EIC Accelerator Results – February 2026 Update (October 2025 Cutoff)

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The European Innovation Council (EIC) published the latest EIC Accelerator winners in February 2026 for the October 1, 2025 cut-off. In this round, 61 start-ups and SMEs were selected after reaching the interview stage.

At a Glance (October 1, 2025 Cut-Off)

• Selected companies: 61
• Interview stage pool: 121 proposals reached interviews
• Interview-stage success rate: 50.4% (61/121)
• Total proposed (requested) funding: €467 million
• Average requested ticket size: €7.66 million per company (€467M/61)
• Financing type (from the published winners list): 52 blended finance (85.2%), 8 grant-only (13.1%), 1 equity-only (1.6%)
• Countries represented: 17 EU and associated countries
• Women-led leadership representation: 28% (about 17 companies) have women in key leadership roles (CEO/CTO/CSO)

What Is Known (and What Isn’t) From the Published Data

For this cut-off, the public information allows a clean view on the interview-stage pool (121) and the winners list (61). It does not provide a complete end-to-end funnel from Step 1 to Step 3 for this cut-off.

That means the only “hard” success rate we can compute for this round is the one that starts at interviews: 61/121 = 50.4%.

Success Rates and Competitiveness

The interview-stage success rate of 50.4% is high in absolute terms—once you make it to interviews, selection is close to a coin flip. But it also highlights the core challenge: getting to interviews is the real bottleneck.

For applicants, this has a practical consequence: the work doesn’t end after submitting the full proposal. A strong interview performance (clarity, credibility, answers under pressure) is a separate deliverable.

Funding in This Round: Size, Structure, and Timing

Requested volume and “average ticket”

The €467 million total is the requested (proposed) amount for the 61 selected companies. On average that is €7.66 million requested per winner (€467M/61). Actual final amounts can diverge during grant preparation and, especially, the investment process.

Grant + equity mechanics (why “blended” dominates)

The EIC Accelerator supports start-ups and SMEs with grant funding up to €2.5 million and an equity investment component (often described as €0.5–€10 million via the EIC Fund). Under the EIC STEP Scale-up scheme, higher equity amounts (up to €30 million) can be available.

Blended finance is therefore the default configuration for many deep-tech scale-ups: the grant helps de-risk execution (technical and regulatory milestones), while equity can fund commercial scale and manufacturing ramp.

What happens next after selection

Selection is not the same as money in the bank. The grant agreement for most selected companies is expected to be finalised within the next three months. Equity typically follows later, based on each company’s development and funding strategy and the EIC Fund’s investment process.

Co-investment leverage and why it matters

The equity component is managed by the EIC Fund. In practice, EIC investments often act as a catalyst: they can attract substantial additional private capital, sometimes described as leveraging the EIC contribution by a factor of three or more. For founders, this means you should treat EIC equity as part of a wider financing plan (syndicate strategy, timeline alignment, governance readiness).

Blended Finance vs. Grant-Only vs. Equity-Only (Exact Counts)

Based on the published winners list for this cut-off:

• Blended finance: 52 companies (85.2%)
• Grant-only: 8 companies (13.1%)
• Equity-only: 1 company (1.6%)

This split is a useful signal for future applicants: the EIC frequently expects companies to be ready for an equity narrative (market expansion, valuation logic, and investor readiness) even when the technology is still deeply R&D-heavy.

For the investment component, one indicative benchmark mentioned for Horizon Europe is an average investment per company of €3.72 million (actual equity execution depends on due diligence and each company’s financing strategy).

Geographical Distribution (Selected Companies)

The 61 selected companies come from 17 countries. The top countries by number of selected companies are:

1. Germany – 9 companies (14.8%)
2. Spain – 9 companies (14.8%)
3. France – 8 companies (13.1%)
4. Sweden – 6 companies (9.8%)
5. Netherlands – 5 companies (8.2%)
6. United Kingdom – 5 companies (8.2%)
7. Switzerland – 4 companies (6.6%)
8. Italy – 3 companies (4.9%)
9. Belgium – 2 companies (3.3%)
10. Denmark – 2 companies (3.3%)

The top four countries (Germany, Spain, France, Sweden) account for 32 of 61 companies (52.5%). The remaining 29 companies are spread across the other 13 countries, showing that the cut-off is concentrated but still meaningfully pan-European.

Examples of Breakthrough Technologies (From This Cohort)

Selected examples from the cohort illustrate the breadth of deep-tech innovation supported in this cut-off:

• Zaitra (project SKAISEN) – real-time actionable satellite insights for end users
• Grapheal (project PFAST) – field-deployable graphene sensors for ultra-trace, real-time PFAS detection
• Oxolife (project OXO-ART) – a first-in-class oral, non-hormonal tablet to enhance live birth outcomes in ART
• QuantaMap (project NAUTILUS) – quantum metrology and defect inspection for quantum chips

If you want the full landscape, the table below provides company-by-company short descriptions and financing type, which makes it easier to benchmark your own positioning and narrative.

Additional Quality Labels and Follow-On Outcomes

• Seal of Excellence: 60 additional applications were assessed positively but could not be funded due to budget constraints; they are expected to receive a Seal of Excellence, which can help unlock alternative funding routes.
• STEP Seal: all 23 companies that reached interview stage under the five EIC Accelerator challenges (independent of final funding selection) are expected to receive a STEP Seal, a quality label linked to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP).

What This Means for Applicants (Practical Takeaways)

1) Treat the interview as its own product

At interviews, your goal is not to repeat the proposal. It is to prove you can execute. In practice, that means:

• a crisp problem statement with a quantified “why now”
• a defensible technical edge (not just features)
• a credible plan to deploy, sell, and scale (team, partnerships, route to market)
• a financing plan that matches your milestone plan (use-of-funds is not a slide, it’s a strategy)

2) Be ready for blended finance by default

With 52 of 61 winners receiving blended finance, applicants should assume the EIC will probe both sides of the story:

• Grant logic: what technical/regulatory risks does it de-risk, and what are the measurable milestones?
• Equity logic: what is the scale-up plan, what is the expected financing path, and how do you handle governance and dilution?

3) Plan for the “after selection” execution window

If you get selected, move immediately into an execution posture. Typical founder workstreams include:

• Grant preparation readiness: workplan, deliverables, subcontracting, and compliance capacity
• Investment readiness: cap table hygiene, IP position, data room, KPI definitions, and investor syndicate outreach

4) If you receive a quality label, operationalise it

For Seal of Excellence / STEP Seal holders, the label is only valuable if you use it actively: integrate it into your fundraising deck, outreach, and alternative public funding strategy.

Methodology Notes

All numbers in this article are derived from the published figures for this cut-off (61 selected, 121 at interview stage, €467 million requested) and the winners list embedded below. The financing-type split (blended vs grant-only vs equity-only) is computed from the financing type shown in that winners list.

All EIC Accelerator Winners (October 1, 2025 Cut-Off)