Deep tech, research-to-market, EIC-adjacent, and breakthrough innovation opportunities for startups building defensible technology in Europe.
7 current opportunities
Funding guide
This guide is for founders building high-risk, high-impact technology: AI, advanced computing, health, climate, hardware, industrial tech, robotics, biotech, or research-backed products.
Current opportunities
7 opportunities shown.
Women founders and co-founders whose registered company or organisation develops breakthrough innovations with positive impact for people or the planet, particularly in deep tech and STEM. Both the founder's legal residence and the company's establishment must be in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.
EIC Women Innovators awards cash prizes of €100,000, €70,000 and €50,000. EIC Rising Innovators and EIT Women Leadership each award €50,000, €30,000 and €20,000. Winners gain European visibility as role models for women and girls; these are prizes, not an investment offer.
Apply as a natural person through the Funding & Tenders Portal by 1 Dec 2026 at 17:00 CET, choosing only one category. The company or organisation must have been registered or incorporated before 1 Jan 2025; self-employment is not accepted. Rising Innovators applicants must be under 35 at the start of the call year; check the category's detailed age rules before submitting. EIT Women Leadership requires a direct link to the EIT Community. Submit the application and an inspiring video of up to 90 seconds, and be ready to provide eligibility evidence and attend a jury hearing in Brussels, which may take place remotely. Previous EU or Euratom prize winners cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.
Incorporated startups and SMEs planning national or European patent applications, EU plant variety protection, or geographical indications for craft and industrial products. Portuguese SMEs can apply through EUIPO.
Partial reimbursement of eligible IP costs: 75% of national and European patent fees, with separate caps of €1,000 each, and 50% of European patent drafting and filing services, capped at €1,500. Plant variety applications and examination receive 75% reimbursement up to €1,500; craft and industrial geographical indications receive 50% support up to €2,000.
Apply to EUIPO by 4 Dec 2026, subject to available funding. Obtain the grant and voucher before activating it for eligible services and claiming reimbursement. Patent and plant variety vouchers must be activated within one month, extendable by one further month; geographical indication vouchers are valid for six months. INPI currently marks Voucher 1 (IP Scan/IP Scan Enforcement) and Voucher 2 (trademarks and designs) temporarily unavailable, so do not assume those costs are currently supported. Verify the selected voucher's live availability and detailed rules before incurring costs.
Startups and SMEs in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries with a game-changing, high-risk innovation that has completed TRL 5 and is ready for TRL 6-8 activities, strong scale-up ambition, and funding needs that private investors alone will not yet cover.
A grant component below €2.5 million for innovation activities, plus €1-€10 million in direct equity or quasi-equity for blended-finance applicants. Selected companies also receive coaching, mentoring, investor and partner access, and other EIC Business Acceleration Services.
Submit a short proposal at any time; these are batched on the first Tuesday of each month at 17:00 Brussels time. A GO is required before submitting a full proposal, with the final 2026 full-proposal batch on 4 Nov. Eligible applicants include single startups and SMEs, people or entities establishing one before the full proposal, and small mid-caps applying for investment only; third-country applicants must relocate to an eligible country before Step 2.
Early-stage startups with outstanding potential that want Web Summit visibility in Lisbon, investor and media exposure, startup activations, and a structured event preparation path with the startup success team.
Selected ALPHA startups receive three Web Summit tickets, a startup profile visible to attendees, investors, media, and partners, a one-day exhibition booth, a printed exhibition board, access to the Web Summit app, Startup Lounge, startup activations, and support from a dedicated startup success manager. Accepted startups can also apply for activations such as PITCH, Startup Showcase, 40 Words, Mentor Hours, masterclasses, roundtables, and investor-to-startup meetings. Startups selected through Build Up Labs' referral route receive 20% off automatically at checkout.
Apply through the Build Up Labs referral link with a business email address. Web Summit assesses applicants for high potential and programme fit; the 20% discount is applied only after selection, at checkout. PITCH is open to ALPHA and BETA startups exhibiting at Web Summit that have received less than €5M in funding to date and have not had a discernible change in business model in the last three years.
Women-founded or women-co-founded early-stage deep tech startups in EU Member States or eligible Horizon Europe Pillar III Associated Countries, especially teams preparing to move from validated technology toward market readiness.
€75,000 equity-free grant funding plus personalised business development support, mentoring, training, expert guidance, matchmaking, networking, and help bridging toward other EIC funding and support schemes.
At least one woman founder or co-founder must hold a top management role such as CEO or CTO, and women founders must collectively hold at least 25% of company shares at submission. The company must be a commercial SME registered for at least six months and no more than five years, be before high-fidelity MVP stage (TRL4-TRL6), have raised less than €1M in equity, and must not have already benefitted from Women TechEU or EIC Accelerator. The eligibility strand has weekly Tuesday cut-offs at 17:00 Brussels time until 15 Jun 2027; the next near-term cut-off is 27 Oct 2026. Eligible applicants are then invited to a full proposal, with the next submission deadline on 14 Jan 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time.
Portuguese startups, SMEs, and eligible national entities needing advanced compute resources.; best for AI, simulation, scientific-computing, and compute-heavy startups.
CPU / GPU hours and storage on advanced computing infrastructure.
Eligible Portuguese entities with pre-commercial innovation projects.
Startups and SMEs supported by EIC, EIT, KICs, MSCA or related European innovation programmes that can host a 3-6 month innovation internship; also relevant for researchers, graduates and EIT talents looking for startup exposure.
Access to specialised research and innovation talent without financial burden for hosting companies, AI-assisted matchmaking with company needs, and practical knowledge-transfer between research and startup execution.
Hosting company eligibility is programme-specific: EIC Accelerator, Seal of Excellence, EIC Transition, EIT/KIC-supported startups and SMEs, MSCA companies, or startups/scaleups connected to EIT alumni/KIC activities. The official programme says applications are open and InnoNext has been extended until 31 Jul 2027, with new innovation internships activated until May 2027. Talents must also fit the listed EIC/EIT/MSCA/ERC/Horizon/EIT eligibility categories.
Founder guidance
We treat an opportunity as deep tech when it targets research-backed, technically defensible, hardware, health, industrial, climate, AI, or breakthrough innovation teams rather than generic startup growth support.
No. EIC Accelerator is a strong search anchor, but this page also includes EIC-adjacent and deep tech programmes that can help founders prepare for larger European funding routes.
Check technology readiness level, legal entity requirements, previous funding limits, IP ownership, time commitment, and whether the programme expects market-ready innovation or earlier research-to-market work.
