Organisations working on AI-powered robotics and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) could secure up to €2.5 million through the EIC’s new Advanced Innovation Challenges scheme.
Modelled on the United States’ storied Advanced Research Programme Agency (ARPA), the European Innovation Council (EIC)’s pilot Advanced Innovation Challenges competition is perfect for startups and scaleups working on high-risk innovations connected to:
- Disruptive New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)
- AI-powered robotics
In this article, I’ve explained the key things you need to know about the EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges scheme. If you want to know if you’re right for this grant, my colleagues and I would be happy to perform a free Eligibility and Competitiveness Assessment.
In this 30-minute consultation, we will tell you:
- Whether you and your project are eligible for an Advanced Innovation Challenges grant
- How likely we feel you are to access funding from this competitive scheme
- What other types of non-equity funding you’re eligible for
Book your free Eligibility and Competitiveness Assessment here.
What is the EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges scheme?
The EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges scheme is a new pilot scheme offering grants of up to €2.5 million (£2.1 million) to SMEs conducting deeptech R&D connected to specific challenges. So far, the EIC has announced two such challenges where it will allocate funding:
- Accelerating Physical AI: Embodied Intelligence for the Next Frontier of AI-Powered Robotics
- Translating Disruptive New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) into Practice
The scheme has an initial budget of €31 million and is divided into two stages.
- Stage 1: Offers grants of up to €300,000 (£260,000) for projects lasting up to nine months. Open now, with a deadline of 26 February 2026 at 17h00 Brussels local time. Open to individual SMEs and research organisations.
- Stage 2: Offers grants of up to €2.5 million (£2.1 million). Opens in 2027, with an indicative deadline of 18 June 2027. Individual businesses and consortia of up to three organisations can apply.
You need to have won a grant in Stage 1 to apply for Stage 2.
Who is eligible for an EIC Advanced Innovation Challenge grant?
Whether you’re eligible for an EIC Accelerator grant depends on two things: your organisation and your project. I’ve broken down the criteria in each area below.
Your organisation
You must be an SME or research organisation to apply for an Advanced Innovation Challenge grant.
An SME is a company with:
- No more than 250 employees
- And a turnover of no more than €50 million
- Or a balance sheet worth no more than €43 million
Stage 1 is only open to organisations applying on their own, while Stage 2 will welcome applications from consortia of up to 3 organisations.
British organisations are eligible for this competition because the UK is associated to the EIC’s overarching body, Horizon Europe.
Your project
As mentioned above, your project must be focused on one of the two challenges defined by the EIC.
For Stage 1, your project must last no more than 9 months and cost at most €300,000.
For Stage 2, your project must last at most 2.5 years and cost no more than €2.5 million. To qualify for Stage 2, you need to have won a grant in Stage 1.
Your innovation must be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or above. It must also have significant commercial potential but be too risky for private investors to fund its development at this stage.
How do I apply for an Advanced Innovation Challenges grant?
To apply for Stage 1, you need to submit a written proposal no more than 11 pages long. The deadline for submitting a proposal is 26 February 2026 at 5 pm Brussels time.
To apply for Stage 2, you need to have been successful in Stage 1. You must submit a written application up to 22 pages long. You will then be invited to a live pitch before a panel of independent experts.
This will assess:
- The readiness of the solution for real-world deployment
- The potential for scale-up and market uptake
How GrantTree can help
While more focused than the other EIC grant competitions, we expect the Advanced Innovation Challenges scheme to be highly competitive.
Calling on many years of experience winning grants for innovative businesses, GrantTree’s grants experts can save you time while dramatically increasing your chances of winning funding.
We can help you by:
- Giving you an honest assessment of your suitability for an Advanced Innovation Challenges grant, so you can decide whether to invest the time (usually around 8 weeks) it takes to prepare a competitive application.
- Maximise your chances of winning a grant by writing your application for you, coaching you to write a stronger application, or providing one or more rounds of detailed feedback from an EIC evaluator on an application you’ve written yourself
To find out if an EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges grant is right for your business, or learn more about how GrantTree can maximise your chances of success, just get in touch.
