EIC Pre-accelerator - Widening

Forthcoming EU call topic HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-01-WIDENING-01 · HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions. Part of call HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-01: EIC Pre-accelerator - Widening. Opens 2027-05-05; next deadline 2027-11-18. Topic page: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-01-WIDENING-01

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: - be successful in applying and attracting the EIC Accelerator funding and/or; - manage to secure other private investment and/or; - 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,…