EU Funding for Startups and SMEs in 2026

Seal of Excellence: What the EU Quality Label Is Worth and Where to Use It

TL;DR: Seal of Excellence is the European Commission's quality label for Horizon Europe proposals that scored above the quality threshold but could not be funded because the call budget ran out. For startups it mostly comes from the EIC Accelerator and EIC Transition. The seal itself pays nothing. Its value depends on where you are: on 1 November 2026, Austria's FFG pays EIC Accelerator seal holders up to €2.5 million (open until 31 December 2026), while the Spanish, Czech and Portuguese rounds have closed. Below: a country-by-country status table, a decision tree, a 30-day plan, a copyable email to your national funder and a worked founder example.
Seal of Excellence letters arrive with mixed feelings: the jury liked your project, and you still got no money. This guide shows what the label can and cannot do for a startup, which countries turn it into cash, and how to use it in the weeks after your evaluation result letter, when it is worth the most.
All facts come from the European Commission's research and innovation pages on the Seal of Excellence, the European Innovation Council (EIC), the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and Spain's CDTI, checked on 1 November 2026.

What the Seal of Excellence is

The Seal of Excellence was first introduced under Horizon 2020, the EU research programme that ran until 2020, and continues under Horizon Europe. The Commission describes it as a quality label for proposals that were "ranked above a predefined quality threshold" but not funded because of budget limits. The certificate is signed by the two Commissioners responsible for innovation and regional policy, and digitally sealed against fraud.
Three things matter for founders:
  • It is not a grant. No money comes with the seal. It is proof, from independent EU evaluators, that your project deserves funding.
  • You don't apply for it separately. It is decided during the normal evaluation. For the EIC, it depends on the jury's decision, so not every rejected proposal above the threshold gets one.
  • It arrives with your result. For EIC calls, EISMEA (the EU agency that runs the EIC) delivers the certificate together with the evaluation result letter in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. You download it from the proposal's process documents.
The seal works because EU state aid rules let national and regional governments fund sealed projects quickly, without a second full evaluation. Whether they do so is voluntary, and that is why its value differs so much by country.

Which EU programmes award a Seal of Excellence

According to the Commission, the seal is currently awarded under these Horizon Europe actions:
ProgrammeWho appliesRelevance for startups
EIC AcceleratorStartups and SMEs with breakthrough innovationHigh: the main source of seals for companies
EIC TransitionTeams moving a research result towards marketMedium: for spin-offs and university teams
ERC Proof of ConceptExisting ERC grant holdersLow: academic path to commercialisation
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and COFUNDResearchers and host institutionsLow: individual research careers
Teaming (Widening)Research institutions in widening countriesVery low
Mission on Adaptation to Climate ChangeRegional and local consortiaLow, unless you work with regions
Other EU programmes, such as Digital Europe or LIFE, are not on the Commission's current list.
If you have not yet applied to the EIC, read our readiness checklist for EU funding first. A seal is a consolation prize; the goal is still the grant.

What a Seal of Excellence is worth in money

The legal basis is the EU General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1237, in force since 1 August 2021:
  • Article 25a lets member states fund SMEs that hold a seal with up to €2.5 million per SME per research and development project or feasibility study, without notifying the Commission first.
  • Article 25b covers MSCA and ERC Proof of Concept seals: public funding may not exceed the funding rate set under Horizon Europe rules.
  • National and regional managing authorities can also use EU regional development money (ERDF) for sealed projects, under the Commission's notice on synergies between ERDF programmes and Horizon Europe.
The table and chart below show the schemes the Commission and national agencies list for EIC Accelerator seal holders, with their status on 1 November 2026.
CountrySchemeWhat it paysStatus on 1 Nov 2026
AustriaFFG Seal of Excellence 2026Up to €2.5 million (EIC Accelerator, grant only) or €150,000 (ERC Proof of Concept), lump sumOpen until 31 Dec 2026, 12:00; first come, first served
SpainCDTI Seal of Excellence+ 2026Up to 70% of costs, max €2.5 million per project; about €7.5 million in ERDF fundsClosed (26 May to 9 June 2026), for firms in the Canary Islands and the Valencia region
CzechiaSIGMA, 4th callNot stated on the Commission pageClosed 1 Aug 2026; seals received in 2025
BulgariaPRIDST (ERDF 2021–2027)€50 million in total ERDFStatus not stated; ask the managing authority
BelgiumBrussels-Capital RegionNot stated on the Commission pageAsk Innoviris or finance&invest.brussels
PortugalANI notice of October 2024Up to 70% (Accelerator), 100% (Transition), 50% max in LisbonClosed 31 Oct 2025
Italy (Veneto)Regional scheme€2 million budgetClosed 30 Sep 2025
PolandFENGSeal not older than 18 monthsClosed 2023
Sources: European Commission "EIC Seal of Excellence opportunities" page; FFG call page; CDTI call notice.
Two patterns stand out. First, most schemes accept only recent seals: FFG takes EIC Accelerator seals awarded at most 24 months before you apply, and ERC Proof of Concept seals at most 12 months before. Second, many schemes are one-off rounds that open for a few weeks, so the founders who win are the ones who prepared before the round was announced.

What the seal does not give you

  • No automatic EIC shortcut. The EIC's own FAQ says a seal does not in itself give you the right to go straight to the full proposal stage. If you resubmit, follow the rules of the call you apply to.
  • No guaranteed national money. Countries choose whether to fund seals, and budgets run out.
  • No permanent value. Schemes set their own age limits (18 or 24 months in the examples above), so a seal is worth the most in its first year.
The softer benefits are real, though. The Commission's pages point seal holders to the InvestEU portal, the Access2EIC community, National Contact Points and the Enterprise Europe Network for advice on other funding. And if you allow EISMEA to share your contact details, national funders and EU support services can reach you directly.

