EIC says its Pathfinder Challenges call drew a record 1,138 proposals for €96 million in grants

The European Innovation Council (EIC), the EU body that funds high-risk technology from early research to scale-up, said on November 10, 2026, that its Pathfinder Challenges call drew 1,138 project proposals by its October 28 deadline. The EIC called the number unprecedented. The proposals involve 5,107 participants from 58 countries, all competing for an indicative budget of €96 million.

By our arithmetic, that is about 71% more proposals than the 667 the 2025 call received; the EIC describes the rise as almost double. The money moved the other way: the 2025 and 2024 calls each had an indicative €120 million.

Where the proposals went

Each challenge within the call is a set topic overseen by an EIC program manager, who steers the portfolio of funded projects toward a shared goal. This year's three topics drew very different numbers, and the EIC expects to split the budget in roughly equal shares, which works out to about €32 million each, by our arithmetic.

More demand, less money

The EIC's statements on the last three calls show demand rising each year. The number of countries fell this time, from 71 to 58, even as the participant count rose by about a third, by our arithmetic.

The 2024 call shows what that money can buy. In March 2025, the EIC said it had selected 31 projects from 401 eligible proposals, with almost €116 million in total and an average of €3.73 million each. That is a success rate of about 8% of eligible proposals, by our arithmetic. At the same average, €96 million would fund about 26 projects (24 at €4 million each), or roughly 2% of the proposals submitted this year. That is our estimate, not the EIC's: it has not said how many projects it will fund, average grants may differ from 2024's, and some proposals may be ruled ineligible.

The budget falls again in 2027. The EIC's 2027 work program, announced on November 5, sets the next Pathfinder Challenges call at €82 million, with a deadline of September 29, 2027, and topics on advanced materials for electricity generation, storage and transmission, on continual learning for reliable AI agents, and on quantum energetics. Our report on the 2027 program covers the rest of the EIC's budget.

Who can apply, and what they get

Pathfinder grants pay for early-stage research up to a proof of concept or validation in the lab, technology readiness levels 3 to 4. The EIC's 2026 work program considers grants of up to €4 million appropriate, although applicants may ask for more if they justify it. Projects can come from consortia or single organizations, which the program says may include universities, research organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and individuals. Mid-caps and larger companies cannot apply on their own. The program also encourages teams to bring in promising high-tech SMEs, including startups.

Universities made up the largest group in the 2024 call's funded projects: 38% of participants came from higher education, 34% from private organizations and 23% from research organizations, the EIC said. It added that selected projects receive coaching and possible fast-track access to the EIC Accelerator, which the work program says mainly supports SMEs, including startups.

The EIC has started evaluating this year's proposals and expects to announce which projects it will fund in spring 2027.