Towards the end of last year, the European Innovation Council (EIC) launched the Accelerator Pilot Programme under the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument. This replaced the previous Phases 1 and 2 approach and introduced the new concept of ‘blended finance’ – a combination of EC grant with EC and private sector venture capital. We expect that Accelerator will continue in much the same form under the next Framework Programme, Horizon Europe which will commence in January 2021.
The Turkey in Horizon 2020 Phase II project has produced a leaflet giving a basic outline of Accelerator and a 24 page Guide which sets out the objectives, requirements and processes involved in more detail. We believe the Guide is the first publication to draw together detailed information for SMEs interested in applying. The English versions of the Guide and the leaflet may be seen at https://th2020.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009900180-New-publications-on-the-EIC-Accelerator-a-first-for-Turkey- hard copies may be obtained from k.gungor@idi.ie .Versions in Turkish will be available soon.