The Commission has adopted the 2026 European Innovation Council (EIC) work programme, making €1.4 billion available to support breakthrough innovation and Europe’s deep tech companies.
The programme introduces a number of improvements to make funding faster, more flexible and better aligned with innovators’ needs.
The programme will pilot new Advanced Innovation Challenges to accelerate the commercialisation of high-risk, high-reward research in strategic areas. Preparations are also under way for the Scaleup Europe Fund, a privately managed and co-financed investment initiative under the EIC Fund, aimed at improving access to late-stage growth financing for deep tech scale-ups and supporting their expansion in Europe.
In addition, a simplified application process will be introduced for the EIC Accelerator, reducing full proposals from 50 to 20 pages and moving to evaluation rounds every two months instead of twice a year. The process will also include a clearer assessment of technology readiness to support more efficient investment decisions.
Read more information in the press release.
Source: European Commission | Shaping Europe’s digital future | News & Views (https://tinyurl.com/3n9h43zs)