The European Union will spend €1.4 billion (about $1.5 billion) subsequent 12 months to bolster deeptech analysis and help scale-ups in strategic areas like AI, low-carbon applied sciences, agritech and biotech, the European Fee stated on Tuesday.
The finances for the 2025 Work Program of the European Innovation Council (EIC), a part of the bloc’s flagship Horizon Europe analysis program, has been elevated by practically €200 million in comparison with final 12 months.
The Fee highlighted a number of different “enhancements” on the 2024 program, together with higher entry to scale-up fairness funding by way of the EIC Strategic Applied sciences for Europe Platform (STEP) scheme.
The revisions to the EIC work program for 2025 comply with the bloc adopting the STEP regulation in February with the goal of strengthening funding in applied sciences vital to driving digitalization, boosting regional autonomy and supporting the bloc’s Web Zero transition.
The brand new EIC STEP Scale-Up scheme may have a finances of €300 million in 2025 (the Fee expects it to develop to €900 million by 2027). The funding shall be deployed to safe bigger investments in firms that deliver strategic applied sciences to EU and assist keep away from dependencies by unlocking personal sector co-investment.
Underneath the scheme, the EU fund will present investments of between €10 million and €30 million per firm to attract out personal co-investment — reaching no less than €50M to €150M in complete per funding, the Fee stated.
“The EIC STEP Scale-up name will assist handle a market hole in deep tech scale-up funding in Europe, concentrating on digital applied sciences, clear and resource-efficient applied sciences together with net-zero, and biotechnologies,” it wrote in a press launch.
Help for autonomous robots, gen AI, agritech
Elsewhere, the Work program additionally contains an up to date set of EIC Challenges, which goal to encourage innovation in precedence areas. About €120 million is pegged for “rising applied sciences” like autonomous robots, in addition to for local weather resilient crops, changing waste to enter supplies, and medical prognosis.
There’s additionally €250 million ringfenced for earlier stage firms in particular goal applied sciences — together with generative AI, new area, agri tech, and future mobility options.
Elsewhere, the Fee stated the 2025 Work program will improve entry to Enterprise Acceleration Providers for rising firms from nations with decrease ranges of analysis and innovation efficiency. It should additionally help tasks that miss out on EIC funding discover different sources by awarding them Seals of Excellence.
The EIC Work Program 2025 is constructed round three foremost funding schemes, per the Fee.
The primary is a analysis centered monitor known as EIC Pathfinder, which has a finances of €262 million for “multi-disciplinary analysis groups to undertake visionary early-stage know-how analysis and growth with the potential to result in know-how breakthroughs.” This monitor will award grants of as much as €4 million to profitable candidates.
The second is a commercialization-focused monitor known as EIC Transition, which has a finances of €98 million with the aim of turning analysis outcomes into “innovation alternatives.” These grants can go as much as €2.5 million.
Thirdly, there’s a startup and SME monitor — known as EIC Accelerator — which has the most important finances: €634 million. Will probably be deployed to help startups and SMEs to “develop, commercialise and scale up improvements with the potential to create new markets or disrupt present ones.” These grants shall be beneath €2.5 million, and investments will stretch from €500,000 to €10 million.
The EIC STEP Scale-Up scheme sits atop these tracks to supply further funding to promising firms in areas the EU sees as vital.
“Direct monetary help to innovators is complemented with entry to a variety of enterprise acceleration providers and help actions providing main experience and linking with corporates, buyers and ecosystem actors,” the Fee added.
