Brussels increases funding for high-tech companies to 1.4 billion

Brussels—The Commission targets advanced technologies and high-potential startups in the digital economy. As part of the Horizon program, the EU executive has increased the European Innovation Council (EIC) budget and improved access to funding for innovative companies, aiming to bring the Old Continent’s economy on par with that of its international competitors, China and the United States.

On Tuesday (Oct. 29), the College approved a budget beefed up by about €200 million for the EIC in 2025, thus increasing it to 1.4 billion. EIC was introduced in 2021 within Horizon, the EU’s famous program for research and innovation, and has a budget of 10 billion for the 2021-2027 budget period. To date, it has supported more than 630 companies and over 450 research projects with EU funding, according to Commission data.

In addition to more substantial resources, the EIC will also count on several other innovations starting next year, including better access to scale-up equity financing of the so-called Strategic Technology Platform (STEP), introduced early this year to coordinate investments in areas that Brussels deems critical to avoid falling behind in global competition (as suggested in the infamous Draghi report).

This new scheme will operate with an allocation of 300 million next year (but its budget is expected to grow to 900 million by 2027). It will provide investments between 10 and 30 million to each company that “aims to bring strategic technologies to the EU market and avoid strategic dependencies.” Among the technologies in question are digital, clean, and biotechnologies.

Another 120 million will then go to emerging technologies such as autonomous robots, climate-resilient crops, waste conversion into basic materials, and medical diagnosis, while 250 million will go to startups in specific technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, the so-called new space, agritech, and innovative mobility solutions.

The new EIC program also includes improved access to Business Accelerator Services for emerging companies in countries considered to be developing, as well as the awarding of “seals of excellence” under several calls linked to the STEP platform to more easily obtain supplementary funds beyond those of the Horizon program (e.g., those linked to cohesion funds).

There will be three main funding schemes for the year 2025. The first, EIC Pathfinder, will be endowed with 262 million and available for multidisciplinary research groups (up to 4 million each) that address “visionary technology developments at an early stage with the potential to lead to technological breakthroughs.”

EIC Transition (98 million), on the other hand, will be dedicated to “transforming research results into innovation opportunities.” That is, it will enable the concrete realization of collaborative projects carried out not only with EIC Pathfinder but also with other EU research programs, with grants of up to 2.5 million per individual project.

Finally, the EIC Accelerator will be the largest. It will make 634 million available to startups and SMEs to “develop, commercialize, and scale up innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones.” Grants will be up to a maximum of 2.5 million, while investments will range from 500 thousand euros to 10 million.