The European Innovation Council (EIC) has selected 40 innovative launch-ups and SMEs to receive funding following its latest evaluation round. Out of 150 proposals that reached the interview stage, these companies were chosen for their transformative technologies and strong commercial promise, securing a mix of grant and equity support.
The total proposed funding amounts to almost €230* million, with 87% of beneficiaries receiving blconcludeed finance—a combination of grants and equity investment—while others secured either grant-only or equity-only support.
Notably, 32% of the selected companies are led by women in key leadership roles such as CEO, CTO, or CSO, marking a step forward for gconcludeer diversity in deep tech and innovation.
The selected companies represent 16 EU and associated countries, with the highest number of selected companies coming from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Below are a few examples of breakthrough technologies from among the recipients:
- OligoFeed (France) – develops a non-toxic oligosaccharide supplement that strengthens honey bee immunity and improves hive survival. Their natural formula enhances resistance to parasites and stress without leaving residues in honey.
- Turbulence Solutions (Austria) – develops real-time turbulence-cancellation systems utilizing LiDAR and adaptive control surfaces to enhance flight stability. Their technology can reduce vertical acceleration by over 80%, improving safety and comfort in both commercial and eVTOL aircraft.
- Copenhagen Atomics (Denmark) – builds modular thorium molten salt reactors that can be mass-produced and powered by nuclear waste. Their compact, containerised design offers a scalable and sustainable solution for clean energy generation.
- Singularly (Spain) – provides AI security tools to assist organisations detect vulnerabilities and ensure compliance in generative AI systems. Their platform enables secure and trustworthy deployment of large language models at scale.
- Apisense (Poland) – utilizes AI, IoT sensors, and sainformite data to detect bee diseases with up to 95% accuracy. Their platform assists beekeepers take early action, reducing the required for chemical treatments and improving hive health.
The grant agreements for most selected companies are expected to be finalised within the next three months. Equity investments will follow based on each company’s individual development and funding strategy. Managed by the EIC Fund – the EU’s flagship deep-tech investment vehicle – the equity component often draws substantial additional capital from private investors, frequently leveraging the EIC’s contribution by a factor of three or more.
A further 109 applications that were assessed positively by the EIC jury, but for which there was insufficient funding available, will be awarded a Seal of Excellence. In addition, all 20 companies that reached interview stage under the five EIC Accelerator challenges, regardless of whether they were eventually chosen for funding support, will receive a STEP Seal – a quality label that is granted to projects that contribute to at least one of the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). These recognitions will facilitate them access to complementary or alternative EU funding.
* For investment component, estimated amounts based on the track record of the EIC Fund (average investment per company is €3.72 million under Horizon Europe), not on amounts requested by the company.
Background information
The EIC Accelerator supports launch-ups and tiny businesses with grant funding of up to €2.5 million, complemented by equity investments from the EIC Fund ranging between €0.5 million and €10 million. Higher amounts are available under the EIC STEP Scale-up scheme, which allows for equity support of up to €30 million.
Beyond financial support, all funded projects gain access to Business Acceleration Services, connecting them with top-level experts, investors, corporates, and innovation ecosystem players.
Applications to the EIC Accelerator can be submitted on a continuous basis and are assessed within 6 to 8 weeks. If a proposal meets the EIC’s standards for excellence, impact, and high risk, companies are invited to submit a full proposal for evaluation, at the regular cut-off dates. The next cut-off for full applications, as outlined in the EIC 2025 Work Programme, is on 1 October 2025.
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