I3 Capacity Building
Coordinators Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument
- All sectors
GenAI4EU: Creating European Champions in Generative AI
- All sectors
- EU Open Calls
- Coordinators: Horizon Europe
- Opening of application: 15 May 2025
- Allocated budget: Combination of grant (up to 2,5M€) and equity (up to 10M€)
- End of applications: 1 October 2025
- Project duration: 24 months
- Project submitted on: Open calls
Objective
Support SMEs/start-ups developing trustworthy Generative AI solutions enhancing human-centric decision-making, safety, and EU tech sovereignty across critical sectors, with strong market potential and broad future applicability.
Priorities
- Optimise existing workflows: utilising Generative AI technologies to streamline and improve operational processes across various industries;
- Enhance human capabilities: Applying advanced AI models to enhance decisionmaking, creativity, and productivity;
- Ensuring that the AI models are both advanced and thoroughly validated for practical applicability and scalability in real-world scenarios.
Eligibility
Eligible activities
At least one of the following:
- Further developing and validating new GenAI models;
- Adapting existing models to specific sectors or types of data where smaller faster and more energy-efficient models would also be applicable;
- Integrating and testing the GenAI solutions in existing workflows, and testing these in regulatory sandboxes and real-life settings, including certification and post-market surveillance, as appropriate.
Specific focus by sector:
- Energy: the integration of GenAI in managing the power grid, alongside the storage and use of renewables by grid operators, for example, calls for high quality, reliable AI systems that deliver safe, real-time decision making to enhance resilience and planning.
- Public sector: leveraging GenAI to improve the quality, ease of access and efficiency of public services, or to increase the efficiency of public administration services and productivity.
- Manufacturing: systems to enable mass customisation, enhance sustainability and automation, propose options for design and identify maintenance needs.
- Education: Use of GenAI systems and assistants to enable personalised and adaptive learning experiences, enhancing educational outcomes and accessibility.
- Science: Leveraging GenAI to drive new levels of productivity and capability for researchers in both the private and public sectors, fostering innovation and scientific advancements.
Eligibility
This programme is mono-beneficiary :
1. Be established in one of the following countries :
- Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions,
- The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States,
- Countries associated to Horizon Europe – Pillar III & low- and middle-income countries
2. Single start-up or SME (including spin-outs)
3. Small mid-caps (up to 499 employees) in two scenarios:
- Can apply for “investments only”,
- Can apply for “blended finance” in exceptional cases for rapid scale up to TRL 9.
4. Natural persons or legal entities willing to set up an SMEs or a mid-cap.
5. Applicants may submit only one application to the EIC Accelerator. Additional applications can be submitted after receiving the results of the original submission.
The application can be rejected maximum 3 times up until the end of the programme under Horizon Europe i.e. the end of 2027. (If you are successful at the short proposal stage, this does not count within the limit of three applications. If you are successful at the remote evaluation stage of a full proposal but then unsuccessful at the interview phase, this counts as one unsuccessful application).
Different types of funding
Grant only: – for start-ups and SMEs with capacity to scale-up. To be provided only once during the implementation period of the Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027) (your application must demonstrate that you have access to the resources needed to commercialise and scale up your innovation)
Blended finance: a grant component & direct equity or quasi-equity such as convertible loans.
Investment only: for mid caps companies and companies that have received a «grant only».
You may adjust the EIC funding request when submitting your full proposal.
Application process :
1. Write your short proposal
Short proposals may be submitted at any time and which will be evaluated remotely by EIC expert evaluators on a first come, first served basis;
- A short form where you must summarise your proposal and respond to a set of questions on your innovation, your potential market and your team;
- A pitch-deck of up to ten slides in PDF format;
- A video pitch of up to three minutes where the core members of your team (up to three people) should provide the motivation for your proposal.
If your application meets the basic criteria, you will be invited to prepare a full proposal to submit to one of the periodic cut-off dates for funding.
Please note that short proposals are collected for evaluation on the first Tuesday of every month, and the results are transmitted to applicants within 4 to 6 weeks of the date at which the evaluation is started.
It is therefore recommended to submit a short proposal at least 10 weeks ahead of the deadline of a full application.
2. Prepare your full proposal
If your short proposal receives a GO, you can submit your full proposal to any of the 2025 – 2026 cut-offs.
Prepare your full proposal on Funding and Tenders portal. The full proposal consists of a full business plan, pitch deck in PDF & a 3 minutes video pitch.
You will get the result in a 8-9 weeks.
3. Pitch your innovation
If you receive a GO, you will be invited to an interview with an EIC jury. The interview will take place within 4–5 weeks after the announcement of the previous step’s results. The format will be determined later.
You will receive the interview results within 2–3 weeks.
October 1 cut off: interviews January 19-23, 2026
4. Step 4
Negotiate the grant component, start due diligence for investment component.
