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Stage 1

EIC Short Proposal — Always Open. Submit When Ready.

The Short Proposal is the EIC Accelerator entry point. From 2026 onwards it is continuously open: you submit when your innovation is genuinely ready, not when the calendar dictates.

Section 01

What the Short Proposal evaluates

Core innovation, market opportunity, team credibility and the path from current TRL to a fundable scale-up trajectory — assessed concisely, without exhaustive documentation.

Section 02

What 'ready' actually means

Defensible technical claims, evidence of customer or expert pull, a clear-eyed view of risk, and a coherent narrative connecting technology, market and team.

Section 03

From submission to GO/NO-GO

After submission, the EIC issues a GO/NO-GO outcome. A GO opens the path to develop the Full Proposal for a specific upcoming evaluation batch.

Section 04

Common reasons Short Proposals stall

Vague technical differentiation, missing market evidence, weak European scale narrative, or trying to be 'everything for everyone' instead of one defensible thing.

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eic-accelerator.eu is an independent consultancy. We are not affiliated with the European Innovation Council, the European Commission, or any official EU institution. Content reflects publicly available programme information and may change; final rules are defined by the relevant programme authorities.