EU grants for startups: EIC, Horizon Europe, EIT and national routes

By GrantSnap team · Published 2026-10-31 · guide

The EIC funding opportunities page in October 2026 — The European Innovation Council's funding opportunities page, captured 31 October 2026.

A startup in an EU member state or a country associated to Horizon Europe has three places to look for public funding. The first is the EU level, mainly the European Innovation Council (EIC) and Horizon Europe calls. The second is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and its communities. The third is the national or regional agency in your own country, which is where most grants are actually found.

For one company applying alone, the EIC Accelerator is the main EU route, and the EIC says it takes single start-ups and SMEs. Cascade funding and national schemes can be more accessible first steps. This guide is based on official pages read on 31 October 2026. Deadlines and amounts change, so confirm each one on the official page before you plan around it.

The three layers

Layer one is run from Brussels. The EIC offers three funding types on its funding opportunities page: Pathfinder for breakthrough research, Transition for market readiness, and Accelerator for scale-up grants and investments. Horizon Europe topics on the Funding and Tenders Portal sit alongside them.

Layer two is the EIT, which the EIT's own site calls a body of the European Union. It lists ten innovation communities, covering water resilience, climate change, cultural and creative sectors, digitalisation, future of food, health innovation, sustainable energy, added-value manufacturing, raw materials and urban mobility. Its opportunities page, as of 31 October 2026, lists startup calls, each with its own dates.

Layer three is national and regional. The Your Europe access to finance page explains that local financial institutions decide who gets EU-backed loans and venture capital, and that they set the amount, duration, interest rates and fees. It says businesses can contact one of over 1,000 financial institutions and should select their country in the search tool.

Who can apply

Most EU calls ask for establishment in a member state or a country associated to Horizon Europe. The EIC states there are no geographical criteria or quotas for selecting projects, and it encourages applications from all EU and associated countries. The list of associated countries is kept on the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Company size matters. The European Commission's SME definition uses headcount plus either turnover or balance sheet total. A medium-sized enterprise has fewer than 250 staff and turnover up to EUR 50 million or a balance sheet up to EUR 43 million. A small enterprise has fewer than 50 staff and up to EUR 10 million on either measure. Group data may count.

Entities in a third country can sometimes apply. For the EIC Accelerator short application, an entity in a non-associated third country must relocate or set up an SME in a member state or associated country before it receives support. UK entities are limited to grant-only support in the Accelerator, according to the EIC's eligibility FAQ.

Single company or consortium

The EIC routes differ on this point. The EIC Accelerator page says it accepts single start-ups and SMEs, including spin-outs, and small mid-caps with up to 499 employees. It also accepts individuals planning to set up an SME. The grant is a lump sum below EUR 2.5 million for innovation activities, to be completed within 24 months. Investment is EUR 1 to 10 million, and the page describes blended finance as grant plus equity or quasi-equity such as convertible loans.

EIC Transition allows a single start-up, SME or research organisation, or a small group of partners. Its grants go up to EUR 2.5 million, and it expects you to build on results at TRL 3 or 4 from listed sources such as EIC Pathfinder projects. EIC Pathfinder is for research teams, needs at least three independent legal entities in most cases, and funds early work at TRL 1 to 4 with grants up to EUR 4 million.

Cascade funding as an entry point

Cascade funding, formally called financial support to third parties, is the lowest-barrier way into EU money for many companies. The Commission's guidance describes it as an EU grant with a budget window that the funded partners use to publish calls for recipients downstream. It says this can reach smaller projects that would not have the capacity to apply directly for EU grants.

The guidance says call conditions normally set the maximum per recipient at EUR 60,000 or more if authorised, and that evaluation must follow objective and transparent procedures. In Horizon Europe the ceiling is counted per partner. Each call has its own deadline, budget and eligibility, so you apply to the project running the call, not to Brussels.

The open calls table below lists European funders' calls, for example the Restack Open Call. Check each call text for who may apply, since eligibility differs from one call to the next.

Registering and what the application asks

Before starting an EIC Accelerator application you must register on the Funding and Tenders Portal and obtain a nine-digit Participant Identification Code, called a PIC. The EIC's applicant guide says a validated PIC can be reused and that natural persons also need one.

The short proposal has five parts. You give general information such as title, abstract and keywords. You confirm your PIC and give the CEO's details. You upload a pitch deck of up to ten slides as a PDF. You submit a video of up to three minutes in which up to three core team members explain the innovation and their motivation. Then you answer written questions about the innovation, the market and the team, within a 12-page limit.

