EIC defence call
EIC STEP Scale-Up call for defence SMEs and small mid-caps with innovative, critical defence technologies seeking equity investment.
This call supports SMEs and small mid-caps developing cutting-edge defence technologies. It targets companies with primary defence applications and significant market potential. Applicants must have a pre-commitment from a qualified investor for at least 20% of their funding round.
Likely relevant for
- SMEs and small mid-caps in defence technology
- Companies developing innovative defence products or services
- Start-ups seeking equity investment for scale-up
- Firms addressing strategic dependencies in EU defence
Project signals
What it funds
- Development and scale-up of innovative defence technologies
- Technologies in air and missile defence, artillery, missiles, drones, strategic enablers, cyber and electronic warfare, military mobility, ground combat, maritime, air combat, medical and countermeasures
Expected outcomes
- Market-ready defence innovations with significant economic potential
- Reduction or prevention of EU strategic dependencies in defence
Who can apply / participate
- Single SME or small mid-cap (up to 499 employees)
- Investor submitting on behalf of eligible company with prior agreement
- Single company application; no consortia specified
- Established in EU Member States, Ukraine, or EEA countries associated to Horizon Europe
- Primary defence application required
- Pre-commitment from qualified investor ≥20% of funding round mandatory
- Exclusion of entities controlled by third countries unless guarantees provided
- Specific details on holding company eligibility
- Exact definition of qualified investor
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility of holding companies
- Compliance with exclusion rules on third-country control
- Details of pre-commitment investor and funding round
Money
Total budget of €100 million for 2026, funding 10 projects with equity investments between €10 million and €30 million each.
- Total budget — 100000000EURFor 2026 funding year
- Expected grants — 10Number of projects to be funded
- Minimum equity investment per project — 10000000EURMinimum equity investment per project
- Maximum equity investment per project — 30000000EURMaximum equity investment per project
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limit and layout requirements
- Pre-commitment letter from qualified investor
- Guarantees if controlled by third country entities
- Prepare application with required documents
- Submit via EIC Submission System
- Provide guarantees if applicable
- Pre-commitment must be from a single qualified investor representing at least 20% of funding round
- Entities controlled by third countries must provide guarantees
- Failure to provide guarantees leads to ineligibility
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 2 Jul 2026, 10:26 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Related calls
These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Conditions and documents
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
The EIC STEP Scale-Up call for defence technologies supports projects falling within the defence strategic technology areas as described in STEP (Second Guidance Note on STEP), namely:
Air and missile defence: this can for example include integrated multi-layered air and missile defence systems, interceptors, detection systems (including radars);
Artillery and precision strike: this can for example include artillery systems, long range precision strike capabilities, advanced munitions;
Missiles and ammunition: this can for example include guided missiles and ammunition, conventional munitions, warheads, propellants;
Drones and counter-drones: this can for example include unmanned aerial systems (all classes), swarming systems, jammers, anti-UAV systems;
Strategic enablers: this can for example include space assets and their protection, space situational awareness, space-based services (Earth Observation, PNT, secure communications), protection of critical infrastructure and energy security;
Cyber, AI and electronic warfare: this can for example include AI for command and control, cyber-defence, information warfare, electromagnetic spectrum operations, electronic warfare systems, digital transformation of armed forces, optronics and radiofrequency systems;
Military mobility: this can for example include warehousing and engineering capabilities, sustainable and agile logistics, additive manufacturing for combat maintenance;
Ground combat: this can for example include close fire support systems, soldier systems, manned and unmanned ground combat systems;
Maritime: this can for example include maritime situational awareness, surface and underwater combat systems, manned and unmanned platforms, seabed and anti submarine warfare systems;
Air combat: this can for example include air combat systems, airborne early warning, tactical and strategic air transport, rotorcraft, air-to-air refuelling;
Medical and countermeasures: this can for example include military medical technologies, CBRN defence including sensors, protection, decontamination and recovery systems.
