Targeted project promoters
One of the main challenges faced by European scale-up companies in critical sectors, particularly for high-risk, deep technologies, is the later-stage financing gap in Europe.
STEP helps European scale-up companies that contribute to preserving a European edge on critical technologies overcome the later-stage financing gap in Europe.
Who can benefit from STEP?
- Companies: SMEs (including start-ups), mid-caps, and larger companies
- Other entities: Universities, research and technology organizations, non-profit organizations, and public entities
The type of support offered differs per type of beneficiaries:
| Equity support | for non-bankable SMEs, including start-ups, and non-bankable small mid-caps through the European Innovation Council |
| Equity and debt support | available for EU companies under InvestEU |
| Grants | in the areas of digital and deep tech, clean tech and biotech under the Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme, the European Defence Fund, the EU4Health programme and the Innovation Fund. |
| Grants, financial instruments, or public procurements | Open to any type of undertaking active in digital and deep tech, clean tech and bio tech sectors in the 27 Member States through the cohesion policy funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. |
Targeted investment areas
Support through all stages of development
EU funding under STEP provides support to strategic technologies at all stages of development, from early development to commercial readiness:
- Upstream development of critical technologies: STEP funds all development stages, from research and innovation up to the prototype demonstration in operational environments.
- Development of critical manufacturing capacities for large-scale production: STEP supports the establishment of manufacturing capacities at industrial scale (including first-of-a-kind ones) for critical technologies' products and relevant components and sub-components, including the machinery specifically used to produce these.
Advisory services
Advisory services offer tailored guidance and support to innovative projects. Whether delivered through EU funded programmes or by public and private organisations, these services are designed to address the specific needs of projects at any stage of development. By providing financial and technical advice, they empower project promoters, helping them mature their project, access finance, understand the financial EU ecosystem and navigate the dynamic landscape of innovation. These services may help not only the development of innovative ideas but also their successful deployment to market.
- The InvestEU Advisory Hub partners provide project advisory support, capacity building and market development to project promoters and financial intermediaries.
- Provides advisory across 4 policy windows: Sustainable Infrastructure; Research, Innovation and digitalisation; SMEs; and Social investment and Skills.
- To apply, describe your needs and submit your request at InvestEU Central Entry Point
- Supports some of the projects submitted under the calls for proposals of the Innovation Fund that are not selected for grant funding.
- Provides tailored advice to enhance projects’ technical and financial readiness for funding and operational maturity.
- For more information, please visit Project Development Assistance
- Provides tailor-made high-quality services to accelerate projects path to market and business growth.
- If a project has been awarded the STEP Seal under an EIC STEP-relevant call (regardless of whether it has received funding), it can access BAS through the open calls published on the EIC Community Platform and request BAS coaching service via its Coaching Matching Dashboard.
- For more information, please visit Business Acceleration Services
- Dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), provides a set of tools to help innovators mature, scale-up, demonstrate their use-case and successfully enter the defence market.
- If you are a SME part of a consortium selected for a grant under EDF, you are automatically eligible for up to 15 days of business coaching provided by defence and space industry experts. Register here!
- If you were not selected for a grant, you can still apply for other EUDIS initiatives, including hackathons, technological challenges, spin-in calls and much more. Find all the relevant opportunities on the Commission Funding & Tender portal.
- For more information, visit EUDIS
- The network supports SMEs in accessing new markets, understanding EU regulations and finding partners.
- You can search for business and academic partners to develop your products or services ideas by consulting Europe’s largest online database of business partnering opportunities.
- For more information, visit Enterprise Europe Network
In most cases, these advisory services are offered on a fee basis. Regardless of the payment structure, the goal remains the same: to provide valuable assistance to innovative projects and help them succeed in a competitive and ever-changing market.
The non-exhaustive list below - under construction - will be complemented on regular basis.
EIT Digital is a pan-European multi-stakeholder platform, collaborating with both the public and private sectors. Co-funded by the EU, EIT Digital has a 15-year track record of operating at the highest levels and delivering European Innovation and Education. They offer services on a pay-per-service basis, with STEP Seal holders receiving a 50% discount on these services. It is necessary to indicate you are a STEP Seal holder when submitting your application. Available services include:
- Speed Master: Boost your skills with an executive course designed to fast-track the success of scaleups and startups. The course requires a commitment of 2 hours per week and features interactive online sessions, offering a certificate upon completion. Discover more
- Access to Talent: Find top STEM talent through an extensive network of highly skilled digital innovators and entrepreneurs from EIT Digital’s Master School. EIT Digital has a 15-year track record of delivering T-shaped entrepreneurial tech talent.
