Aids Neotec 2026

The Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación, E.P.E. (CDTI) is calling the NEOTEC Programme in 2026 under a competitive procedure, within the Programa de Innovación del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2024 2027, with the aim of supporting the launch of new business projects by innovative companies.

The programme is aimed at recently established innovative small companies, with tax residence in Spain, that develop a business plan based on the development and exploitation of their own technology, understood as technology generated from research and development activities. Business projects from any technological or sectoral field may be submitted, provided that the business model is not primarily based on the provision of services to third parties without their own technological development, nor on initiatives that do not reflect continuity in the development of technology.

The total maximum amount allocated to the call amounts to 20.383.300 euros. Within the available budget, a minimum budgetary reserve of 5.000.000 euros is established for business projects led by women.

The aid will take the form of a grant and will finance annual or multiannual actions, which must necessarily start on 1 January 2027 and end on 31 December 2027, in the case of one-year projects, or on 31 December 2028, in the case of multiannual projects. The project's eligible budget must be between 175.000 and 750.000 euros, excluding the costs associated with international training described under the terms set out in Annex II of the call.

As a general rule, the grant may cover up to 70 % of the eligible budget, with a maximum amount of 250.000 euros per beneficiary company. For projects that include the permanent, full-time hiring of at least one person holding a doctoral degree, the aid intensity may be increased to 85 % of the eligible budget, with a maximum amount of 325.000 euros.

Additionally, beneficiary companies may request funding for capacity-building activities linked to business growth and internationalisation, consisting of training programmes in the United States (MIT or GeorgiaTech). These expenses may be subsidised at 100 %, up to a maximum amount of 18.300 euros, provided that the company meets the established requirements and ranks among the best-evaluated proposals that have requested this training.

The following expenses will be eligible, provided they are included and duly justified in the business plan:

• the acquisition of fixed assets, tangible and intangible.
• personnel costs, including in-house staff, new hires and worker-shareholders, as well as, where applicable, the hiring of people with a doctoral degree.
• external collaborations and advisory services, with subcontracting reaching at most 50 % of the eligible budget.
• other costs necessary for the execution of the project, such as rents, utilities, fees and licences, patent application and maintenance expenses and other industrial property rights, insurance, promotion and dissemination expenses, as well as training expenses, with a maximum limit of 10.000 euros.

Likewise, travel expenses will be eligible, up to a maximum of 8.000 euros, provided they are exclusively linked to training activities delivered by public or private entities, including business growth or internationalisation programmes for startups, such as ICEX Desafía. Under no circumstances will subsistence expenses be eligible.

Expenses arising from the audit report, required for the justification of the aid, will also be eligible, with a maximum limit of 2.000 euros.

Once the final award decision has been issued, the beneficiary entity may request an advance payment of up to 60 % of the grant awarded for the business project, with a maximum amount of 150.000 euros, without the need to provide any type of guarantee.