European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) News

A new report on country participation in the EIE programme has been published: Strengthening Europe’s Innovation Ecosystems: Country Participation in the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) Programme 2021–2025

The European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme is part of the Horizon Europe programme under Pillar III, “Innovative Europe”, and has an overall budget of around €500 million over the 2021-2027 Horizon Europe programme period.

The report contains country page overviews of national participation and drawdown figures across relevant EIE calls, with figures from Ireland as follows:

Applications: 

 - The number of applying participants from Ireland was 159, with 84 unique applicants in total

 - The total EU requested contribution from Ireland was €56,795,326

 - The number of applying coordinators from Ireland was 46 (29% of applicants)

 - Ireland ranked 8th among EU member states in terms of number of applying participants, and was ranked 8th when weighed for population size.

Participation/drawdown:

 - The total number of successful participations from Ireland was 38

 - The number of unique beneficiaries from Ireland was 28

 - The number of funded coordinators from Ireland was 10 (26% of participations)

 - Ireland ranked 8th in terms of participation with an EU contribution of €6m, which corresponds to 2% of implemented EIE budget

 - Most participations (22) were from the Eastern and Midlands Region, with the Northern and Western Region on 11 participations and Southern Region on 5 participations.

Success Rates (2021-2024 figures):

 - 24% of applying applicants from Ireland became participants, with Ireland ranked 7th on success rates. 

Call results for an important 2026 EIE call, HORIZON-EIE-2026-02-CONNECT-01: European Startup and Scaleup Hubs pilot, is expected later this summer.