One-liner: the EU's Knowledge & Innovation Communities — sector accelerators (Health, Food, Urban Mobility, Digital, Energy, Manufacturing, Water…) offering equity-free Proof-of-Concept / Headstart awards plus pan-EU network access. Part of Horizon Europe (EIT). Spain has nodes in 8/9 KICs — a strong, under-used non-dilutive route for deeptech founders.
The 10 KICs (pick by sector)
- EIT Health (biotech/medtech/digital health) · EIT Food (foodtech/agri) · EIT Urban Mobility · EIT Digital · InnoEnergy (cleantech/energy) · Climate-KIC · EIT RawMaterials · EIT Manufacturing · EIT Culture & Creativity · and the new EIT Water (start-up phase, ~€5M grant in 2026).
- Cumulative EIT impact: €30bn raised by EIT ventures, 1.5M learners trained, 10k+ ventures supported, 3,000+ products/services.
What you get
- Equity-free awards — e.g. Headstart / Proof-of-Concept grants (typically small-to-mid five figures) to de-risk a project.
- Acceleration programs, bootcamps and challenges, plus access to the pan-European KIC network (corporates, universities, investors) and follow-on funding.
Who it's for
- Startups/SMEs and researchers whose project fits a KIC's mission (health, food, mobility, energy, digital, materials, manufacturing, water, creative).
How to apply
- Identify your KIC at eit.europa.eu (e.g. eithealth.eu, eitfood.eu, eiturbanmobility.eu…).
- Apply to that KIC's open call / accelerator (each runs its own calls and deadlines — rolling across the year).
- Locally, watch CEEI Valencia (EmprenemJunts) and Startup Valencia for KIC calls surfaced in the region; Spanish nodes ease access.
Key facts
- 10 sector KICs · equity-free awards + acceleration + pan-EU network. Non-dilutive and sector-targeted — pair with NEOTEC 2026 / Women TechEU 2026.
Relations
- Run by: EIT KICs
- See also: Women TechEU 2026
- See also: CEEI Valencia
- See also: Enterprise Europe Network