Is the SME Instrument still open for applications?

No. Phase 1 stopped taking applications after its final deadline of 5 September 2019, and Phase 2 was renamed and folded into the EIC Accelerator Pilot that same year. Nothing under the name 'SME Instrument' has accepted new applications since — apply to the EIC Accelerator instead.

What's the difference between the SME Instrument and the EIC Accelerator?

The SME Instrument ran two separate grant-only phases: a €50,000 feasibility study and a €0.5–2.5 million market-development grant. The EIC Accelerator kept only the market-development stage, added an optional equity investment on top of the grant, and — since March 2021 — runs as one scheme under Horizon Europe rather than Horizon 2020.

What is the SME Instrument?

The SME Instrument was a Horizon 2020 funding scheme (2014–2020) that gave grants — and later optional grant-plus-equity finance — to ambitious small and medium-sized enterprises developing high-risk, high-reward products, services or business models. It no longer exists under that name: its structure was absorbed into the EIC Accelerator from June 2019, which became the sole, fully-fledged successor under Horizon Europe in March 2021. If you landed here searching "SME Instrument," the live programme to apply to today is the EIC Accelerator.

How the SME Instrument worked

It ran through up to three phases, all aimed at the same group: for-profit SMEs and startups from any sector, established in an EU member state or a Horizon 2020 associated country.

Phase 1 (feasibility study): a €50,000 lump sum for roughly six months of business-plan validation. Discontinued, with 5 September 2019 as its final application deadline.
Phase 2 (market development): the core grant — €0.5–2.5 million at a 70% funding rate for 12–24 month projects — or, from June 2019, blended finance combining that same grant ceiling with up to €15 million in equity.
Phase 3 (business acceleration): non-financial support layered on top of a Phase 1 or 2 award — coaching, mentoring, and investor connections through the EIC community.

From SME Instrument to EIC Accelerator

The European Innovation Council pilot launched in 2018, folding the SME Instrument together with the Future and Emerging Technologies programme under one roof. On 5 June 2019 the European Commission announced that the SME Instrument "becomes the EIC Accelerator, offering optional equity investment in addition to a grant," with combined grant-plus-equity financing of up to €17.5 million. Phase 1 was retired that September; Phase 2 carried forward, rebranded, with the new equity option attached. When the fully-fledged European Innovation Council launched under Horizon Europe in March 2021, the two-phase structure disappeared for good, leaving one instrument under one name.

Why this matters if you're applying now

If a partner's old pitch deck, an advisor, or a search result still references "the SME Instrument," treat it as describing pre-2019 Horizon 2020 rules — not a live call. For a current application, go straight to the EIC Accelerator entry inside Horizon Europe: grant plus optional equity, single-company eligibility, no consortium required. Projects funded under the old SME Instrument remain searchable on CORDIS if you're scouting prior art or potential partners.

Official sources: CORDIS — SME instrument (Horizon 2020), European Commission — EIC Accelerator announcement, European Innovation Council — About.

Written by Tymofiy Badikov, founder of VIRA.space (Virtual Innovation Research Assistant) — operated by Space Tech Gateway Sp. z o.o., Kraków Technology Park. VIRA tracks live European space funding calls and checks your eligibility free: see live tenders.