Pillar 2

Pillar 2 is the strand of the Horizon Europe research framework programme that funds industrial and applied collaborative research, as distinct from the fundamental Science of Pillar 1 and the innovation ecosystem support of Pillar 3. It is the strand most directly relevant to university spinouts and industry-academic consortia, channelling multi-year grants to applied research projects across clean energy, health, digital and manufacturing. The UK's Pillar 2 funding share rose to 6.2% in 2024, a 68% increase year on year, recovering from 3.7% in 2023.

The UK was excluded from Horizon Europe following Brexit and the failure of the TCA negotiations to deliver an association agreement, with UK researchers losing access to grants from 2021 until the Windsor Framework enabled re-association in late 2023. The UK then became a fully associated member, restoring eligibility for Horizon calls. Recovery has been gradual: the overall UK funding share rose from 5.8% in 2023 to 9.3% in 2024 (€994m total), still below the 2018/19 peak of around 15%. Pillar 2's faster recovery (68% year on year) compared with overall Horizon recovery reflects the applied Nature of the strand, where UK industry-academic consortia have stronger international partnership networks than pure-Science collaborations.

Pillar 2 participation matters specifically to the UK spinout ecosystem because Horizon Europe grants frequently underpin the pre-commercial research phase from which spinouts emerge. A consortium grant that enables a materials-Science team to validate a process at pilot scale, for instance, is often the precursor to the Series A that commercialises the technology. The UK's rising Pillar 2 share therefore represents not just a research input but a future spinout pipeline.