An EIC Accelerator consultant advises on whether to apply, which funding option to request, how to position the company, and how to run the process. That is a different job from writing the proposal. A writer produces documents; a consultant makes the decisions that determine whether those documents can succeed.
The distinction matters because the most expensive mistakes in an EIC application are made before a word is written: applying with an ineligible TRL, requesting the wrong funding instrument, or applying at all when the company does not have a demonstrable financing gap.
What a consultant decides
- Whether to apply this cycle or the next. A rushed application consumes one of a limited number of attempts. Under the Horizon Europe rule, the same or an improved proposal from the same legal entity can receive a maximum of three unsuccessful applications across the short proposal, full proposal and interview stages.
- Which funding option to request. Grant only, blended finance, or equity only. This changes the documents required, the evaluation emphasis and what happens after a GO.
- Open or Challenge. Applying under a Challenge means a smaller budget pool and a stricter scope test, while Open imposes no thematic restriction.
- How to frame the financing gap. The EIC funds companies where its support crowds in private capital. Positioning a company that could raise privately is the most common structural weakness.
- What the TRL claim should be, and whether the evidence supports it for the integrated innovation rather than its strongest component.
Consulting compared with the alternatives
| Service | Scope | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | Strategy, eligibility, funding option, positioning, process | Before you commit to a cut-off |
| Grant writing | Drafting the proposal documents | The strategy is settled and the writing capacity is not there |
| Review | Critique of an existing draft | You wrote it in-house and want the weaknesses found early |
| Interview coaching | Jury pitch and question handling | After passing Step 2 |
What to ask before hiring
- "Should we apply at all?" A consultant who answers yes without examining eligibility, TRL evidence and the financing gap is selling a service rather than giving advice. The most valuable answer a consultant can give is that this is the wrong year, or the wrong instrument.
- "Which funding option, and why?" The reasoning matters more than the recommendation.
- "What is the weakest part of our case?" Asked early, this separates people who have read your material from people who have not.
- "How many clients are you running for this cut-off?" Capacity predicts quality more reliably than credentials.
- "What happens at the technology-expert meeting?" The full-proposal stage includes an in-depth assessment with a clarification meeting. A consultant unfamiliar with it knows only the paperwork.
On success rates
Quoted success rates are the most misused number in this market. A provider's historical rate reflects which clients they agreed to take on at least as much as how well they work, and it does not transfer to your company. A consultant with a high rate who only accepts strong applicants is telling you something about their screening, not about what they would achieve with your case.
The underlying programme rates differ sharply by stage, and figures quoted without naming the stage are close to meaningless. See EIC Accelerator success rates for the breakdown.
When you do not need a consultant
If the team can state precisely what the technology does, what has been validated and in what environment, who the customers are, and why private capital will not fund the next stage alone, then the strategic questions are already answered. What remains is drafting, which is a writing problem rather than a consulting one.
Equally, if the company is clearly below TRL 5 for the integrated innovation, the right answer is not a consultant but EIC Transition or another instrument, or another year of development.
Background on the programme
The EIC Accelerator replaced the SME Instrument Phase 2 in 2019 and ran as the EIC Accelerator Pilot through 2019 and 2020 before Horizon Europe (2021-2027) reshaped it. The application process is longer and more demanding than the instrument it replaced, and the audiovisual components, the pitch deck and the video, require planning from the start rather than assembly at the end.
For the full picture of funding options, eligibility and the three evaluation stages, see EIC Accelerator.
