Commission announces eight winners of the STEP Scale Up call

The European Commission has announced that eight companies have successfully passed the evaluation phase of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up call on 27/04/2026.

The eight companies were selected from the 44 that submitted their proposals. Out of them, 28 were invited to an interview with high-level independent experts. The winners were from:

• Germany (2): Aignostics, Reverion;
• Denmark (2): Greenland Resources (Greenland), Luabio;
• The Netherlands (1): Quantware;
• France (1): Alice & Bob;
• Bulgaria (1): Endurosat;
• Spain (1): Payload Aerospace.

Following the evaluation phase, the companies are now being put forward for investment decisions by the venture capital investment arm of the EIC, the EIC Fund. Following the negotiations, they could receive a total of €146.5m in equity investment.

Launched on 31/10/2024, STEP Scale Up is a financial instrument that the EIC tested in 2025 with a budget of €300 million. Continued in 2026, it enables the EIC to support deep-tech startups through larger investments, ranging from…