European Innovation Council: Biggest annual funding opportunities for innovators to scale up and capture global markets

Among others, it will focus on inonvation in quantum computing, new generation batteries and gene therapy. Launched in March 2021 as a major novelty of the Horizon Europe programme, the European Innovation Council has a total budget of over €10 billion between 2021 and 2027.

The 2022 work programme of the European Innovation Council (EIC) has several new elements, simplifying the application process and contributing to EU policies such as:

• A new EIC Scale-Up 100 initiative: Having already supported over 2600 small and medium business (SMEs) and start-ups in the past since 2018, the EIC introduces the EIC Scale-up 100 initiative to identify 100 promising deep tech EU companies that have the potential to become ‘unicorns’ (with valuation of over €1 billion).  
• Equity investments above €15 million: The EIC Accelerator will allow companies working on technologies of strategic European interest to apply for EIC investments of more than €15 million. 
• Stronger support to women innovators:
  • Development of an innovation gender and diversity index to identify gaps and encourage diversity within companies. This will provide consistent information to investors, funders, customers and policy makers.
  • The 2022 edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators will include two additional prizes for innovators under 35 – hence,  there will be six prizes awarded in total: three prizes to the most inspiring women innovators across the EU and the countries associated to Horizon Europe, and three prizes to the most promising ‘Rising Innovators’ under the age of 35.