The 2024 Work Programme of the European Innovation Council (EIC) has been published. The EIC Work Programme can be accessed here.
While EIC programs also include open calls without specific themes, the new Work Programme places great emphasis on EU policies such as the European Green Deal, RePowerEU, the European Chips Act, and the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) and Net Zero Industry Act, which will officially come into effect in the future. With a budget exceeding 1.2 billion euros in 2024, EIC has allocated a significant portion to fund SMEs and start-ups that qualify for support under the EIC Accelerator program to develop and scale "deep tech" innovations in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, space, critical raw materials, semiconductors, and quantum technologies. Within this framework, the EIC Fund, with a capital budget of 585 million euros, will invest over 2 billion euros in selected companies.
The 2024 EIC Work Programme is structured around three main programs:
EIC Pathfinder (€256 million): Supports visionary research by multidisciplinary research teams with the potential to lead to technological breakthroughs (grants up to €4 million).
EIC Transition (€94 million): Supports activities to mature technologies and create a business rationale for innovation opportunities based on results from projects supported by EIC Pathfinder, European Research Council Proof of Concept (PoC) projects, and projects within the Global Challenges and Industrial Competition component. The program is open to project results from Horizon collaborative projects from Pillar 2/societal challenges (grants up to €2.5 million).
EIC Accelerator (€675 million): Supports activities for SMEs to develop and scale innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones (grants below €2.5 million; investments from €0.5 to €15 million). €405 million is earmarked for investments managed by the EIC Fund, which will receive an additional €180 million for follow-on investments in companies selected under previous EIC Accelerator calls.