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EIC Transition

European Innovation Council

The EIC Transition focuses on innovation, technologies and business plans for specific applications beyond the proof of principle (PoP), with grants of up to € 2.5 million (or more if properly justified).

  • Use: R&D;
  • Date closing: -
  • Amount: 100,000 € - 2.5M €
  • Industry focus: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery; Arts; Tourism; Health; ICT; Food; Manufacturing; Chemical industry; Construction; Education; Energy and water supply; Transportation; Media; Others;
  • Total budget: 100M €
  • Entity type: Public Agency
  • Vertical focus: All
  • Website: https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/
  • Status:
    Open
  • Funding type: Grant;
  • Funding rate: 100%
  • Geographic focus: Horizon Europe associated countries; European Union;
  • Public/Private: Public
  • Stage focus: Seed; Series A;
  • Applicant target: SME; Startup; Mid-cap; LE; University; RTO;

Overview

General information:

The EIC Transition supports the maturity and validation of novelties tested in relevant laboratories and environments (such as prototypes, formulation or model testing). In this way, the projects in EIC Transition involve initiatives between Technology Readiness Levels TRL3 and TRL6. Future plans for commercialization and the business model are also taken into account in the EIC Transition, as any activity submitted must be designed to go to market.

The 2021 EIC Transition is designed to support the following initiatives:

Projects previously funded by Pathfinder / FET / ERC.

European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept (PoC) projects.

It is not mandatory to be the principal investigator, participant or owner of the results of the previous project. But you must be the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights or, at least, have the necessary permissions to commercialize the results of the initiative. A single entity or a small consortium of two to five partners can apply for Transition funding. These bodies could be, for example, universities, research organizations, SMEs, industrial partners or even potential end-users.

Application process:

Candidates must go through a two-step evaluation process providing a project report up to 25 pages submitted through the EIC platform.

After the evaluation of this report, the best projects will be invited to a 40-minute interview with the EIC jury.

In 2021 it was restricted to the IP owners of the results generated by the following eligible projects: EIC Pathfinder projects (including projects funded under EIC pilot Pathfinder, Horizon 2020), FET-Open, FET-Proactive, FET Flagships and FET ERAnet calls) European Research Council (ERC) Horizon 2020 Proof of Concept projects.

It is expected that by 2022 there will be 3 cut-offs in 2022 (aligned with Accelerator: April 6, June 25, October 5)

