EIC Pathfinder 2025: Over €140m for 44 projects to "turn visionary science into breakthrough innovation"

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has awarded over €140 million to 44 "visionary research projects" as part of its 2025 Pathfinder Open call, it announced on 23/10/2025.

Germany has the most successful projects (7), followed by Italy (6) and the Netherlands, Spain and France (5). But Cyprus is first in terms of winners per 10 M inhabitants (7.3), followed by Finland (5.3) and Ireland (3.7).

The EIC received a total of 2,087 proposals from 4,015 participants, among which 44 projects were selected, covering 71 countries, with an average of €3.7m per EU grant.

The Pathfinder programme supports visionary ideas for radically new technologies. It promotes high-risk/high-gain, interdisciplinary collaborations focused on early-stage technology development (Technology Readiness Levels 1-3), up to proof of concept, the EIC said.

"The selected consortia bring together universities (48%), private companies (27%) and research organisations (25%), to explore breakthrough ideas in fields such as quantum technologies, advanced materials, health, energy, and artificial intelligence, according to…