Results from the EIC Pathfinder 2024 call have been recently published with 31 new disruptive projects ready to receive €116 million in funding:
- 31 applications were chosen among 401 eligible proposals (7.73% success rate),
- Each project will receive €3.73 million on average
- Participants predominantly come from higher education institutions (38%), private organisations (34%), and research organisations (23%).
- Winners spread across 12 countries, and Spain has been the most awarded country (7 projects, 22.5%).
Awarded projects per area
For the EIC Pathfinder, selected projects are classified into five different challenges: Solar to X devices, Cement & concrete, food science, nanoelectronics and sustainability.
For this specific call, all challenges have the same number of awarded projects (6 each) except for the sustainability challenge, which has 7 projects:
Figure 1. Awarded projects per challenge.
Awarded projects per country
Participants come from 12 countries. The top 4 countries with regard to the number of awarded proposals are Spain (roughly 23%), Germany and Italy (16% each), and France (13%):
Figure 2. Awarded projects per country.
The table below shows the full list of winners:
| EIC Pathfinder Challenges – 2024 Call Results | ||||
| Acronym | Title | Legal Name | Country Coordinator | Proposal Duration |
| Challenge 1: “Solar-to-X” devices | ||||
| C5 | Clever Combination of Synthetic Compartmentalization, Carbon Fixation and Compound Biomanufacturing | UNIVERSIDAD DE CORDOBA | ES | 48 |
| PHOTONIA | Photocatalytic Conversion of Nitrogen to Ammonia for On-Site Fertilizer Production | KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN | BE | 48 |
| PREDICT | Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction Enhanced by Device Integration and Computational Techniques | THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD | UK | 48 |
| SOLEAS | Standalone solar-to-X device for prosumer-oriented conversion of sunlight to Ethene and Ammonia | AEE – INSTITUT FUR NACHHALTIGE TECHNOLOGIEN | AT | 48 |
| SUN2CN | Fully-Integrated PV-EC Device for the Production of C-N Chemicals | LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY | LU | 48 |
| SUNPEROM | Solar-Driven Perovskite Tandem for Methanol Production | Iritaly Trading Company S.r.l. | IT | 48 |
| Challenge 2: Towards cement and concrete as a carbon sink | ||||
| CILANTRO | CARBON-NEGATIVE CEMENT: A TRIBOLOGICAL SOLUTION FOR LIMESTONE DECARBONATION,SILICATION AND CARBON UTILIZATION | AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS | ES | 48 |
| CONCERTO | CarbOn Negative CemEnt fRom ulTra- mafic rOcks | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LARECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS | FR | 48 |
| C-SINC | Concrete products through sustainable and innovative carbon-storing binders | PAEBBL AB | SE | 48 |
| ECO-SLAG-CEM | ENVIRONMENTALLY COMPATIBLE OPTIMIZATION OF EAF SLAG FORLOW-CARBON ADVANCED GREEN CEMENT | ECOCEM MATERIALS LIMITED | IE | 48 |
| MOJITO | Decarbonized liMe PrOduction through enhanced JoInt dielectric heaTing and waste carbonaceous material additiOn | ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA | IT | 36 |
| X-SeeO2 | Real-time X-ray diffraction and microstructure imaging: accelerating thetransformation of cementitious materials into CO2 sinks | UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA | ES | 48 |
| Challenge 3: Nature inspired alternatives for food packaging and films for agriculture | ||||
| Bio2PEs | Development of Bio-based and biodegradable polyethylene and polyesters for food packaging andagricultural applications | Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest | IE | 48 |
| Bio4Pack | Biodegradable Bio-based Bioactive Packaging Technology for Supporting Food Safety | UNIWERSYTET LODZKI | PL | 48 |
| BORN | BiObased theRmal-resistaNt food packaging | CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE | IT | 36 |
| CELLAGRI | CELLULOSE-BASED MULCH FILMS WITH NATURE-INSPIRED WATER- MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES FORAGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS | FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNGEV | DE | 48 |
| ECOSYSTEM | Emerging eco-active materials by sustainable tools from natural renewableresidues | FUNDACION TECNOLOGICA ADVANTX | ES | 48 |
| SATISPHACTION | Upcycling PHAs to innovative materials for fully sustainable food packaging | AINIA | ES | 48 |
| Challenge 4: Nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices | ||||
| 2D-ADDICT | TWO-Dimensional materials forADvanced DevIces and low-power CompuTing | UNIVERSITA DI PISA | IT | 36 |
| 2DFERROPLEX | Ferroelectric 2D materials heterostructures for optical neuromorphicdevice functionalities | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUECNRS | FR | 48 |
| CERBERUS | Unlocking the Full Potential of Edge AI through In-memory Computing Based on 2D Materials with Extreme EnergyEfficiency | UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA | ES | 48 |
| COOLBRAIN | Chiplet cOOling solutions for Low- consumption emBedded pRocessing AI atNanoscale | THALES | FR | 48 |
| SPARK-e | Solid-state PCMs for Advanced energy Recovery and Key thermal control in electronics | FUNDACION FUNDECYT – PARQUE CIENTIFICO Y TECNOLOGICO DEEXTREMADURA | ES | 48 |
| SpikeHERO | Spiking hybrid edge computing for robust optoelectronical signal processing | FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DERANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV | DE | 48 |
| Challenge 5: Strengthening the sustainability and resilience of EU space infrastructure | ||||
| ALBATOR | ecr-bAsed muLticharged ion Beam for Active debris removal and oTher remediatiOn stRategies | Osmos X | FR | 42 |
| AstrAware | An On-board Dynamic Vision SensorSuite for Enhanced Satellite Self and Situational Awareness | POLITECNICO DI MILANO | IT | 36 |
| DEXTER | Debris EXtraction Tools for Extra- terrestrial Recycling | CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY | UK | 48 |
| gEICko | GEcko based Innovative Capture Kit for uncooperative and unprepared Orbital assets | TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN | DE | 36 |
| SPIDAR | Space Debris Mapping with Photonic Integrated Circuit Lidar | AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR | FI | 48 |
| STORM | Solar Weather Forecasting Mission | NEUTRONSTAR SYSTEMS UG | DE | 30 |
| STRATOLASER | STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON-BASED LASER ABLATION SYSTEM FOR SPACE DEBRIS REMOVAL | ASOCIACION DE LA INVESTIGACION Y COOPERACION INDUSTRIAL DE ANDALUCIA “F. DE PAULAROJAS” | ES | 36 |
Background: About the European Innovation Council
The European Innovation Council (EIC) is the European Union’s flagship program launched in 2021 to identify, support, and scale breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations across Europe. With a budget exceeding €10 billion under Horizon Europe (2021–2027), the EIC nurtures deep tech innovation from early-stage research through to market scale-up, supporting startups, SMEs, and researchers with a unique combination of grants, investments, and business acceleration services. Its 2025 Work Programme allocates over €1.4 billion across four main funding schemes—Pathfinder, Transition, Accelerator, and STEP Scale Up—targeting visionary research, technology validation, market entry, and large-scale growth to position Europe as a global leader in strategic and emerging technologies.
