Breakthrough EIC Call for Defense and Dual-Use Technologies

The European Union Opens the Door to Defense Innovations for the First Time

For many years, the European Innovation Council strictly refused to finance purely defense projects and specific dual-use technologies. This barrier is now falling. This is an absolutely unprecedented business opportunity for the defense industry, which thus gets the chance to obtain hundreds of millions of euros for technological development and rapid production scaling.
If your start-up or scale-up develops advanced technologies applicable in the defense sector, a window of opportunity is opening up before you that may not be repeated on the EU market for a long time. Companies that start acting and preparing immediately will gain a massive head start over market competition and access to an unrivaled volume of financing.

The Condition of a Triple Co-Investment

There is no easy path to massive European funds. The EIC Step Scale-up instrument sets before applicants one of the strictest conditions in the history of European funds – you must clearly demonstrate the readiness of private investors to participate in the form of a co-investment. Securing your own private resources in the amount of 30 to 90 million euros is required, which represents exactly three times the requested amount from the EIC.
The willingness of investors to finance is demonstrated in practice through formal, legally binding documents:

• Term Sheets with clearly defined parameters for the entry of a venture capital investor.
• A strong and specific Letter of Intent (LoI).

Here lies the biggest catch of the whole process. A significant portion of projects fail because these promises do not meet the strict standards of European evaluators. Vague expressions of sympathy and support from VC funds will not stand; the documentation must show tangible financial commitment, a fixed timeframe, and a clear partnership structure.

The Labyrinth of Security Clearances and EU Regulation

Investing in defense projects is logically subject to strict scrutiny. Projects encounter strict European investment regulations and a series of demanding security checks protecting the strategic interests of member states.
The procedural impacts on your start-up mean flawless mastery of several steps:

• In-depth audit of partners: Every entity involved in the project (including component suppliers and external investors) undergoes strict security screening.
• Protection of data and know-how: Project documentation and your internal cybersecurity directives must be bulletproof from day one.
• Regulatory compliance: Absolute compliance with international export rules for military materiel and dual-use goods.

Underestimating even one of these areas means the end in the very initial stages of evaluation. The certainty lies in a precisely set security strategy right from the very inception of the project intent.

How to Turn a Proclamation into a Strategic Advantage

A fundamental change in the rules also applies to the traditional EIC Accelerator scheme. It now evaluates dual-use projects completely on a par with purely civilian applications.
However, merely formally labeling your product as "dual-use" will not bring you the necessary points. You must turn a theoretical proclamation into an unquestionable strategic advantage defended in your business plan:

• Prove real market traction in both sectors. Identify civilian pilot projects and at the same time show which security forces or arms companies are validating the technology.
• Divide your business strategy. Obtaining military contracts has different rules than selling to the civilian B2B sector – your plan must reflect this.
• Put aside empty phrases. Dual use must be supported by hard data, careful analysis of both markets, and proof of real demand.

Outlook to 2028

The current call is just a forerunner to a much broader opening of the entire EU Horizon Europe program for dual-use innovations, which will fully kick off in 2028. However, to achieve sustained growth for your technology company, striving for one specific grant is not enough.

As your reliable partner, we will help you set up a long-term and smart grant financing strategy. We will design your company's innovation and financial roadmap so that you take full advantage of the upcoming boom in European investments in security and defense and secure long-term capital growth.

Contact our specialists and arrange a no-obligation consultation.