EIC launches €1.8 billion in funding for 2027

The European Commission has adopted the 2027 European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme, unlocking €1.8 billion to support Europe’s most promising deep tech entrepreneurs and researchers.

In 2027, the EIC will continue to support high-potential innovators from early research to commercialisation and scale-up. The new programme also delivers on the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the Competitiveness Compass by making EIC support simpler, faster and more targeted.

It will also continue to strengthen support for scaling up through the Scaleup Europe Fund and the EIC STEP Scale Up scheme, including in dual-use and defence technologies. And it will make it easier for innovators to apply for and access funding, while advancing a more challenge-driven, staged approach to supporting high-risk, high-reward innovation.

The 2027 work programme includes several targeted improvements that include:

• completing funding for the Scaleup Europe Fund (€1 billion), defence investments (€200 million), and the Advanced Innovation Challenges pilot (€25 million), all introduced in 2026;
• improving the management of the high volume of applications for breakthrough research under the EIC Pathfinder;
• strengthening the innovation impact of the EIC Transition scheme by supporting single teams and companies rather than consortia;
• expanding support to women-led startups through a redesigned Women TechEU programme, doubling the grants to €150,000 per start-up, and introducing a new European Prize for Women Innovators in Quantum, complementing the existing European Prize for Women Innovators; and
• helping EIC-backed companies test their technologies with public and private procurers.

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• Here you find all EIC Funding opportunities in 2027