The EIC Transition is one of the instruments of the European Innovation Council Work Program, part of Horizon Europe. Single applicants (SMEs, spin-offs, start-ups, research organizations, universities or consortia of max. 5 partners are eligible to apply to EIC Transition.

Proposal scope should include maturation and validation of breakthrough ideas from the lab to relevant application environments (prototyping, formulation, user testing, or other validation tests) as well as explorations and development of a sustainable business case and business model towards commercialisation. By the end of the project, technology and business strategy are expected to be sufficiently validated to be conducive to other investors or funding sources (e.g., EIC Accelerator), enter licensing or collaboration agreements with third parties or other potential routes to market.

Proposals must build on the results from EIC Pathfinder, FET Flagship calls or ERC Proof of Concept projects, either by including participants of those projects or by showing that you have access to the IP or the rights to further develop the technology. In general a Transition project aims to validate and demonstrate technology (in an application-relevant environment) and develop its market readiness. EIC Transition supports the maturation and validation of your novel technology in the lab and in relevant application environments (by making use of prototyping, formulation, models, user testing or other validation tests). As well as the development of a business case and business model towards the innovation’s future commercialization.

The expected result of a Transition project is that the applicant(s) are ready for the next stage, which can be to: apply for EIC Accelerator (for SMEs, including start-ups or spin-offs), seek other investors or sources of funding, enter licensing or collaboration agreements with third parties, or utilize other routes to market deployment. Additionally, projects funded through EIC Transition are eligible to submit an EIC Accelerator proposal via the Fast Track scheme.

The program is divided over two different types of calls, the Open call and the Challenges. The EIC Transition Open call is open to any type of technology and research area, while the EIC Transition Challenges cover 3 specific areas. Both call types share the following:

Open & Challenge driven topics 

  • Deadlines: 12 April 2023, 27 September 2023.  After full proposal stage interview rounds will be held approx. 13 weeks after cut-off dates.
  • Subsidy: up to € 2.5 M.
  • Total Budget available: Open call: €67.86M; Challenge calls: €60.5M
  • Funding rate: 100%
  • Consortium: single applicants (SMEs, spin-offs, universities) are eligible to apply alone or in small consortia, including 2-5 partners from both academia and industry. Applications must build on the results from a previous FET, Pathfinder or ERC Proof of Concept Project. The project should have been active for at least 12 months, or completed less than 24 months prior to the deadline.
  • Scope: If a project previously received a EIC Pathfinder, a FET Flagship or a ERC Proof of Concept, and the goal is to go beyond the proof principle, then the EIC Transition is the solution. The Transition programs aims at maturing both the technology and business idea to increase its technology (TRL 5 to 6) and market readiness. In addition Transition projects should prepare for commercialization of the innovation.

EIC Transition Challenges 

The EIC Transition Challenges have a top-down approach with a specific topic. Each topic aims at pushing forward ground-breaking innovations with a clear perspective towards market uptake for specific applications. The eligibility criteria and conditions of the Open Call also apply to the EIC Transition Challenges. This includes the €2.5M max subsidy amount and deadlines on 12 April and 27 September 2023. The budget for the EIC Transition Challenges is €60.5M.

1. Full scale Micro-Nano-Bio devices for medical and medical research applications

2. Environmental intelligence

3. Chip-scale optical frequency combs

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