What is the biggest AI/deeptech funding opportunity right now?

The EIC Accelerator 2026 (Open + Challenges) has a combined €634 million budget, with the next full-proposal batch on 2 September 2026. Grant component below €2.5 million plus €1–10 million equity for TRL 6–8 innovations.

When is the EIC Transition 2026 deadline?

EIC Transition 2026 (HORIZON-EIC-2026-TRANSITIONOPEN-01-01) closes 16 September 2026 at 17:00 Brussels. Single annual call with a €100 million budget, up to €2.5 million per project.

Which AI calls are open in the UK right now?

Innovate UK has three open competitions: Quantum computing applications for large scale impact (up to £13M, closes 16 Sep), Quantum enabled sensing and PNT (up to £14.3M, closes 16 Sep) and Farming Futures Automation and Robotics Round 2 (up to £20M, closes 30 Sep 2026).

What is the budget of the EIC Pathfinder 2026?

The EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026 envelope is approximately €262 million (Open + Challenges), with the Challenges deadline on 28 October 2026. Early-stage TRL 1–4 research, consortium required.

Is the SBIR AI/ML programme currently open?

Partially. Topic-specific deadlines vary (typically 4–6 weeks from open date). The NASA AI/ML topic closed 21 May 2026; each agency topic must be verified separately at sbir.gov. Status: PARTIAL / verify each topic.

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Thematic report Source-verified · Published 6 August 2026

The AI & Deeptech Funding Landscape, Summer 2026

This free thematic report consolidates the verified AI and deeptech funding calls tracked by GrantSignal AI in early August 2026: budgets, deadlines, statuses and next actions — every figure checked against the official publisher.

Method: each call below was verified against its official page (EIC, Eureka, HaDEA, Digital Europe, UKRI/IFS, SBIR.gov, NRC) between 2 and 6 August 2026. Re-check the official call before acting — status and dates may change.

The picture in one paragraph

Summer 2026 is an unusually dense window for AI and deeptech applicants in Europe. The EIC family alone totals roughly €1 billion across its 2026 envelopes (Accelerator €634M, Transition €100M, Pathfinder ~€262M), with the next Accelerator batch on 2 September and the single Transition deadline on 16 September. The UK is running three open Innovate UK competitions (quantum, sensing and agri-robotics) totalling ~£47M, all closing before 1 October. Eurostars Call 11 closes 10 September. Meanwhile, the US SBIR AI/ML landscape remains fragmented — topic deadlines vary by agency and the NASA topic is already closed — and the Canadian NRC AI Assist programme is not re-opening in 2026.

EU programmes — the EIC family

EIC Accelerator 2026 — Open & Challenges

Item	Value (verified)
Budget	€414M (Open) + €220M (Challenges) = €634M total
Next full-proposal batch	2 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels
Grant	Below €2.5M (lump sum), TRL 6–8, 24 months
Investment	€1–10M equity / quasi-equity (blended or investment-only)
Status	VERIFIED_CURRENT

Action: prepare the short proposal now for the 2 September batch; verify TRL 6–8 fit and funding-rate expectations. See our full eligibility article →

EIC Transition 2026 — single annual call

Item	Value (verified)
Call ID	HORIZON-EIC-2026-TRANSITIONOPEN-01-01
Deadline	16 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels
Budget	€100M total (single annual call)
Per project	Up to €2.5M, 100% funding rate
Status	VERIFIED_CURRENT

Action: only projects with prior EU-funded results are eligible (TRL 3→5/6); check your project's prior funding before investing time.

EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026 — early stage

Item	Value (verified)
Deadline	28 October 2026, 17:00 Brussels
Budget	~€262M (Open + Challenges envelope)
Stage	Early-stage research, TRL 1–4
Consortium	Required
AI relevance	Topics include novel AI architectures, neuromorphic computing, AI for scientific discovery
Status	VERIFIED_CURRENT

Digital Europe — AI & data for regulatory compliance

Item	Value (verified)
Call	DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10-COMPLIANCE
Deadline	1 October 2026, 17:00 Brussels
Budget	€8.5M (lump-sum grants €2M–€5M, 50% funding rate)
Consortium	Typically ≥3 entities from 3 eligible countries
Status	VERIFIED_CURRENT

United Kingdom — Innovate UK

Competition	Budget	Closes	Status
Quantum computing applications for large scale impact (2525)	Up to £13M	16 Sep 2026	VERIFIED_CURRENT
Quantum enabled sensing & PNT (2539)	Up to £14.3M	16 Sep 2026	VERIFIED_CURRENT
Farming Futures: Automation & Robotics Round 2 (2536)	Up to £20M	30 Sep 2026	VERIFIED_CURRENT

All three are collaboration-only competitions; the lead must be a UK-registered business and UK exploitation is expected. The sensing competition requires ≥1 grant-claiming UK SME in the consortium.

International — Eurostars, SBIR, Canada

Eurostars Call 11 (Eureka, international) — closes 10 September 2026 at 14:00 CEST; SME-led bottom-up R&D; partner required in a participating country; national rules apply. VERIFIED_CURRENT
Horizon Europe Space 2026 (HaDEA, HORIZON-CL4-2026-SPACE-03) — closes 3 September 2026; €90.97M across 8 topics. VERIFIED_CURRENT
SBIR/STTR AI/ML topics (US, multiple agencies) — PARTIAL — NASA topic closed 21 May 2026; each agency topic (DoD, DOT, USAF, NIH…) must be verified at sbir.gov.
NRC IRAP AI Assist (Canada) — EXPIRED — EOI deadline was 5 September 2025; no new 2026 call published.

30-day action calendar (from 6 August)

Date	Call	Action
2 Sep	EIC Accelerator batch	Submit short proposal (or full proposal if invited)
3 Sep	Horizon Space 2026	Review 8 topics; assess consortium readiness
10 Sep	Eurostars Call 11	Confirm partner country + national rules
16 Sep	EIC Transition + Innovate UK quantum ×2	Full proposals / consortium agreements
30 Sep	Farming Futures R2	Agri-tech consortium proposal
1 Oct	Digital Europe AI-DATA-10	Build 3-country consortium; lump-sum budget

What to watch next

The EIC Pathfinder (28 October) — screen the AI Challenges topics early; consortia take time to build.
SBIR agency topics — they open on rolling schedules; a topic can open and close within 4–6 weeks.
New Innovate UK BridgeAI competitions — the IFS listing updates continuously.
EIC Accelerator interview rounds after each second batch — jury interviews follow the 2 Sep batch.

Honest limits of this report

This is an educational synthesis of official sources, not an eligibility guarantee and not professional advice. Budgets and dates can change; always verify on the official call page before submitting. GrantSignal AI does not submit proposals on your behalf.

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Résumé en français

Ce rapport thématique gratuit dresse l'état des lieux vérifié des financements IA et deep tech pour l'été 2026. Côté européen : l'EIC Accelerator (634 M€ au total, prochain lot le 2 septembre, subvention <2,5 M€ + capital 1–10 M€), l'EIC Transition (100 M€, appel unique clôturé le 16 septembre), l'EIC Pathfinder (~262 M€, le 28 octobre, TRL 1–4, consortium requis) et Digital Europe AI-DATA-10 (8,5 M€, le 1er octobre). Côté Royaume-Uni : trois compétitions Innovate UK ouvertes (quantique ×2 et agro-robotique, ~47 M£ au total, clôture 16–30 septembre), collaboration obligatoire avec une entreprise britannique en tête. À l'international : Eurostars Call 11 se clôt le 10 septembre ; le programme SBIR américain reste fragmenté (topic NASA déjà fermé, à vérifier par agence) et le programme canadien NRC IRAP AI Assist ne rouvre pas en 2026. Toutes les données ont été vérifiées sur les pages officielles entre le 2 et le 6 août 2026.