the period 2021-2027. It may happen to assign evaluators involved with the evaluation of proposals submitted under the EIC Transition calls.

Evaluation process will start after the closing of the submission period, which is set on the 18^th of November 2027.

The second EIC Pre-Accelerator call foreseen in 2027 in the the Widening participation and strengthening ERA 2026-2027 Work Programme (available here)). There will be no call in 2026 as there is a need to analyse the results of the 2025 call.

Grant agreements are expected to be signed in June-July 2028. As a general rule, projects should start around this time or later; the exact starting date is to be agreed with EISMEA.

For the definition of SME please consult the EU SME Recommendation of 6 May 2003, User guide to the SME definition and the Rules on Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment 

Under the EIC Pre-Accelerator, this category includes start-ups.

Beneficiaries have the obligation to inform EISMEA of any change in the structure of the company since it may affect their eligibility.

Regarding the SME status, any change on the structure of the company that results in the loss of the SME status, may lead to the termination of the grant agreement. However, if the loss of the SME status is the consequence of economic developments (natural growth, economic conjuncture, etc.), Article 4(2) of the Annex of the SME Recommendation indicates that where   at the date of closure of the accounts, an enterprise finds that, on an annual basis, it has exceeded or fallen below the headcount or financial ceilings stated in Article 2, this will not result in the loss or acquisition of the status of medium-sized, small or microenterprise unless those ceilings are exceeded over two consecutive accounting periods.

The reasoning behind this is to give stability to the SME status against fluctuations in markets. 

Nevertheless, if the change of ownership occurs following a merger or acquisition, it is not considered temporary or subject to volatility. Article 4(2) of the Annex does not apply, and the SME status will be assessed on the basis of the shareholder structure at the time of the transaction, not at the time of closure of the latest accounts. Therefore, the loss of SME status may be immediate.

The eligible companies must be SMEs, incl. startups established in the widening country. There is no reference to the ownership structure in the eligibility criteria. However, the entity must qualify as an SME which means that it cannot be controlled by another larger entity according to the SME definition and hence cannot be a subsidiary of a larger company.

For more precise information please consult the User guide to the SME definition and Rules on Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.

The SME status will be assessed based on the EU SME Recommendation of 6 May 2003, User guide to the SME definition and the Rules on Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.

We will not consider national law or national requirements. 

This is a mono-beneficiary call, so only single entities can apply, namely SMEs (including start-ups). Please notice however that an enterprise is considered to be any entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form, as stated in the EU SME Recommendation of 6 May 2003.   However, entities not complying with the SME definition may be involved as sub-contractors to the SME.

All applicants must be SMEs or startups established in the Horizon Europe Widening country at the time of submission of their proposal. 

Yes, EIC Pre-Accelerator call is for applicants from the Horizon Europe widening countries whose projects are not yet mature enough for the EIC Accelerator call. 

Eligibility is based on the country of establishment only. 

However, in addition the entity must qualify as an SME which means that, if controlled or owned by 50% or more by another entity from a non-widening country, then the enterprise under SME assessment must add the total of the other entity staff headcount and financial data to its own when determining its eligibility for SME status. 

For more information please refer to the EU SME Recommendation of 6 May 2003 and the User guide to the SME definition

Moreover, contribution to the innovation potential of deep-tech startups in the widening countries and the latter’s overall competitiveness will be taken into consideration during evaluation under the Impact criteria. Proposals should reflect a genuine contribution to these expected outcomes beyond the establishment of the beneficiary in a widening country.

Only companies established in the countries belonging to the Horizon Europe widening group are eligible – as described in the Widening Participation and strengthening the European Research Area Work Programme 2026-2027 (page 6): Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and all Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia &Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo* , Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and once associated Morocco and Egypt), as well as the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU). 

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and  the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

If the project idea fits to the EIC Pre-Accelerator call and differs significantly from the EIC Transition, then it is possible. It must be clearly explained in the proposal as any potential double funding for the same activities is strictly forbidden.

No, there are no restrictions in the WIDERA Work Programme 2026-2027 on the number of rejected submissions. Submissions to the EIC Accelerator call are not taken into account. 

As indicated in the General Annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027, it is possible that the same company submits more than one proposal if they are covering completely different areas. However, if there are several proposals for the same/very similar project, only one proposal will be accepted and evaluated (any potential double funding is strictly prohibited). 

Moreover, applicant must be able to demonstrate sufficient capacity to manage these projects simultaneously, meaning the company must have stable and sufficient resources to successfully implement the projects and contribute its share – 30 % of funding for each of them. 

The SME should be established by the time of submission of the proposal. There are no requirements related to the maturity (establishment year) of the company. 

The newly established enterprise that does not have closed accounts yet or without economic activity but expecting to enter soon into the market may also qualify as SMEs, as long as it is able to provide a ‘bona fide estimate’ (in the form of a business plan) covering the period necessary for the entity to generate turnover. (see p. 12 of the Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment).

Deep tech 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 (ratio of a firm's R&D investment to its revenue).

Deep tech ventures have the following characteristics: positioning at the knowledge frontier with long and uncertain R&I cycles; relates to tangible products and industrialisation processes; linked to the ecosystem and especially higher education institutions, problem orientated, or mission driven, focused on the creation of an option space and a dynamic de-risking cycle.

For reference you may check the EIC Impact Reports and success stories available on the EIC website.

