Expert Insights at the EIC Accelerator Grant Application Workshop

The EIC Grants (European Innovation Council Grants) are a central funding instrument of the European Commission that provides targeted support for ground-breaking innovations in Europe. The aim of the programs is to identify visionary ideas with high market potential and pave the way for them from research to market maturity. With various funding lines - including the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator - the EIC offers tailor-made support for start-ups, SMEs, researchers, and innovators at all stages of development. The focus is on high-risk but potentially revolutionary technologies that can strengthen Europe's competitiveness in the long term. However, it is often not easy to identify which program is suitable for whom or which objective. An important criterion for eligibility for funding is the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), an internationally recognized system for classifying the development status of a technology - from basic research (TRL 1) to market-ready application (TRL 9).

  • The EIC Pathfinder is pointed towards projects in the early phases (TRL 1-4) and supports the scientific basis for new technological innovation
  • The EIC Transition supports the further development of promising scientific research findings (TRL 3-5) to prototypes and validated applications (TRL 5-6)
  • Finally, the EIC Accelerator supports companies that are about to enter the market or want to scale their market entry (TRL 5-9), including access to equity financing via the EIC Fund

With this graduated funding logic, the EIC aims to specifically strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Europe - from the idea to industrial implementation. However, as is so often the case, the difficulties are in the details, which is why BIO Deutschland and BioRN organized a webinar on EIC grants on 13 May. Emmanuele Angione and Lorenzo Stramucci from the consulting firm Lira Innovation Funding first presented the above-mentioned programs and then interviewed two grantees about their experiences: Emilia Neuwirt from Emuno Therapeutic (EIC Transition Grant 2024) and Konstantin Kurz from Biothrust (EIC Accelerator Grant 2024).

If you missed the webinar, you can stream the recording in the login area for members at biodeutschland.org: www.biodeutschland.org/de/videos.html

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