Grants for deeptech companies: how non-dilutive funding actually works

Grants are not free money. They are a buyer that pays for part of your roadmap in exchange for a particular scope, reporting, and a public-good story. The founders who win them treat the application as a project in itself: they match the call's scoring criteria, build a budget the auditor can read, and keep enough cash runway to survive the gap between approval and first payment.

Most deeptech companies are eligible for more grants than they realise, and apply for fewer than they should because the paperwork looks like a tax on their time. The guides below break the work into readable pieces: how to read a call, how to budget, and how the Dutch and European systems fit together.

Winning a grant does not replace selling to customers. The best use of grant money is usually to de-risk the technology or market enough that the next commercial conversation is easier, not to postpone that conversation indefinitely.

1. 01EIC Accelerator for deeptech: what the 2026 scoring means for technical foundersThe EIC Accelerator still funds breakthrough innovation, but the scoring has shifted. Here is how technical founders should read the call and shape a fundable p
2. 02The indirect-cost line that kills deeptech grant budgetsGrant budgets fail at audit when indirect costs, partner contributions and personnel time are not documented. Here is how to build a budget an auditor can read.
3. 03NWO and TTW for Dutch deeptech: when to applyNWO and TTW fund Dutch technical research at different stages. Here is how deeptech founders decide which instrument fits their readiness level and commercial t