- Growth Services: Scale your company with hands-on guidance and access to a network of 1,000+ experts, investors, and business partners. This service focuses on business acceleration, international market entry, and securing Series A/B funding. Learn More
- EIT Digital Innovation Ecosystem: Collaborate, network and innovate within the largest European open innovation ecosystem.
EuroQuity is a public-funded and non-profit IT platform offering online matchmaking functions, helping companies to meet investors, business support organizations and other companies. Its matchmaking space counts over 3000 qualified international investors. EuroQuity is also a space for companies to learn about the best opportunities for growth through webinars, funding calls, corporate partnerships, etc. Several EuroQuity European Communities are open for STEP companies, such as:
- TechGlow EU: a new online community for women-led companies in Europe which aims at creating a strong cross-border network and fostering collaboration among women leaders in the technology sector. It offers access to executive insights, guidance for navigating the ever-changing technology landscape, and exchange of ideas with peers.
- Access2EIC Community: now in its 7th year, it offers coordination and support actions building on the foundations laid by previous EIC support networks and in line with the new Horizon Europe Framework Programme, aiming at supporting the best European companies in "transition" stage.
- EEN2EIC Community: the Enterprise Europe Network to European Innovation Council (EEN2EIC) aims to extend the breadth of supporting activities that EEN provides to women entrepreneurs, widening countries, and Seal of Excellence (SoE) holders. The goal is to support the best European companies with SoE certification in their way to find public or private funding.
- BlueInvest: a community where entrepreneurs, investors, corporates and innovation stakeholders can plug in to the Blue Economy. Content and activities promote blue growth and help SMEs and start-ups access finance and business opportunities.
Members of a community can expect business-to-investor matchmaking, networking, knowledge exchange, and links to relevant accelerators, incubators and clusters, as well as online learning and training/coaching opportunities, events and growth opportunities. Learn more on the EuroQuity website!
Tips to manage your project
Applying for EU funding is like a journey. From crafting your proposal to submitting it, going through the evaluation process and contract signature, and then managing and reporting on your project, information is available to guide you every step of the way.
- How to apply
Find out about what you need to know (eligibility check, application process…) before you apply.
- Evaluation and contract signature
- Managing your project
Find out what to expect once you are awarded a contract: reporting, deliverables, audits and communication.
Discover the STEP seal
The Seal aims at enhancing access to EU funding, notably by facilitating alternative cumulative or combined funding from several EU budget instruments.
To receive a STEP Seal, projects must contribute to at least one the STEP objectives, i.e. supporting the development or manufacturing of critical technologies throughout the Union, safeguarding and strengthening the respective value chains or addressing shortages of labour and skills critical to all kinds of quality jobs in those sectors. There is no additional specific procedure to apply for the STEP Seal. This latter can only be obtained when applying to a call under a relevant programme.
Any organisation or consortium established in any of the 27 EU Member States (or consortium for which at least one member is established in an EU Member State) can benefit from a STEP Seal, provided it fits within the programmes concerned and meets the attribution conditions. Projects submitted by entities established in countries associated to the programmes under STEP can also receive a seal under the same criteria. The STEP Seal is valid for the duration of the project. Validity will expire if the project is relocated outside the Union or should it have not started within 5 years after the award of the Seal.
The STEP Seal simplifies access to EU funding, by facilitating alternative cumulative or combined funding from several EU budget instruments. This includes possibility for direct support from Cohesion policy funds, without additional selection procedures. The STEP Seal also enhances project visibility, promoting them on the STEP Portal and certifying their quality and contribution to STEP objectives. This increased exposure can attract public and private funding.
To maximize visibility, STEP Seal-holding projects can be featured on the InvestEU Portal. By registering on the portal, project promoters can showcase their projects with a dedicated STEP Seal tag, amplifying their exposure to investors.
Learn more about STEP
STEP brings together resources from various EU funding programmes to support innovative projects. The Platform uses tools like reprogramming and a STEP Seal granted to high-quality projects. It also offers an entry point for questions. Learn more about how STEP can help you access the funding you need.