Pillar 3

Pillar 3 also contains the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) which is responsible for sector specific Knowledge Innovation Communities.

The EIC is the largest component and acts as a ‘one-stop shop’ for European innovators. It channels funding through three main instruments:

• EIC Pathfinder – building on the success of the FET Open scheme this instrument supports future and emerging breakthrough technologies.
• EIC Transition – this new instrument supports the maturation and validation of novel technologies in the lab and relevant application environments, as well as the development of a business case and business model towards an innovation's future commercialisation. Applications to this scheme must build on the results (demonstrated proof of principle) achieved within eligible past Horizon collaborative projects, ERC Proof of Concept, EIC Pathfinder or European Defence Fund projects.
• EIC Accelerator – this instrument bridges the financing gap between the late stages of innovation activities and market take-up to effectively deploy breakthrough market-creating innovation and scale up companies.

The EIC funds a range of ‘bottom up’ and ‘top down’ opportunities, with the latter focused on strategic challenge areas. In 2024, the majority of the strategic challenge funding opportunities are dedicated to SMEs and start-ups to develop and scale up “deep tech” innovations in critical fields such as generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), space, critical raw materials, semiconductors and quantum technologies.