Have you identified EU-funded project result(s) with promising commercial potential that could be the basis for ground-breaking innovations and promising new businesses?
- this novel promising technology ready for the next steps towards its maturation and validation, to be further developed and validated for some specific, high potential, commercial applications?
- Have you conducted a preliminary market research to identify potential markets for your innovation and explored potential competitors?
- Do you envisage building a motivated and entrepreneurial team with a mix of skills, including researchers, business people, marketers etc. to develop and drive the idea towards commercial success?
If the answer to each and every of these questions is a clear ‘yes’, then EIC Transition
may be the right call for you.
Why should you apply?
EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory. It supports both the maturation and validation of your novel technology from the lab to the relevant application environments (by making use of
prototyping, formulation, models, user testing or other validation tests) as well as explorations and development of a sustainable business case and business model towards commercialisation into high potential markets.
The EIC Transition Open has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application.
The overall budget for the EIC Transition in 2026 is EUR 100 million.
EIC Transition Open
This topic has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application.
For any chosen field, EIC Transition projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development, possibly including iterative learning processes based on early customer or user feedback. These activities should include, subject to the level of maturity of the technology, a suitable mix of research, technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of principle to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e. up to Technology Readiness Level 5 or 6). The activities must in all cases address market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, business case, prospects for growth, intellectual property protection, competitor analysis etc.) and other relevant aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation, aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment-ready.
The expected outcomes of your EIC Transition project are a) a technology that is demonstrated to be effective for its intended application and b) a business model, its initial validation and a business plan for its development to market.
Can you apply?
- Single legal entities established in a Member State or an Associated Country (‘mono-beneficiary’) if you are a start-up, SME or research performing organisation (university, research or technology organisation, including teams, individual Principal Investigators and inventors in such institutions who intend to form a spin-off company). Larger companies (i.e. which do not qualify as SMEs) are not eligible to apply as a single legal entity
- Small consortia of two independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries
- Consortia of minimum three and maximum five independent legal entities (‘multi-beneficiary’) following standard rules i.e. must include at least one legal entity established in a Member State and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries
Your proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project that are, at least, at experimental proof of concept (TRL 3) or, ideally, technology validated in the lab level (TRL 4). Proposals building on project results at TRLs other than TRL3 or TRL4 are not eligible.
How do you apply?
The cut-off date for 2026 is 16 September 2026.
You must submit your proposal via the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal before the given deadline.
