EIC Accelerator final 2023 cut-off funds 42 companies with up to €285 million

A new set of 42 companies has been selected to receive European Innovation Council (EIC) funding, combining grants and equity, following the final 2023 EIC Accelerator cut-off in November.

The 42 selected companies will together receive up to €285 million in funding. A large majority of selected companies (62%) will receive the blended finance option, which is a combination of grants and equity investments. The equity investments will be made through the EIC Fund as the dedicated investment fund for EIC Accelerator companies, and which attracts other investors to increase the overall investment to over three times the EIC investment on average.

In most cases, the companies will receive the grant financing within the next two to three months, while the first investment decisions will be made within two months, depending on the urgency of the companies’ needs. A further 193 applications that met all the criteria at the remote evaluation stage and that were assessed positively by the EIC jury, but where there was insufficient funding available, will be awarded a Seal of Excellence to help them find alternative sources of funding, including from the Recovery and Resilience Funds and European Regional Development Funds.

The November cut-off, similarly to the previous one in June, had an increase of companies coming from the Fast Track and ‘Plug In’ schemes. They allow funding bodies managing other parts of the Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 programmes (the Fast Track) and funding bodies managing certified national/regional programmes (the Plug In) to submit projects from their portfolio directly to the full application stage of the EIC Accelerator.

Adapted from EIC news article here