Last updated on 2023-02-21 09:53

EIC Transition FAQ

15 questions
FundingTrip Team
consultant | Communications
What is the funding rate?
June 02, 2023 - 08:11
Gamze Ermanli
applicant | CTIO
How long does it take to receive the funding?
December 21, 2021 - 12:08
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
The grant agreement signature takes place around the 6th-month ant the project starts the 7th month after the Transition deadline.
December 21, 2021 - 12:09
Niall Healy
applicant | Project manager
What is the success rate of the EIC Transition?
December 21, 2021 - 12:07
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
221 proposals have been submitted for the EIC Transition Open call, and 71 proposals have been submitted for the call under EIC Transition Challenges: 45 proposals under Medical Technology and Devices, and 26 proposals under Energy harvesting and storage technologies, but the statistics of approved projects have not been published yet.
December 21, 2021 - 12:09
Gamze Ermanli
applicant | CTIO
Can two companies apply together?
December 21, 2021 - 11:59
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
The EIC transition is open for single applicants or small consortiums. You can apply for EIC Transition either as:
A single legal entity established in a Member State or an Associated Country, if you are an SME or research performing organisation (university, research or technology organisation, including teams, individual Principle Investigators and inventors in such institutions who intend to form a spinout company). However, larger companies (i.e. which do not qualify as SMEs) cannot apply as a single legal entity.
A small consortium of a minimum of two and a maximum of five independent legal entities that may, for example, include universities, research organisations, SMEs or larger companies, user/customer organisations or potential end-users (e.g. hospitals, utilities, industry, regulatory and standardisation bodies, public authorities). Consortia of two companies must have independent legal entities from two different Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Consortia of three or above follow standard rules, i.e. at least one legal entity must be from a Member State.
December 21, 2021 - 12:03
Gamze Ermanli
applicant | CTIO
Who can apply to the Transition?
December 21, 2021 - 11:58
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
In 2021 this program has had limited access. It was restricted to the IP owners of the results generated by the following eligible projects: EIC Pathfinder projects (including projects funded under EIC pilot Pathfinder, Horizon 2020), FET-Open, FET-Proactive, FET Flagships and FET ERAnet calls) European Research Council (ERC) Horizon 2020 Proof of Concept projects.
You may apply if the eligible project has been active for at least 12 months (i.e. the start date of the grant is more than 12 months before the date of the Transition call deadline, or if you are applying based on an eligible project which has already been completed, you may apply if the end date of the grant for the eligible project is less than 24 months from the date of the Transition call deadline.
So, in the Transition 2021 call, the eligible projects were those funded under the following calls(Topics): FETOPEN-RIA-2014-2015; FETOPEN-01-2016-2017; FETOPEN-01-2018-2019-2020; H2020-FETPROACT-2014; FETPROACT-01-2016; FETPROACT-01-2018; FETPROACT-EIC-05-2019; FETOPEN-04-2016-2017; FETOPEN-03-2018-2019-2020; FETFLAG-03-2018; H2020-FETFLAG-2014 (for projects funded under the related Specific Grant Agreements); projects resulting from a joint transnational call (both with and without EU co-funding) under any of the QuantERA, FLAG-ERA and ChistERA ERANETs
It was not mandatory to be the principal investigator, participant or even the owner of the results of the previous project. But you must be the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights or, at least, have the necessary permissions to commercialize the results of the initiative.
However, it has not been published if the EIC will apply those restrictions in future 2022 calls.
December 21, 2021 - 12:01
Niall Healy
applicant | Project manager
Should I write my own application, or should I hire a consultant?
December 21, 2021 - 11:25
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
EIC Transition projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business dimensions. Transition projects come from R&D, and although technical knowledge is needed, most of the project is about designing a profitable and realistic business plan. It is more important to have notions about technology transfer, market research and prospection, funding and market readiness.
You probably do not have enough knowledge if you come from a spin-off or a university/CRO (the most likely IP owner). So, it is advisable to either count on this knowledge within the consortium (and hence establish a consortium), the coaching services of an accelerator or a science/business park, or to hire a consultant.
December 21, 2021 - 11:44
Niall Healy
applicant | Project manager
How much time is needed to prepare an application?
December 21, 2021 - 11:24
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
It takes up to 2 months to prepare a competitive Transition proposal (from outlining work packages until the final submission of the application), and you have to consider if you need to form a consortium because it takes time to find the appropriate partners to carry out your project.
December 21, 2021 - 11:40
Niall Healy
applicant | Project manager
What is the application procedure?
December 21, 2021 - 11:24
Answer by Rocío Martínez
Manager | Manager
Within the 2021 call, there have been two options:
- EIC transition open; it funds novel technologies in any scientific field that have already achieved the experimental proof of principle in the laboratory. These technologies should be aimed at further maturation and validation in the laboratory and in relevant application environments to advance development to market.
- EIC transition challenges; Aimed specifically at:
I) New technology and medical devices that respond to essential health needs in direct clinical treatment and patient care, with a straightforward exploitation strategy.
II) Innovative technologies that develop efficient, low-cost, sustainable, compact and flexible energy capture, conversion and storage. These technologies must be important to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal for decarbonised energy systems while achieving the transition to safe and affordable energy.

The application process is the same for both calls:
The First step is the proposal application which is sent through the EIC portal and consists of two parts. Part A is completed inside the platform with information about partners’ operational capacity. Part B is a 25-page document with three sections; Excellence, Impact and Quality and efficiency of the implementation.

The second step – only if step 1 is approved, will be notified 9 weeks after the submission deadline - It is an interview in Brussels to be presented by a maximum of 5 persons per proposal.

The EIC will communicate the final result after step 2, 4 weeks after the interview.
December 21, 2021 - 11:40

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