Skip to content
Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Accelerators

EIT Food Accelerator Network

EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN)

Status

Status not published

2026 call deadline: 14 April 2026. The call runs annually.

Check with the funder
Amount
€50,000

Each startup receives a EUR 3 000 grant to cover travel expenses during the programme. At the end, each Hub runs a Tech Validation pitch event awarding three startups EUR 50 000 (1st), EUR 30 000 (2nd) and EUR 20 000 (3rd) to implement their tech validation project. Note: EIT Food's programme page describes this funding as being awarded through a SAFE (Simple Agreement For Future Equity) instrument, while the 2026 call page describes it as sub-grants for Technology Validation Projects - check the current call guidelines, as the instrument is material.

Funder

EIT Food (European Institute of Innovation and Technology Knowledge and Innovation Community)

ppp · supranational

Deadline: One call a year — 2026 call deadline: 14 April 2026. The call runs annually.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
moderate

Moderate — a form and supporting documents.

Who can apply

'pre-series A, with revenues up to €1 million and a team, no more than 20 people'; technology at TRL 4-8 (prototype or pilot stage required); must be a 'registered company established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe-associated countries'. Switzerland and UK-based companies are eligible to apply, though funding is subject to their future eligibility status.

How to apply

  1. Choose the thematic Hub that matches your solution (six hubs: supply chains, circular solutions, biotech, agriculture, water systems, digital farming). — link
  2. Submit the application by the annual deadline; selection into the accelerator programme follows. — link
  3. Complete the programme and pitch at the Hub's Tech Validation event to compete for EUR 50 000 / 30 000 / 20 000. — link

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work · The EU SME definition (Recommendation 2003/361)

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.eitfood.eu/entrepreneurship/accelerate-food-accelerator-network

"The EIT Food Accelerator Network programme offers a €3,000 grant for each startup to cover their travel expenses during the programme. Additionally, each startup is offered an opportunity to compete for funding of up to €50,000 to implement their tech validation project."

Verified on 14 August 2026

Source: www.eitfood.eu

Similar programmes

EIT Health start-up and acceleration programmes

Status not published

EIT Health (European Institute of Innovation and Technology Knowledge and Innovation Community)

EIT Climate-KIC ClimAccelerator

Status not published

EIT Climate-KIC

EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator

Usually opens in January and April

EIT Urban Mobility

ESA Business Incubation Centre network

Open continuously

European Space Agency (ESA) with national and regional co-funders

EIT Health Headstart

Usually opens in February and April

EIT Health

Innowwide (Eureka market feasibility vouchers)

Closed for now

Eureka Association with EU funding

Paid, separate from Unclaimed

Want a human to review your application?

Involve Consulting can help — a paid expert-review service run by the same person behind Unclaimed, entirely separate from this free check. A flat fee, agreed up front; never a cut of what you receive.

Talk to Involve Consulting