Skip to content
Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Grants

ESA Business Incubation Centre network

ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BIC)

Status

Open continuously

No deadline — apply whenever you are ready.

Always open
Amount
€50,000

EUR 50,000 equity-free funding for product and IP development, plus up to two years of incubation, technical support from ESA experts, business coaching, legal and IPR advice and fundraising support.

Funder

European Space Agency (ESA) with national and regional co-funders

ppp · supranational

Deadline: Fixed cut-off dates — Each ESA BIC runs its own call cycle with published cut-off dates, typically two to four per year. 36 centres across 23 European countries with over 100 locations; more than 2,000 startups supported.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
major

Major bid — written case, budget, possibly partners.

Who can apply

Business must either use space-based systems (satellite navigation, Earth observation, satellite communication), use space technologies in a non-space domain, or develop innovative products and services for the space sector. Company must be registered in the host country before contract signature; companies must normally be younger than five years.

How to apply

  1. Contact the local ESA BIC to discuss whether the business idea fits
  2. Submit the completed application documents before the announced local deadline
  3. Applications are reviewed by a Tender Opening Board
  4. Shortlisted applicants present to a Tender Evaluation Board
  5. On approval, register a company before signing the incubation contract

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://commercialisation.esa.int/esa-business-incubation-centres/

"Up to two years of business incubation at an ESA BIC of your choice. EUR 50k equity free funding for product and IP development."

Last checked against the official page on 5 October 2026

Source: commercialisation.esa.int

Report an error Something wrong or out of date? Tell us.

Similar programmes

Innowwide (Eureka market feasibility vouchers)

Closes in 50 days

Eureka Association with EU funding

ESA BIC (European Space Agency Business Incubation Centres)

Status not published

European Space Agency with national and regional co-funding partners

EIT Health Headstart

Usually opens in February and April

EIT Health

EIT Urban Mobility Financial Support to Startups

Closes in 35 days

EIT Urban Mobility (European Institute of Innovation and Technology Knowledge and Innovation Community)

EIT HEI Initiative: Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education

Usually opens in October and February

EIT (implemented by EIT RawMaterials on behalf of the EIT Community)

EIT Culture & Creativity start-up support

Closes in 18 days

EIT Culture & Creativity

Paid, separate from Unclaimed

Want a human to review your application?

Involve Consulting can help — a paid expert-review service run by the same person behind Unclaimed, entirely separate from this free check. A flat fee, agreed up front; never a cut of what you receive.

Talk to Involve Consulting