EU launches first call for grants and equity stakes for defence and dual-use research

The EU has launched its first call for grants and equity stakes for organisations working on defence and dual-use technologies, offering €30 million to defence companies.

The call, announced on 17/06/2026, is possible because of a change to the work programme of the European Innovation Council (EIC) for 2026.

Startups and small and medium companies developing technologies with both civilian and defence applications such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced materials or robotics, can apply for grants up to €2.5m and equity investments up to €30m under the EIC Accelerator and the STEP Scaleup.

At the same time, the EIC is launching a new €100m EIC STEP Defence Scale Up call open to companies in the EU, in countries from the European Economic Area associated to Europe's multi-billion research programme Horizon Europe, and in Ukraine. These companies can receive up to €30m in direct equity financing to accelerate the scale-up of their industrial capabilities on, among others, air and missile defence, drones and counter drones, and other critical defence technologies…