EIC Accelerator: June 2023 cut-off statistics
The June 2023 cut-off for the EIC Accelerator was a surprise to many applicants. On June 2nd, only a few days away from the original deadline, applicants found out that the EIC Accelerator had delayed the application deadline to Jun 21st, instead of June 7th, as they retired their AI application platform and implemented a new application format.
The EIC Accelerator has published the statistics for the June 2023 cut-off, which provide some interesting insights.
Only 16,5% of those who applied in this round, applied for Accelerator Challenges, whereas the budget is very similar to that of the Accelerator Open Challenge.
Accelerator Challenges:
107 applied (1% of total applicants)
€613m budget for 2023
Accelerator Open:
541 applied (83% of total applicants)
€524,7m budget for 2023
This means that for those companies that are a good fit to one of the seven strategic challenges of 2023, it seems five times more likely to get the grant than if they’d have applied for Accelerator Open. Note, however, that budgets vary within the Challenges, as Energy Storage and Quantum Technologies each have a €100m budget whereas the other five have a €65m budget each.
The 2024 budget balance of Challenges vs. Open will change. Now, the budget is divided into two parts: Next Generation EU and Horizon Europe. In 2024, the Next Generation EU part of the budget will end, and for 2023 that happens to make up a good half of the budget for , but only 25% of the Open Challenge budget. So, by removing it, chances of getting a grant under the Accelerator Challenges plan should be cut in approximately half for 2024 (assuming similar grant amounts per receiver), but chances of getting a grant via the Open Challenge should be cut only by 25%.
This means that those who fit the criteria for one of the Challenges of 2023 should make sure to submit their long application by the last cut-off date of the year, which will be October 19th (postponed from October 4th). After that, applicants for EIC Accelerator Challenges are less likely to receive a grant compared to applicants for the Open Challenge (plus, the challenges change every year, so we’ll probably see a set of new EIC Accelerator Challenges for 2024).