Grant
EIC STEP Scale Up Defence (HORIZON-EIC-2026-STEP-DEFENCE-01)
Open
EIC STEP Scale Up Defence provides equity-only investments between 10 million and 30 million euros for SMEs, startups, and small mid-caps developing critical technologies with a primary defence application. Applicants must have a pre-commitment of at least 20 percent of their target funding round from a single qualified investor.
Key facts
- Organiser
- European Innovation Council (European Commission)
- Deadline
- October 28, 2026
- Opens
- June 30, 2026
- Amount
- €30,000,000 · Investment
- Equity
- Not stated
- Entry fee
- Free to apply
- Open to
- Iceland, Norway, Ukraine, European Union
- Stages
- Series A, Series B and later
- Sectors
- AI and machine learning, Cybersecurity, Deeptech and hardware, Healthtech, Industry and manufacturing, Mobility and logistics, Space and aerospace
- Application languages
- English
Verified on September 28, 2026 against the official page.
Facts are summarised from the official page and can change without notice. Always confirm the rules and deadline there before you apply.