Brussels: The European Commission has adopted the 2026 European Innovation Council (EIC) work programme, earmarking £1.4 billion to support breakthrough innovation and bolster Europe's deep tech companies. This initiative aims to enhance funding processes, making them faster, more flexible, and better suited to the needs of innovators.
According to Emirates News Agency, the programme will pilot new Advanced Innovation Challenges designed to hasten the commercialisation of high-risk, high-reward research in strategic sectors. Concurrently, preparations are underway for the Scaleup Europe Fund, an investment initiative under the EIC Fund that is privately managed and co-financed. This fund seeks to improve access to late-stage growth financing for deep tech scale-ups and facilitate their expansion within Europe.
Moreover, the EIC Accelerator will adopt a simplified application process, reducing full proposals from 50 to 20 pages and implementing evaluation rounds every two months instead of biannually. This process will also incorporate a clearer assessment of technology readiness, supporting more efficient investment decisions.