Business Acceleration Services

Under Horizon Europe, at the EIC we strive to ensure that financial support is only the beginning of your journey as an EIC beneficiary, with mechanisms available to bring your innovations  to the market and grow your business. As an EIC-supported startup or innovator, you can benefit from access to a range of tailor-made EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) available at any stage of development of your activities and of the EIC research and innovation cycle. 

• EIC Awardees from the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument included), EIC Transition and EIC Pathfinder (FET Active and FET Open included) funding schemes 
• Women TechEU awardees (implemented under the ‘European Innovation Ecosystems) 
• Members of the EIC Scaling Club 
• As an EIC Accelerator applicant invited to prepare a full proposal (successfully passed Step 1), you can benefit from 3 days of remote coaching, and get support with the preparation of the full proposal (Step 2 application). 
• Some of the services are also available to companies receiving the Seal of Excellence (under Horizon Europe) as well as to innovators and companies coming from other European or national initiatives that have entered into a specific agreement with the EIC.

The EIC BAS have no expiration date. Even if your project has ended, you are eligible to apply to our services. 

Our Business Acceleration Services are either developed directly by the EIC or provided through the EIC Ecosystem Partners, and you can access them through the EIC Community Platform. This innovation hub gathers all researchers and entrepreneurs supported by the EIC and connects them with coaches, national contact points, corporates, investors, procurers, EIC staff and other stakeholders with the potential to elevate their business.

The EIC Business Acceleration Services are structured around three main pillars providing you with access to all that is needed to boost your growth: 

• Contracts
• Contacts 
• Skills

Your presence at the EIC is your gateway to matching activities with large corporations, investors, procurers and business partners. In 2021-2023 alone, our programmes led to a total of 103 deals, and EUR 50 million expected turnover generated from trade fairs. 

Discover our programmes providing you with access to contracts and boost your business: 

• EIC Corporate Partnership Programme: Scale up your business by establishing valuable business collaborations with the largest corporations in Europe
• EIC Innovation Procurement Programme: Elevate your business by accessing procurement markets of leading public and private sector buyers in Europe and at a global level.
• EIC International Trade Fairs Programme: Promote your commercialisation strategy in foreign markets and leverage business opportunities at the most popular trade fairs across the world.
• EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme: Get access to the necessary tools and knowledge to attract investors and scale your ventures.
• EIC Scaling Club: Join an exclusive community of 100+ European high-growth deep-tech champions and their partners.
• InnoNext (Next Generation Innovation Talents): Take your innovations beyond the invention stages and develop your entrepreneurial mindset.
• EIC Soft-landing programme: Expand your business into some of the most innovative hubs in the world supported by local experts and without taking your attention away from their main operations at home. 

As an EIC-supported researcher, innovator or entrepreneur, you can benefit from access to a wide ecosystem network comprising: 

• 1,000+ corporates, investors and public buyers
• 600+ coaches and mentors 
• 140+ Ecosystem partners 
• 100+ experts across areas such as intellectual property, regulation and venture building 

Discover our programmes providing you with access to contacts: 

• EIC Community Platform: Join an extensive innovation network and establish yourself on the European and global market by connecting with peers and business partners.

• EIC Ecosystem Partnership Programme: Access specialised sector-focused services offered by EIC Partners.

   

As an EIC-supported researcher, innovator or entrepreneurs, you can enjoy free access to tailor-made coaching, mentoring, expertise and training delivered by specialised providers and adapted to your innovation stage.

Discover our programmes to advance your business skills and take over leadership positions: 

• EIC Coaching Programme: Receive coaching and training tailored to your specific needs, starting as early as the stage of proposal preparation (step 2). 
• EIC Community Programme: Connect with partners and boost your skills with peer-learning workshops and tailor-made training activities.
• EIC Tech to Market Programme: Accelerate your science-startup project and transition from lab to market through specialised support and Design Thinking methodologies. 
• EIC Women Leadership Programme: Strengthen your entrepreneurial skills and expand your network among female leaders with the support of a personal mentor and business coach.

The European Innovation Council is open for new collaborations with other business enablers. Check our open calls:

• If you are a corporate:

  Corporate Partnership Programme Call

• If you are public or private buyer:

  Innovation Procurement Programme Call

• If you are an accelerator, incubator, scale-up and/or growth consultant, or a research and training organisation:

  Ecosystem Partnership Programme: Call for partners

• If you are an expert, mentor or analyst that want to work with early-stage ventures: 

  Tech 2 Market Programme: Call for experts

• If you are a venture capital fund, corporate venture arm (CVCs), private equity fund, impact fund, angel investor, family office or another type of investor: 

  Co-invest with the EIC Fund

2024

November

• EIC Tech 2 Market Innovation Discovery Training (11th edition), Online, 4-8 November  
• Ventures’ Ignition Day on Health and Medical technologies by EIC T2M Venture Building, Online, 7 November 2024
• Medica Health & Medical care, Dusseldorf (Germany), 11-14 November 
• SPIN4EIC Pitching Session at MEDICA 2024, Dusseldorf (Germany), 13 November
• EIC and J&J Healthcare Investor Day powered by Bpifrance – EuroQuity, Paris,13 November 2024 
• EIC ACCESS+ Info session, Online, 18 November 
• EIC Pathfinder Beneficiaries’ Day 2024, Online, 20 November 
• Access2EIC ePitch session for EIC Transition beneficiaries, Online, 21 November 
• Gender Gap in Investments event, Berlin (Germany), 26 November
• EIC Corporate Day with Holcim, Lyon (France), 27-28 November 
• Pioneer Programme session on regulatory topics for medicinal products, powered by EIC Tech to Market x European Medicine Agency (EMA), Online, 28 November 

December

• EIC ePitching on Food & Agritech, Online, 4 December 
• EIC Corporate Day with Vattenfall, Berlin (Germany), 5-6 December
• EIC Soft-landing Programme in San Francisco, San Francisco (USA), 9-13 December 
• EIC Tech to Market Innovation Discovery Training 12th edition, Online, 9-13 December

2025

January 

• EIC International Trade Fairs: CES 2025, Las Vegas (USA), 7-10 January

March

• EIC International Trade Fairs: Mobile World Congress, Barcelona (Spain), 3-6 March

An overview of all past events can be found on the EIC Community Platform. 

The EIC Business Acceleration Services Newsletter is your go-to source for the latest updates on open calls for applications, inspiring success stories, exclusive interviews, partner calls and other engaging news.

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Find all the answers on the Business Acceleration Services in the FAQ section