EIC STEP Scale Up

Type of action: HORIZON EIC Equity Only ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout In order to apply, your innovation must be within the scope of the priority areas defined in the STEP regulation, which includes Critical Raw Materials and further developed in the Guidance note: a. Digital technologies, and deep tech innovations. This includes: advanced semiconductor technologies; artificial intelligence technologies; quantum technologies; advanced connectivity, navigation and digital technologies; advanced sensing technologies; robotics and autonomous systems; Deep tech innovations (see Glossary of the EIC Work Programme 2026). b. Clean and resource efficient technologies, including net-zero technologies. This includes: solar technologies; onshore wind and offshore renewable technologies; battery and energy storage technologies; heat pumps and geothermal technologies; hydrogen technologies; sustainable biogas and biomethane technologies; carbon capture and storage technologies; electricity grid technologies; nuclear fission technologies, sustainable alternative fuel technologies; hydropower technologies; other renewable technologies; energy system -related energy efficiency technologies; renewable fuels of nonbiological origin technologies; biotech climate and energy solutions; transformative industrial technologies for decarbonisation; CO2 transport and utilisation technologies; wind and electric propulsion technologies; other nuclear technologies; advanced materials, manufacturing and recycling technologies, technologies vital to sustainability such as water purification and desalination; and circular economy technologies. c. Biotechnologies, including medicinal products on the Union list of critical medicines and their components. Including DNA/RNA; proteins and other molecules; cell and tissue culture and engineering; process biotechnology techniques; Gene and RNA vectors; bioinformatics; and nanobiotechnology. These technologies are deemed critical where they meet either of the following conditions: a. they bring to the internal market an innovative, emerging and cutting-edge element with significant economic potential; b. they contribute to reducing or preventing strategic dependencies of the Union. The Commission Guidance note, concerning certain provisions of STEP Regulation adopted on May 2024, provides detailed information on the criticality conditions. This call targets companies raising significant funding rounds and you must demonstrate an initial market interest such that the EIC investment acts as a catalyst for larger funding rounds. You will therefore need to demonstrate that the company already has a precommitment for an equity investment which meets the following elements: The pre-commitment comes from a single qualified investor with demonstrable know-how and experience in the relevant market, technology and jurisdiction and subject to KYC by the EIC Fund or the EIF.. The precommitted investor may be an existing investor in the company and does not necessarily need to be the investor who intends to lead the investment round; The pre-commitment represents at least 20% of the total target funding round you are aiming to raise. The following entities are eligible to apply: A single company classified as a SME or small mid-cap (up to 499 employees) established within a Member State or an Associated Country (see Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2026). The company may have a holding entity for the purposes of the investment, and this holding company must also be established in a Member State or an Associated Country. An investor may submit a proposal on behalf of an eligible SME or small midcap as defined above, provided that a prior agreement exists with the company. The investment agreement will be signed with the selected SME or small mid-cap. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex 2(B. Eligibility) of the EIC Work Programme 2026.  3. Other Eligible Conditions described in Annex 2(General conditions for proposals) of the EIC Work Programme 2026.  4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex 2(C. Financial and Operational Capacity) of the EIC Work Programme 2026.  5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in section VI of the EIC Work Programme 2026. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described in section VI of the EIC Work Programme 2026. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in section VI of the EIC Work Programme 2026. EIC Work Programme 2026 Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE EIC STEP) Guidance HE Programme Guide Call-specific instructions Information on financial support to third parties (HE)  Information on clinical studies (HE)  Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 13. 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