EU To Invest $1.5 Billion in Deep Tech in 2025

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has announced it will invest €1.4 billion to scale up strategic technologies in Europe.

The EIC framed out its 2025 Work Programme, which the European Commission adopted in October. It includes a €200 million increase in investment compared to 2024 and focuses on four main areas.

EIC Pathfinder will offer up to €4 million in grants to researchers who “undertake visionary research with the potential to lead to technology breakthroughs.” The EIC expects to provide more than €200 million in grants.

EIC Transition will invest €98 million to take the results from the EIC Pathfinder scheme further and turn research into opportunities.

EIC Accelerator will invest €634 million in start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses to help them scale up and drive innovation in the tech industry. The companies will be able to request grants of up to €2.5 million.

Finally, the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) will manage a fund of €300 million to provide equity funding (€10 – €30 million) to promising companies. The aim is to “help them secure larger private co-investment for further scaling their businesses.”

The EIC held information days on November 5 and 6 on the various schemes open to all potential applicants.

Beyond the direct financial support the EIC offers, it will also provide several services to further help tech businesses, such as providing expertise, creating connections with investor groups, and developing an ecosystem of actors in the tech field.

The EIC launched in 2018 to focus on innovation in the EU’s strategic technologies. Following an initial pilot program from 2018 to 2020, the EIC fully launched in March 2021. It has invested approximately €10 billion to date to “support game-changing innovations throughout the lifecycle, from early-stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scaling up of start-ups and SMEs.”