You also state an indicative amount of support, which you can revise if invited to a full proposal. The guide says evaluators look at novelty, technology maturity, intellectual property, market size and your realistic share, team skills, and any gaps in the team with a plan to fill them. You may also let your National Contact Point see your proposal, so they can point you to national funding if you are not selected.

Evaluation and timelines

Short proposals can be submitted at any time. They are batched for evaluation on the first Tuesday of each month at 5pm Brussels time, and the EIC page says feedback comes in about 4 to 6 weeks. Four remote experts each give a GO or NO GO, and at least three GO votes are needed to be invited to a full proposal. The EIC page lists 4 November 2026 as the final 2026 batching date for full proposals.

Full proposals are scored from 0 to 5 on three criteria: excellence, impact, and level of risk, implementation and need for Union support. The guide sets a minimum of 4 out of 5 per criterion and 13 out of 15 overall to be considered for interview. Proposals requesting about 2.5 times the available grant budget are invited to an interview with an EIC Jury. The EIC page says proposals scoring at least 13 out of 15 but not interviewed receive a Seal of Excellence.

Allow months, not weeks. The EIC page gives full proposal results within 8 to 9 weeks, and an investment decision within 2 to 6 months at its final step. You may have only one EIC Accelerator application running at a time.

National and regional agencies

Most grants a startup actually wins are national. Enterprise Ireland is one example. Its start-up page lists a High Potential Start-Up feasibility study grant of up to EUR 30,000, a Pre-Seed Start Fund of up to EUR 100,000, and a co-funded equity investment of up to EUR 800,000 through the Innovative HPSU Fund. Eligibility includes being headquartered and controlled in Ireland and less than five years old.

Its funding page also lists Eureka, including Eurostars, which shows that some transnational schemes are run through the national agency. Enterprise Ireland also lists 31 Local Enterprise Offices as first-stop shops for grants.

In Germany, the federal government's Foerderdatenbank gives an overview of programmes from the federal government, the Laender and the EU. You can search by topic or browse programmes and funding organisations. The Enterprise Europe Network gives free advice on cross-border questions, according to the Your Europe page.

Common mistakes and next steps

The common errors are practical. Applicants start the PIC registration the week of the cut-off. They apply to the EIC Accelerator without TRL 5 completed, which the full proposal criteria ask about. They treat the video as a polished advert when the guide says to keep it simple and show the team. They overlook the SME group rules. And they look to Brussels first when their national agency may be the better fit.

A sensible order is to check your national agency, then open cascade calls and EIT calls, then the EIC if your technology is deep tech at TRL 5 or above. The EIF, the European Investment Fund, is the equity and guarantee side. Its site lists calls for intermediaries, banking partners for guarantees and fund managers for equity, and does not describe a direct application process for startups.

GrantSnap tracks live calls like these, drafts answers from your profile and fills the form in Chrome. You review every answer before submitting.

Common questions

Can a single startup apply to the EIC Accelerator?

Yes. The EIC page says it accepts single start-ups and SMEs, including spin-outs, from EU member states and Horizon Europe associated countries. You can have only one Accelerator application at a time.

What is a PIC and do I need one?

It is a nine-digit Participant Identification Code from the Funding and Tenders Portal. The EIC applicant guide says you must register and obtain one before starting an EIC Accelerator application.

What is cascade funding?

It is EU money passed on by a funded project through its own open calls to outside organisations. The Commission's guidance says call conditions normally set the ceiling per recipient at EUR 60,000 or more if authorised.

Where do most startup grants in Europe come from?

Mostly from national and regional agencies. The Your Europe page says local institutions decide on EU-backed loans and set the terms, and the Foerderdatenbank and Enterprise Ireland are examples of national entry points.

Sources

EIC funding opportunities (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIC Accelerator (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIC Pathfinder (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIC Transition (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIC FAQs: general conditions and eligibility (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIC Accelerator guide for applicants, version 6.0 (accessed 2026-10-31)
Good practices for implementing FSTP in EU grants, version 1.0 (accessed 2026-10-31)
EU SME definition (accessed 2026-10-31)
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (accessed 2026-10-31)
EIT opportunities (accessed 2026-10-31)
Your Europe: access to finance (accessed 2026-10-31)
European Investment Fund (accessed 2026-10-31)
Enterprise Ireland: start-up supports (accessed 2026-10-31)
Enterprise Ireland: funding and grants (accessed 2026-10-31)
Foerderdatenbank des Bundes (accessed 2026-10-31)

Checked the EIC, EIT, Your Europe, EIF, European Commission SME definition, Enterprise Ireland and Foerderdatenbank pages and the EIC applicant guide and Commission FSTP guidance on 31 October 2026; named calls and counts come from the GrantSnap catalog as of 2026-10-31.

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