The European Commission has adopted the EIC Work Programme 2026, with more than €1.424 billion available across the main funding schemes: Pathfinder, Transition, Accelerator, STEP Scale-Up, and the new Advanced Innovation Challenges pilot. The structure remains familiar if you applied in 2025, but several details have changed: how budgets are allocated, the application process, equity ranges, and the timing of deadlines.
For EIC Pathfinder, the total budget in 2026 remains at €262 million, unchanged from 2025. The internal split changes: around €166 million is reserved for Pathfinder Open and about €96 million for Pathfinder Challenges, whereas in 2025 the Open part was roughly €142 million and the Challenges about €120 million. The maximum grant per project remains up to €4 million. In 2026, the deadline for Pathfinder Open is 12 May, and the deadline for Pathfinder Challenges is 28 October. The shift is mainly in the distribution of funds and in a sharper thematic focus for the Challenges, rather than in the basic funding rules.
EIC Transition receives a modest budget increase, from €98 million in 2025 to €100 million in 2026. The maximum grant remains up to €2.5 million. In 2025, the main deadline was September 17; in 2026, it was moved slightly to September 16. The more significant change is eligibility: results can now come not only from EIC Pathfinder and ERC Proof of Concept projects or collaborative Horizon projects, but also from a broader range of Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 Research Infrastructures projects. The reference period for eligible precursor projects is also adjusted, offering a slightly wider window. The application process is streamlined into a more clearly defined three-step approach.
The largest envelope remains the EIC Accelerator, with a total of €634 million in 2026, unchanged from 2025. However, the internal split changes: approximately €414 million is allocated to Accelerator Open, and around €220 million to Accelerator Challenges, compared with approximately €384 million and €250 million, respectively, in 2025. The grant component remains up to €2.5 million. The major financial change is in the equity part: in 2025, equity investments ranged from €0.5 million to €10 million; in 2026, the minimum rises to €1 million, while the upper limit remains €10 million. The application process is also redesigned. The full application form has been reduced from approximately 50 pages to around 20 pages. Short proposals (Step 1) can be submitted continuously, and only applicants who receive a positive evaluation are invited to submit full proposals (Step 2). Another significant change is in the calendar: instead of two cut-offs for full proposals (12 March and 1 October in 2025), there are six cut-off dates in 2026: 7 January, 4 March, 6 May, 8 July, 2 September, and 4 November. The Accelerator Challenges stream also introduces a new set of strategic topics, for example, advanced materials for renewable energy and storage, fusion power plant technologies, biotech for soil regeneration, critical raw materials, and deep tech for climate adaptation. The remote Step 2 evaluation will be conducted by a single evaluator, rather than three. It will include a remote meeting between the applicant and the evaluator before the panel interview in Brussels.
The STEP Scale-Up scheme (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform) keeps the same overall budget as in 2025: €300 million in 2026. This instrument offers equity-only investments, typically ranging from €10 million to €30 million per company, to scale up firms in critical technology areas. Unlike 2025, where implementation was still being shaped, the 2026 work programme defines four explicit cut-off dates: 11 February, 6 May, 9 September and 25 November. The focus is tightened on key sectors, such as digital (including semiconductors and quantum), clean and resource-efficient technologies, and biotechnologies, with a stronger emphasis on leveraging significant private co-investment (for example, requiring credible plans to attract several times the EIC investment).
The main novelty in 2026 is the EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges (AIC) pilot. This instrument did not exist as a full scheme in the 2025 work programme. In 2026, the pilot has a Stage 1 budget of €6 million. It is designed for high-risk, demand-driven deep tech innovation. Selected projects receive a lump sum of around €0.3 million each in Stage 1, with an indicative target of about 20 funded solutions. Stage 2, planned for 2027, is expected to offer grants of up to €2.5 million. The deadline for Stage 1 in 2026 is 26 February. The aim is to connect innovation more directly to specific strategic challenges and user needs, with a clear milestone-based structure.
Taken together, the 2026 EIC Work Programme keeps the same broad financial scale as 2025, but adjusts the internal balance and the way applicants interact with the system. Pathfinder keeps its total budget while shifting the Open/Challenges split; Transition gains slightly more funds and wider eligibility; Accelerator keeps the same volume but raises the minimum equity ticket, introduces more frequent cut-offs and shorter applications; STEP Scale-Up clarifies its timetable and focus; and the AIC pilot adds a new route for strategic, demand-driven projects. For anyone planning proposals in 2026, the main practical consequences are new deadlines, revised equity ranges, and more frequent submission opportunities, especially under the Accelerator.
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