Topic updates

21 November 2025
The number of proposals submitted: 1083 proposals.

06 November 2025
Dear Applicants,

Please be informed that Egypt is now also eligible for the EIC Pre-accelerator call.

Please be advised that only companies registered in countries belonging to the Horizon Europe widening group are eligible to apply to the EIC Pre-Accelerator call – as described in the Widening Participation and strengthening the European Research Area Work Programme 2025 (page 5): Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Associated Countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and once associated Morocco, as well as the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU). Egypt is also eligible under the transitional measures introduced by the Horizon Europe Association Agreement signed on 23 October 2025.

Applications from companies established in other countries will be treated as ineligible.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

22 October 2025
Dear applicants,

We want to bring your attention to the following conditon of eligibility for this call (other conditions are available in the call text):

All countries belonging to the Horizon Europe widening group are eligible – as described in the Widening Participation and strengthening the European Research Area Work Programme 2025 (page 5): Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Associated Countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and once associated Morocco), as well as the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU).

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. 

 EIC pre-accelerator - Widening

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-02-ACCESS-01

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme:

Call: EIC pre-accelerator - Widening (HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-02)

Type of action: HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]

Status: Forthcoming

Deadline model: single-stage

Planned Opening Date: 12 June 2025

Deadline dates: 18 November 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Expected Outcome:

This call will increase the innovation potential of deep-tech startups in the widening countries and enable them to better attract private investments and scale up. It will further strengthen the innovation dimension of the widening component and increase the overall competitiveness of these countries.

The specific outcome expected of this action is increased business, investor, and technology readiness of high potential deep-tech startups in widening countries to a level where they will:

1. be successful in applying and attracting the EIC Accelerator funding and/or;
2. manage to secure other private investment and/or;
3. attract successfully national or regional funding as alternative funding sources (e.g. through Seal of Excellence programmes).

Scope:

This action focuses on early-stage deep-tech startups which 1) have high-impact innovation technology, product, service, or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones, and 2) have the ambition and commitments to scale up.

The successful applicants need to work on deep tech innovation. Such companies often struggle to attract financing because the technology and investment risks are too high.

In the framework of this call, deep-tech^[1] is technology that is based on cutting-edge scientific advances and discoveries and is characterised by the need to stay at the technological forefront by constant interaction with new ideas and results from the lab. Deep-tech innovations are understood to be those that have the potential to deliver transformative solutions, rooted in cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering, including innovation that combines advances in the physical, biological and digital spheres. Deep-tech is distinct from ‘high-tech’ which tends to refer only to R&D intensity^[2].

This EIC Pre-accelerator - Widening call is designed to enable promising deep-tech startups to develop further their innovations (from TRL 4 to TRL 5/6)^[3], attract the investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe and successfully apply and attract funding from EIC Accelerator or other sources.

The applicants are expected to demonstrate in their application that they:

• have developed technology validated in the lab (at least TRL 4);
• possess the necessary Intellectual Property Rights to ensure freedom to operate and adequate protection of the idea;
• have a clear vision on the intended pathway and route to market. This includes specific milestones together with concrete and verifiable KPIs to assess progress towards the market.

The support will be in awarded by grants max at 70% funding of the eligible costs. 30% co-funding to be covered by the beneficiary through its own resources.

An amount between EUR 300.000 and max EUR 500.000 in the form of a lump sum for a period of up to 2 years is considered appropriate.

Seal of Excellence will be awarded to all proposals that meet the evaluation thresholds but are not funded due to lack of available budget.

The requested grant is expected to be used for:

• addressing the investor and market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, business case and business model, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) and if relevant, aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation, aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment ready and/or;
• the maturation and validation of novel technologies beyond proof of concept to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e., from minimum TRL 4 up to TRL 6).

At the end of the EIC Pre-accelerator project, it needs to:

• demonstrate that the technology component of their innovation has been tested and validated in a laboratory and other relevant environment (e.g. at least completed all aspects of TRL 5);
• be ready to apply for EIC Accelerator and/or to seek other investors or sources of funding, to enter licensing or collaboration agreements with third parties, or other routes to market deployment.

Successful applicants and those awarded the Seal of Excellence will be granted free access to the EIC Business Acceleration Services^[4], such as coaching and specific events tailored to their needs (e.g. for improving investor and market readiness).

This will be complemented by access to the EIC Accelerator Fast Track^[5] for submissions to the Accelerator programme following a project review in the second half of the project.

[1] Deep-tech ventures have the following characteristics: positioning at the knowledge frontier with long and uncertain R&I cycles; relates to tangible products and industrialisation processes; linked to the ecosystem and especially higher education institutions, problem orientated, or mission driven, focused on the creation of an option space and a dynamic de-risking cycle.

[2] Ratio of a firm’s R&D investment to its revenue.

[3] Completed TRL 5 (Technology validated in relevant environment – industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies) or TRL6 (Technology demonstrated in relevant environment -industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies). For more information, see EIC Work Programme 2025.

[4] See EIC Work Programme 2025. More information is available also here: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-funding-opportunities/business-acceleration-services_en.

[5] See Annex 3 Fast Track scheme to apply for the EIC Accelerator, EIC Work Programme 2025.

Start submission

The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

Get support

Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application.

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.