The European Commission has adopted the 2027 European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme, unlocking €1.8 billion to support Europe’s most promising deep tech entrepreneurs and researchers.
This is the final EIC funding package under the multibillion Horizon Europe 2021–2027 research strategy. The programme is aimed at helping turn breakthrough research into market-ready innovations and strengthening Europe’s ability to develop and scale strategic technologies.
In 2027, the EIC will continue to support high-potential innovators from early research to commercialisation and scale-up. The new programme also delivers on the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the Competitiveness Compass by making EIC support simpler, faster and more targeted. It will also continue to strengthen support for scaling up through the Scaleup Europe Fund and the EIC STEP Scale Up scheme, including in dual-use and defence technologies. And it will make it easier for innovators to apply for and access funding, while advancing a more challenge-driven, staged approach to supporting high-risk, high-reward innovation. New measures will also help EIC-backed companies win their first customers, including through public procurement.
The 2027 work programme includes several targeted improvements, drawing from implementation experience, advice from the EIC Board and feedback from Member States. These include:
- completing funding for the Scaleup Europe Fund (€1 billion), defence investments (€200 million), and the Advanced Innovation Challenges pilot (€25 million), all introduced in 2026;
- improving the management of the high volume of applications for breakthrough research under the EIC Pathfinder;
- strengthening the innovation impact of the EIC Transition scheme by supporting single teams and companies rather than consortia;
- expanding support to women-led startups through a redesigned Women TechEU programme, doubling the grants to €150,000 per start-up, and introducing a new European Prize for Women Innovators in Quantum, complementing the existing European Prize for Women Innovators; and
- helping EIC-backed companies test their technologies with public and private procurers.
