Companies can once again submit short (Step 1) applications for European Innovation Council Accelerator funding, using a new IT platform developed for this purpose by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
The submission of short (Step 1) applications was put on hold for a short period of time after the former EIC Artificial Intelligence Platform for applying to the EIC Accelerator was discontinued on 2 June 2023, due to a contractual dispute. As a result, the EIC has restructured the EIC Accelerator application process.
Full (Step 2) EIC Accelerator applications will be submitted via the Horizon Europe Funding and Tender Opportunities portal, while a separate IT platform for short (Step 1) proposals is needed due to its specific requirements (a short form, slide deck and video pitch).
The evaluation of all short (Step 1) applications is typically completed within four weeks, after which successful applicants have up to one year to prepare their full (Step 2) application. The next EIC Accelerator cut-off date is on 4 October 2023.
Background information
On 2 June 2023, the EIC Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform was discontinued and the EIC migrated to the Electronic Submission System hosted on the Horizon Europe Funding and Tender Opportunities portal for full (Step 2) proposals. For the intervening period of time until today, while a new IT platform was developed and put in place, companies were not able to submit short (Step 1) applications.
