EU programmes · European Commission / European Innovation Council (EIC), managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)
The EIC Accelerator is a flagship instrument under Horizon Europe (Pillar III) that provides grants, equity investment, and blended finance to individual SMEs and startups commercialising breakthrough deep-tech innovations at TRL 5–8.
The EIC Accelerator is one of the largest single-company public funding mechanisms in Europe, combining non-dilutive grants with substantial equity tickets—making it highly relevant for capital-intensive deep-tech and dual-use defence companies that struggle to raise private rounds.
European Commission (DG DEFIS), with EUSPA and the EIF
Space is treated as dual-use across EU funding; CASSINI gives space-defence start-ups an equity pipeline and visibility instruments that stack with EDF and EUDIS applications.
European Investment Fund with the European Commission, under InvestEU
Not a programme you apply to as a company, but it determines which European VCs have fresh defence-mandated capital; track its fund commitments to know who can actually write you a cheque.
European Investment Bank Group
Debt, not grants: the EIB now finances defence companies that banks still avoid, and venture debt from its one-stop shop can extend runway without dilution once you have revenue or strong contracts.