Some 160 applicants to EIC Accelerator win plaudits but not funding for proposals
The EU’s European Innovation Council funder has awarded a quality stamp to 160 companies that applied for Accelerator funding to develop research-based products or services.
Seals of Excellence are certificates awarded to applicants to EU programmes whose proposals receive strong evaluations but are not quite strong enough to win funding. It is intended to signal to national, regional and other funders that proposals might deserve their support.
On 29 August the EIC announced that 160 applicants to the March 2022 cut-off of the Accelerator were awarded the seal, having received recognition from independent experts that they “deserve funding”.
The EIC has now awarded 302 Seals of Excellence since it became a fully fledged funder under the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme.
During that time the EIC has been beset by problems with providing equity-based investment to companies, stemming from the European Commission’s decision to cede investment decisions to an external manager. A European Parliament inquiry into those problems is ongoing.