Decision tree: what to do after you receive a seal

  1. Have you given consent to share your data? If not, do it now. Some national funders find seal holders through the Commission's lists.
  2. Is there a scheme in your country or region? Check the Commission's list, then call your National Contact Point and your regional innovation agency. Published lists fall out of date in both directions.
  3. Is your seal within the scheme's window? Note the date on your certificate and each scheme's age limit.
  4. Should you resubmit to the EIC? Read the jury's feedback line by line. If the weaknesses can be fixed in one or two months, plan for the next cut-off. Our EU grant calendar 2027 lists the known dates (the EIC Work Programme 2027 was still a draft on 1 November 2026).
  5. Can investors use it? Put the seal in your deck and data room as independent proof of quality. It is most useful with investors who know EU funding, and with banks.

A 30-day plan to turn a seal into money

WeekActionsDone when
1Download the certificate and evaluation summary; give data-sharing consentFiles saved in your data room
2Contact your NCP and regional agency; list open and expected seal schemesA list with dates and age limits
3Apply to an open scheme, or send a pre-enquiry with your EIC proposal attachedApplication or email sent
4Update your deck and one-pager; brief investors and your bankSeal mentioned in every funding conversation

Copyable email to your national funder

Subject: EIC Accelerator Seal of Excellence – [Company name] – funding options

Dear [Name],

[Company name], an SME registered in [country/region], received the
Seal of Excellence for our EIC Accelerator proposal "[project title]"
(proposal no. [number]) on [date]. The EIC jury rated the project
above the quality threshold, but it could not be funded within the
call budget.

Project in one line: [what you build, for whom, and the result].
Requested budget: EUR [amount] over [months] months, TRL [X] to [Y].

Could you tell us:
1. whether a Seal of Excellence scheme is open or planned for 2027;
2. the maximum age of the seal you accept;
3. which documents you need besides the original EIC proposal.

We can send the evaluation summary and the certificate right away.

Kind regards,
[Name], [role], [phone]
For the longer written parts of any national application, our guide to writing an EU funding application helps.

Worked example: a seal in two countries

A five-person medtech startup in Austria builds a wearable sensor for post-surgery monitoring. In the spring of 2026 its EIC Accelerator proposal passed the jury interview stage but was not funded, and it received a Seal of Excellence in its evaluation result letter.
  • Week 1: the CEO downloads the certificate, gives consent to EISMEA and saves the evaluation summary.
  • Week 2: the startup finds that FFG's Seal of Excellence 2026 call is open until 31 December 2026 and accepts EIC Accelerator seals from the last 24 months.
  • Week 3: it applies through FFG's eCall system with a German summary and the original EIC proposal, asking for €2.5 million as a lump sum. Applications are handled as they arrive, so it does not wait for December.
  • In parallel: it adds the seal to its seed deck, fixes the two weaknesses the jury named, and looks at Eurostars for a joint clinical validation project with a hospital partner abroad.
Had the same team been based in the Valencia region of Spain, it would have missed CDTI's 2026 round (closed 9 June) and would now be waiting for the next one. That is why step 2 of the decision tree matters: check the window before you need the money.

Who should apply and who can skip it

Chase a seal (by applying to the EIC Accelerator) if you run an EU-based startup or SME with breakthrough technology, a clear market and a team that can pitch to investors. Even if you miss the grant, a seal can bring in national money and strengthens your fundraising.
Skip it if your product is not deep tech, you need money in the next three months, or you are not ready for a full proposal and a jury interview. Smaller, faster routes come first: cascade funding open calls, EU grants for small businesses and, for women-led deep tech, Women TechEU.

Related EU funding guides

For new EU calls and seal schemes every month, read Mean CEO's EU Funding News on blog.mean.ceo. And to practise pitching your startup before an EIC jury does, play the Fe/male Switch startup game.

FAQ

What is the Seal of Excellence in Horizon Europe?

It is a quality label the European Commission gives to proposals that scored above the quality threshold of a Horizon Europe call but could not be funded because the budget ran out. It is awarded under the EIC Accelerator, EIC Transition, ERC Proof of Concept, MSCA fellowships and COFUND, Teaming and the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.

Does the Seal of Excellence come with funding?

No. The seal has no money attached. Its value comes from national and regional schemes that fund sealed projects, such as Austria's FFG Seal of Excellence 2026 call (up to €2.5 million for EIC Accelerator seals) or Spain's CDTI Seal of Excellence+ rounds.

How do I get a Seal of Excellence from the EIC Accelerator?

You don't apply for it separately. It may be awarded, depending on the jury's decision, to EIC Accelerator proposals that meet all the selection criteria but cannot be funded within the call budget. It arrives with your evaluation result letter in the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Which countries fund Seal of Excellence holders in 2026?

On 1 November 2026, Austria's FFG call is open until 31 December 2026. Spain (CDTI, closed 9 June 2026) and Czechia (SIGMA, closed 1 August 2026) ran rounds this year. Bulgaria lists an ERDF programme and Brussels a regional scheme; ask them about current status.

How long is a Seal of Excellence valid?

The Commission does not set a general expiry date, but funding schemes do. FFG accepts EIC Accelerator seals awarded at most 24 months before you apply, and Poland's FENG scheme required a seal no older than 18 months.

Can I resubmit to the EIC Accelerator with a Seal of Excellence?

You can apply again, but the EIC's FAQ says a seal does not on its own let you skip straight to the full proposal stage. Use the jury feedback to fix the weak points before the next cut-off.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
2026-11-01 17:10