If you’ve won an innovation grant from the European Union, the EIC Transition scheme is an excellent opportunity to secure further funding for your game-changing technology.
Run by the European Innovation Council, the Transition competition offers grants of up to €2.5 million (£2.1 million) for companies, universities and research organisations that:
- Have already won certain EU grants, such as from EIC Pathfinder
- Need funding to develop a radical, laboratory-validated technology
Below, I’ve laid out the main things you need to know about the Transition competition, including who’s eligible and what the application process looks like.
If you want to know whether you should apply, book an Eligibility and Competitiveness Assessment.
In a free, 30-minute consultation, my colleagues and I will tell you:
- Whether you’re eligible for a Transition grant
- Your chances of winning, based on variables like the strength of your project
- What other grants or government funding schemes you may be eligible for if Transition isn’t a good fit for your organisation or project
What is the EIC Transition?
Run by the European Innovation Council, Europe’s “flagship innovation programme”, Transition is a grant competition that provides funding to companies and research organisations to allow them to further develop technologies that have received one of the following:
- An EIC Pathfinder grant
- A European Research Council Proof of Concept grant
- A Research and Innovation Action under the Horizon 2020 Societal challenges and Leadership Industrial Technologies strands, or Horizon Europe pillar II
- A European Defence Fund (EDF) grant for a project focused on civil applications
Transition grants fund projects designed to validate cutting-edge technologies in environments that are relevant to their ultimate commercial application. This work, which includes prototyping, modelling and testing, advances innovations from technology readiness level 3-4 – the proof of concept or laboratory-validation stage – to TRL 5 or, ideally, 6.
Transition awards cover up to 100% of a project’s eligible costs, more than most of the other innovation grants available to UK startups and scaleups. In addition to funding, winning applicants receive a range of non-financial support through the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services. These include coaching, mentoring, and access to the EIC’s expansive network.
Unlike the EIC Accelerator and Pathfinder schemes, Transition only has one stream: Open.
Who is eligible for an EIC Transition Open grant?
The EIC Transition is open to single organisations and small consortia (2-5 applicants) from EU member states and associated countries. Associated countries means countries associated to Horizon Europe, which includes the UK.
Projects must look to develop cutting-edge, high-risk technologies and have already received funding from one of the bodies or competitions mentioned above.
Single organisations
To apply to EIC transition, your organisation must be one of the following:
- An SME
- A research organisation
- A university
The European Union defines a Micro, Small or Medium-sized enterprise (SME) as 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
This is similar to but more generous than the definition of an SME used by Innovate UK.
Consortia
Consortia can also apply for an EIC Transition grant.
Consortia can consist of up to 5 organisations, including at least one from an EU member state and representing at least two EU countries or associated nations.
Eligible projects
Projects must look to develop a technology from TRL 3-4 to TRL 5 or 6.
If you’re applying for a project which is benefiting from an ongoing grant, you can apply if the start date of your current grant-funded project is more than a year before Transition’s cut-off date of 17 September 2025.
If you are applying for an innovation that previously received grant funding, you can apply within 30 months of the completion of the grant-funded project.
How do I apply to the EIC Transition competition?
There are two steps to applying for an EIC Transition grant:
- Proposal
- Jury interview
The next deadline for submitting a proposal – the cut-off date – is 17 September 2025.
Step 1 - Proposal
Proposals are submitted via the EU’s EU Funding & Tenders Portal and have two parts, A and B.
Part A contains administrative information that is relatively simple to complete.
Part B, meanwhile, contains technical information about your project and organisation and is what the EIC uses to judge whether you deserve grant funding. Part B is capped at 22 pages of A4.
In my experience, it takes at least 6 weeks to prepare a compelling and competitive application for an EIC Transition grant, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to compile the required information.
Whatever you do, don’t leave it to the last minute. You’ll only be wasting your time on a proposal with little to no chance of success.
Your proposal is reviewed independently by three EIC evaluators. Their scores are combined to give you a final score. All applications submitted to Transition are then ranked by their final score, with the highest-ranking applications moving to step 2.
Step 2 - Jury interview
If you pass the proposal stage, you will be invited to an interview with an EIC jury.
During the interview, the jury, consisting of up to 6 EIC assessors, will ask you to clarify various aspects of your proposal. It’s also your chance to pitch your project, where you can explain the significance of your innovation and prove that your team has the capability to deliver your project.
If you pass the jury interview, the funding is as good as yours. The EIC will run a few due diligence checks, and then it’s on to negotiating and signing your grant agreement.
Maximise your chances with GrantTree
The EIC Transition scheme is a fantastic way to secure additional funding for grant-winning projects backed by the European Union.
One in ten Transition applicants go on to receive funding, giving the scheme a higher success rate than any other EIC competition.
Nevertheless, Transition is highly competitive, and preparing a competitive and compelling application can be a gruelling ordeal, distracting your key technical people from working on your game-changing innovation.
GrantTree can help. Calling on 15 years of grant-winning expertise, our team can ensure you put forward the strongest possible application, demonstrating your suitability for a Transition grant and why you are perfectly placed to successfully deliver your promising project.
To find out more about how GrantTree can help you secure more than £2 million in non-dilutive grant funding from the European Innovation Council, just get in touch.
