Decision test

Should I apply to the EIC Accelerator?

Answer four gates honestly before spending months on an application. If any gate fails, the answer is no — or not yet. If all four pass, run an AI evaluation on the current call to confirm fit and timing.

The four gates

1. Are you an SME? Single companies only — fewer than 250 staff and turnover ≤ €50m or balance sheet ≤ €43m, established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country. Check in two minutes with the SME eligibility checker.
2. Is it deep tech? The jury funds breakthrough innovation with technical risk — not incremental products, resellers, or pure software plays without a defensible technology core.
3. Are you at TRL 5–6 or above? The grant component covers maturation from TRL 5/6 to 8. Below that, look at EIC Pathfinder; already at market, look at the equity-only route. Unsure? Use the TRL checker.
4. Can you afford to lose? With success rates in the low single digits, the expected value only works if the application also sharpens your investor materials and roadmap.

Example

A 12-person materials startup with a pilot line running at TRL 6 and two LOIs from industrial customers passes all four gates — apply, and use the interview preparation time deliberately. A 40-person SaaS company at TRL 8 with no hardware or defensible research core fails gate 2: the jury will read it as a scale-up financing case, not deep tech. That founder should target growth equity or national digital schemes instead.

Where GRANTIBASE helps

Call Evaluation turns the current call text into a structured verdict for your profile — eligibility gates, difficulty, criteria, and a GO / NO-GO / REVIEW recommendation — so the four-gate test above becomes a data-backed decision rather than a hunch. Success Score then quantifies where you are weakest before you commit the months.

Related: is my company eligible for EIC, EIC Accelerator eligibility guide, open EIC Accelerator calls, EIC Accelerator partner search.