Access to the EIC Fast Track scheme may be granted at the end of the EIC Pre-Accelerator project or exceptionally at the later stage of the project implementation as the technology or product must be at the TRL 5 completed to be eligible for the EIC Accelerator call (which funds projects with TRL 6 to 8) (see the Award criteria elements for EIC Accelerator in the EIC Work Programme). 

Access to the Fast Track will be determined during the project review conducted by EISMEA (Further details are provided in Annex 3 of the EIC Work Programme).

Technology or product needs to be at TRL 5 completed – to be eligible to the EIC Fast Track scheme for the EIC Accelerator call (see the Award criteria elements for EIC Accelerator in the EIC Work Programme).

All these activities are considered eligible for funding in the EIC Pre-Accelerator call as long as they are needed to progress from TRL 4 to TRL 6.

The standard application form template available in the submission workflow of the Funding & Tenders portal and a guide on lump sums  published on the website  of the call show the structure needed for the proposal. 

EIC Pre-Accelerator call projects must focus exclusively on civil applications. Projects costs related to dual-use and defence related technologies are not eligible for funding.

Applicant needs to prove the action meets the minimum requirements – description of the work undertaken. 

Applicants are expected to present business assumptions and hypothesis coherent with required TRL of the proposal and that will be further verified and refined during the project.​

EIC Pre-Accelerator proposals are expected to build on results with previously achieved experimental proof of concept (TRL 3 completed) so have to start at minimum TRL 4 (technology validated in the lab). 

TRL5 (technology validated in relevant environment) completed is already too high. If your technology or product is at this level, you can apply directly to the EIC Accelerator call​.

For the assessment of a given TRL we consider the final application of the future technology and not the individual components required to assemble it. For further guidance on TRLs, please check the Euraxess and Horizon Europe NCP Portal (scroll down to "Documents"). 

Please note also that as mentioned in the Widera Work Programme 2026-2027, more information on TRLs can be found in the EIC Work Programme 2026

A description on potential competitors is expected for evaluation under the Impact criterion “Credibility of the impacts: To what extent the expected commercial impact(s) described in the proposal are credible and substantial within the project and beyond (e.g. one or several sectors, setting new standards, etc.)?”

The proposal (in part 2 – Impact) should present an incipient business model.

Preliminary market research should be conducted prior to submission of the proposal to understand potential customers and (their) needs as well as explore potential competitors. 

An initial/ preliminary competition analysis should be included in the proposal. This will be refined during the project execution. ​Full competition analysis is a component of business plan. There is no need to demonstrate market traction or to show or demonstrate availability of (pilot) production facilities. This is for EIC Accelerator. ​

Full business plan is to be developed when applying to the EIC Accelerator step 2.

A detailed budget table for lump sum grants (with instructions) needs to be submitted with the proposal. In this table, you will provide cost estimations for each cost category per beneficiary and per work package. A guide on lump sums  is available on the call website.

Subcontracting is allowed as per Art.9.3 of the Horizon Europe Lump Sum MGA. There is no fixed limit for subcontracting costs, but subcontracting may concern only parts of the project, as the implementation of the project lies with the beneficiary. The beneficiaries are responsible for the proper implementation of the subcontracted action tasks by the subcontractors (proper quality, timely delivery, etc). Therefore, the subcontracted parts should in principle not be "core" parts of the project work. The beneficiaries’ costs for subcontracting are considered entirely covered by the lump sum contributions for implementing the work packages (irrespective of the actual subcontracting costs incurred, if any).

Applicants must present the total costs of the project (100%) and on this basis EU funding of up to 70% will be granted. In 2027 the 70% will be between 500K and 1M EUR (in 2025 it was between 300K and 500K EUR).  Please note that in the Widera Work Programme 2026-2027 on page 41 there is a clerical error as the amounts of the grant to be awarded should be between 500K and 1M EUR as on page 16.

Personnel costs for work on the action as described in the proposal are to be included in the detailed budget table for lump sum grants, where you can see the different categories of direct personnel costs.

A 80% prefinancing will be paid at the start of the EIC Pre-Accelerator project

Applicants must have stable and sufficient resources to successfully implement the projects and contribute their share. It is up to the applicant to secure 30% funding from other sources but there is no need to provide evidence in the proposal.  The financial capacity check will be done during the grant agreement preparation stage where you will be requested to provide documents uploaded in the Participant Register.  For more information, see Rules on Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.

The most typical project duration and reporting periods are given below:

Other project duration periods are also possible and will be treated individually.

Progress meetings will be planned at mid-term for projects of 24 months duration and on request of EISMEA for other project durations. 

A final meeting will be also organized before the end of the project.

KPIs are to be proposed by applicants. There are no defined KPIs or predefined deliverables except for the mandatory Data Management Plan and Communication and Dissemination Plan deliverables. 

Yes, beneficiaries will have access to the full package of EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) depending on their needs. Companies obtaining Seals of Excellence for their projects will be also eligible to receive BAS services.

Part B (narrative part) of the proposal should have a maximum of 22 pages (font: Times New Roman, min. size 11). All details are included in the proposal template. For reference you may check the application form template from 2025 call, available on the EIC Pre-Accelerator website. The new template will be published together with a call on 5^th of May 2027)

Standard Application form template for Part B will be published on 5^th of May 2027 on the call website together with 2 annexes: detailed budget table for lump sums and information on clinical trials. An ethics annex is optional in case there are serious ethic’s issues to be explained more in detail but there is no mandatory template for the ethics.  For reference you may check the application form template from 2025 call, available on the EIC Pre-Accelerator website.

FTO is not needed at the proposal stage but can be part of project activities.