Note: To be eligible under this call, the proposed products, technologies or services must have a primary defence application. Solutions with predominantly civilian or dual-use applications should refer to the general EIC STEP Scale Up call. In order to apply under the EIC STEP Scale Up Defence call, your innovation must also be critical thereby meeting either of the following conditions:
a. it brings to the internal market an innovative, emerging and cutting-edge element with significant economic potential; or
b. it contributes to reducing or preventing strategic dependencies of the Union.
2. Eligible countries
In accordance with Article 48(2) of the Horizon Europe Regulation ,participation is limited to SMEs, including start-ups, and small mid-caps 196 established in the Union, in Ukraine, or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe.
This call has a general exclusion rule: legal entities, established in the Union, in Ukraine or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe, that are directly or indirectly controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe, or by legal entities of such a third country cannot participate.
However, such entities may still be eligible to participate in this call provided that appropriate guarantees are made available to the Commission and approved in accordance with the national procedures of the Member State or EEA member associated to Horizon Europe in which the legal entity is established.
3. Other Eligibility Conditions
Pre-commitment
This call targets companies raising significant funding rounds and you must demonstrate an initial market interest such that the EIC investment acts as a catalyst for larger funding rounds. You will therefore need to demonstrate that the company already has a pre-commitment for an equity investment which meets the following elements:
The pre-commitment comes from a single qualified investor201 subject to KYC by the EIC Fund or the EIF. The pre-committed investor may be an existing investor in the company and does not necessarily need to be the investor who intends to lead the investment round.
The pre-commitment represents at least 20% of the total target funding round you are aiming to raise. Moreover, the portion of the pre-commitment corresponding to at least 20% of the funding round must be fully uninvested as of the date of the pre-commitment letter. Syndicated pre-commitments, as long as no entity’s individual contribution is equal or above the 20% threshold, will be deemed ineligible.
The following entities are eligible to apply:
A single company classified as a SME or small mid-cap (up to 499 employees) established in the Union, in Ukraine or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe202 (see Annex 2). The company may have a holding entity for the purposes of the investment, and this holding company must also be established in a Member State, Ukraine or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe.
An investor may submit a proposal on behalf of an eligible SME or small midcap as defined above, provided that a prior agreement exists with the company. The investment agreement will be signed with the selected SME or small mid-cap.
The applicable admissibility and eligibility conditions are detailed in Annex 2 unless otherwise stated in this call.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex 2(C. Financial and Operational Capacity) of the EIC Work Programme 2026.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
described in section VII of the EIC Work Programme 2026.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
described in section VII of the EIC Work Programme 2026.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in section VII of the EIC Work Programme 2026.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
N/A
Specific conditions
Guarantees
Should the applicant consider to be directly or indirectly controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe or by legal entities of such a third country then the following steps should be taken:
Carry out the self-assessment to determine whether they are indeed directly or indirectly controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe or by legal entities of such a third country.
If applicants find this is the case, then applicants should submit guarantees at the time of application in accordance with the national procedures of the Member State or the EEA member associated to Horizon Europe in which the legal entity is established.
If such guarantees are not submitted at application stage, applicants will be requested to provide them if invited to an interview with the EIC Jury (failure to submit guarantees within two weeks from the end of the interview session will result in applications being deemed as non-eligible). Guidelines concerning the submission of guarantees are available on the Funding & Tender Portal.
If you did not complete a self-assessment and it is found during the investment due diligence process that your company is directly or indirectly controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe or by legal entities of such a third country, then you will be requested to provide guarantees within two weeks of the date of the request (failure to submit guarantees will result in applications being deemed as non-eligible).
Such guarantees must provide assurances that the participation of the legal entity does not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States, as established within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union, including respect for the principle of good neighbourly relations
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates
The application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Additional documents:
Support information
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Raw budget overview
{
"budgetYearsColumns": [
"2026"
],
"budgetTopicActionMap": {
"115201": [
{
"action": "HORIZON-EIC-2026-DEFENCE-01 - HORIZON-EIC-EQU HORIZON EIC Equity Only",
"expectedGrants": 10,
"minContribution": 10000000,
"maxContribution": 30000000,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "100000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-06-30",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-10-28"
]
}
]
}
}