Hiring an EU grant consultant is a bigger decision than it looks. The fees are one cost; the other is the weeks you spend on a draft that may be built on the wrong strategy. Whether you are applying to Eurostars, EIC Pathfinder or Horizon Europe, these seven questions help you tell a useful partner from an expensive one.
First: what do you actually need?
“Grant consultant” covers three different jobs, and mixing them up is the most common mistake.
- Writing support. Someone drafts or heavily rewrites sections for you. This is the most expensive option, and it only works if the underlying project is already well defined.
- Strategy and consortium advice. Choosing the call, the partners and the project framing. This matters most for Eurostars, where eligibility rules shape the consortium before anyone writes a word, and for Pathfinder, where the idea itself has to meet a high bar.
- Review before submission. An independent read of a near-final draft against the evaluation criteria. It is the cheapest option, and it catches problems you can no longer see yourself.
If you already have a team that can write, a review may be all you need. If you do not have a project yet, strategy comes first.
1. Have they seen the evaluation side?
The scoring is done by independent experts working through a fixed template. A consultant who has evaluated proposals, or who has structured experience of how scores are decided, knows what loses points. Ask directly: have you served as an evaluator or reviewer, and for which programmes?
2. Do they know your specific programme?
Eurostars, EIC Pathfinder and Horizon Europe reward different things. Eurostars checks eligibility such as the two-country rule and SME leadership before any scoring. Pathfinder has weighted criteria with a separate threshold for each, so one strong criterion cannot compensate for a weak one. Ask what they have worked on for this programme and this cycle, because rules change between calls.
3. What exactly will you receive, and by when?
“Support” is not a deliverable. Ask for a written scope: how many review rounds, which sections, what format the feedback comes in, and how fast they turn it around. Near a deadline, turnaround matters as much as quality.
4. How are they paid?
Fixed fees, hourly rates and success fees are all common. A success fee aligns incentives, but it can also push a consultant to submit a proposal that should have been left for the next call. Whatever the model, understand what you pay if the proposal is rejected, and check that the arrangement is allowed under the rules of your call.
5. Will they tell you when not to apply?
A good consultant will sometimes say the project is not ready, the consortium has an eligibility problem, or the call is a poor fit. If every conversation ends in “yes, we can do that”, treat it as a warning.
6. How do they handle your confidential material?
Your draft contains unpublished ideas. Ask who will read it, where it is stored, whether it is used to train any AI model, and whether they will sign an NDA or a data processing agreement. These are normal questions, and any serious provider has answers ready.
7. What do they say about success rates?
Be careful with headline figures. A success rate is only meaningful with its context: the programme, the years, and whether it counts all clients or only those who submitted. Funding rates in these programmes are low, so a claim of near-certain success deserves a follow-up question.
Red flags
- A guaranteed outcome. No one can guarantee a result when independent evaluators decide.
- No written scope, or a scope that changes after you sign.
- A template-based proposal that could be about any project.
- No named person responsible for your project.
Consultant, review or both?
That final step is what GrantGenix does: a reviewer-perspective evaluation of your draft against the programme criteria, combining an AI evaluation with expert review. It is not a writing service, and it is built for the last weeks before submission. See how it works for Eurostars, EIC Pathfinder, Horizon Europe and EIC Accelerator, look at the sample report, or book a free consultation to discuss whether it fits your project.