European Innovation Council sets €1.8 billion for deep tech in 2027, down from €2.1 billion this year

The European Innovation Council (EIC), the EU body that backs high-risk technology from early research to scale-up, will have over €1.8 billion to commit in 2027. The EIC said on November 5, 2026, that the European Commission has adopted its 2027 work program, the last under the Horizon Europe research program. The money goes out as grants and equity to researchers, startups and small companies.

Whether that is a rise depends on which 2026 figure is used. In November 2025, the EIC announced €1.4 billion for 2026. The amended 2026 program now estimates a total of €2,125.1 million, including €600 million for the Scaleup Europe Fund and €100 million for a first defense equity call. Against that figure, the 2027 total of €1,816 million is about €309 million lower, by our calculation. About €200 million of that gap is the Scaleup Europe Fund, whose €1 billion from the EIC is split between the two years.

Where the money goes

The Accelerator, which funds individual startups and small companies, gets €578 million in all, down from €634 million. Its open call grows while its themed challenges shrink. Those challenges, with others elsewhere in the program, cover topics such as reliable AI agents, physical AI for robotics, quantum energetics, fusion power plants and carbon removal. The program calls all these budgets indicative: final figures may change by up to 20%, and the Accelerator can also receive unspent money from earlier years.

The Scaleup Europe Fund is aimed at the late-stage gap, for rounds too large for the Accelerator and STEP Scale Up. The 2027 program's €400 million brings the EIC's contribution to €1 billion, which is meant to draw €4 billion from other investors for a fund of about €5 billion. It operates as a privately managed fund, with applications going directly to it. The program's summary table describes equity above €30 million, up to several hundred million euros, while its section on the fund puts direct investments in the range of €100 million, meant to catalyze funding rounds of several hundred million. Investments are limited to companies with up to 499 employees in the EU or associated countries.

What changes for applicants

The program sets out these changes and dates for 2027.

• Accelerator: full proposals go to four batches in 2027, against six in 2026, on January 20, March 17, September 1 and November 4. A reserve list and simpler resubmission rules are added. Grants stay below €2.5 million, with investments of €1 million to €10 million.
• Pathfinder Open: a two-stage evaluation, with a short application first, then a full proposal and interviews for those shortlisted. Stage 1 closes on February 25, 2027.
• Transition: becomes a single-applicant scheme, with a video pitch in the application. It closes on September 14, 2027.
• STEP Scale Up: equity of €10 million to €30 million, with cutoffs on January 28, April 29, September 6 and November 24, 2027.
• Customer pilots: new funding lets EIC-backed companies test products with committed public and private buyers, through grants of up to €60,000 per pilot. At least half of that money goes to pilots with public buyers.

The program says officials may delay call deadlines by up to two months. It calls its summary table a simplified overview, tells applicants to read the full conditions, and points them to Horizon Europe National Contact Points in each country for advice.

Defense stays in

A second defense call keeps its €100 million budget, with one cutoff on June 1, 2027. The first call closed last month with nine applications asking for €175 million. Dual-use innovations can also apply under the Accelerator, STEP Scale Up and the Scaleup Europe Fund, while Pathfinder, Transition and the Advanced Innovation Challenges stay civilian only.

What comes next

The EIC will present the program at an online information day on November 19, 2026, followed by a session on Accelerator Challenges on November 20. The longer view is the next EU budget: the program says several of its changes will serve as pilots or provide evidence for the design of the EIC under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU's long-term budget.