EIC directs more than €180 million to cutting-edge technologies under Pathfinder Open 2022 call

The Commission has selected the second set of proposals under the EIC Pathfinder Open call since the EIC’s launch in March 2021. 57 new projects are set to receive up to €183 million. The EIC Pathfinder Open call is fully bottom up. Selected projects will develop novel technologies for future applications across a wide range of topics – health, environment, energy, computing and artificial intelligence.

The successful proposals were selected among 858 evaluated submissions, with the highest number of selected applicants coming from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands. The majority of participants originate from higher education and research organisations and 18.5 % are SMEs.

Selected proposals will receive not only grants, but also have access to tailored-made coaching under the EIC business acceleration services.

Background information

With its Pathfinder scheme, the EIC supports the exploration of bold ideas for radically new technologies. It welcomes the high-risk/high gain and interdisciplinary cutting-edge science collaborations that underpin technological breakthroughs.

Grants of up to €3 million (Pathfinder Open call – fully bottom-up) or up to €4 million (Pathfinder Challenges call – with thematic priorities) support early-stage development of future technologies (e.g. various activities at low Technology Readiness Levels 1-3), up to proof of concept.  EIC Pathfinder projects benefit from interactions with EIC Programme Managers and can receive additional funding (EIC Booster grants with fixed amounts of up to €50 000) for testing the innovation potential of their research outputs or for working across projects for portfolio actions. In addition, promising results can receive substantial follow up funding through the EIC Transition scheme to create a commercial venture or use the Fast Track scheme to access the EIC Accelerator to bring innovations to the market.