The EIC Accelerator is an instrument of the European Innovation Council intended for startups and fast-growing small companies with a breakthrough technology that need to overcome the gap between development and market entry. It offers a combination of a grant to complete development and a direct equity investment in the company, with the company also able to apply for the grant component only. Selection is multi-stage: a short initial application, a full application with a business plan, and finally a face-to-face interview before an international jury. The success rate is low, and the assessment focuses mainly on the degree of innovation compared with the state of the art worldwide, the size of the market, the quality of the team, and the ability to scale. For Slovak companies, this is the most ambitious available source, requiring preparation in English at the level of an investment pitch.
See also: Grants for Startups, Research and development project, Horizon Europe.
