Cyberagentur Strengthens Europe’s Deep Tech
The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) is an accredited plugin partner of the European Innovation Council. This provides the agency with a new European channel for eligible cybersecurity projects from its research portfolio and strengthens the translation of high-risk research into marketable deep tech applications.
The Cyberagentur was formally accredited as an accredited Plugin partner of the European Innovation Council (EIC) back in December 2025. With the confirmation of its participation in the Plugin, the Cyberagentur can now carry out its new responsibilities.
With this accreditation, the Cyberagentur assumes a new role in the European innovation system. It can review suitable projects from its research portfolio and, if the evaluation is positive, nominate them for the EIC Accelerator’s plug-in process. The Accelerator is aimed at startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are developing disruptive, high-risk, and market-relevant innovations.
The plugin provides a fast-track to the full application phase of the EIC Accelerator. To this end, the Cyberagentur conducts an independent review with interested contracting companies. This project review assesses the innovation potential, technological maturity, market opportunities, and scalability of an existing project. A positive evaluation does not replace the EIC’s decision. However, it allows applicants to skip the first application stage.
For the Cyberagentur, inclusion in the EIC Plugin is strategically important. The agency works on research questions whose benefits often don’t become apparent for several years. The plugin creates a European pathway for results that can make the leap from early-stage research to marketable applications. This makes the transition from high-risk cybersecurity research to European-scale implementation more systematic.
“The Cyberagentur operates in areas where technological uncertainty is high and strategic relevance is particularly great. The EIC plugin expands this work to include a European connection option. Good research results must not remain confined to the laboratory. They must find their way into robust applications, businesses, and European value creation,” says Prof. Dr. Christian Hummert, Research Director and Managing Director of the Cyberagentur.
This accreditation sends a clear signal. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, secure hardware, and dual-use technologies are key areas for European action. The EIC is increasingly framing these topics within the context of strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty. The Cyberagentur thus combines its national mission with a European instrument for technology transfer and scaling.
During the accreditation process, the Cyberagentur had to demonstrate how it supports its research programs, the scope of the projects and funding it oversees, how the plugin process can be integrated into existing workflows, the criteria used to select applicants, and how intellectual property rights are protected. As a result, the process is viewed not only as an additional pathway to the EIC but also as a quality-assured process within the agency’s research and innovation management.
The European Innovation Council supports high-risk deep-tech innovations at various stages of technological maturity. Pathfinder focuses on early-stage research; Transition supports the move to more application-oriented development stages; and the Accelerator targets projects at an advanced stage of technological maturity. According to the EIC, 414 million euros will be available in 2026 for the open track of the EIC Accelerator. In addition to financial support, the Accelerator offers access to coaching, mentoring, networks, and European innovation ecosystems.
Eligible projects are those that have reached at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5, have emerged from an existing research program of the Cyberagentur, and can be further developed by a startup or SME. TRL stands for Technology Readiness Level and describes the maturity of a technology, from the initial concept to a market-ready application.
In its role as an EIC plugin partner, the Cyberagentur is strengthening its position at the intersection of research, technology transfer, and European security policy. In doing so, it is expanding the opportunities to turn high-risk cybersecurity research into concrete technological contributions for Germany and Europe.
Further information:
https://www.cyberagentur.de/agentur/ueber-uns/#strategie-2026-2030