European incentives for startups

(Guide updated to June 2021)

The European Union also provides start-ups and SMEs with incentives in the form of loans or grants.

Let’s see the most important incentives.

1) Cultura Crea 2.0

Cultura Crea 2.0, a measure promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture, supports the birth and growth of companies – therefore also start-ups – and non-profit initiatives in the tourism – cultural sector, in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily, with the following incentives:

“Creation of new businesses in the cultural industry“, which supports:
- micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) of the cultural industry established in the last 36 months, including cooperatives and teams of individuals who want to set up a business, presenting spending programs of up to € 400,000 for the creation or introduction of certain products or services;
- through a subsidized interest-free loan, up to 40% of the admitted expenditure and a non-repayable grant of up to 40% of the admitted expenditure.
“Development of cultural and tourism industry companies“, which supports:
- the development and consolidation of the MPMIs of the cultural, tourism, creative, entertainment and manufacturing sectors typical of the local area, which present spending programs of up to 500,000 euros for the creation or introduction of certain products or services;
- through:
  - a subsidized interest-free loan up to 60% of the admitted expenditure, which can be raised to 65% in the case of a female business, or a youth business or in possession of a legality rating
  - a non-repayable grant up to 20% of the admitted expenditure, which can be raised to 25% in the case of a female business, or a young business or in possession of a legality rating.
“Support for the third sector of the cultural industry“, which encourages:
- the development and consolidation of companies and other third sector subjects in activities related to the management of goods, services and cultural development activities, which present spending programs of up to 400,000 euros in certain areas of intervention;
- through a non-repayable grant of up to 80% of the permitted expenditure, which can be raised to 90% in the case of a female business, or a youth business or in possession of a legality rating.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Deadline of the call: until resources are exhausted.

2) Calls financed by the Horizon 2020 project

a) DigiFed for Application Experiments

This call aims to support start-ups, SMEs and midcups based in the European Union, encouraging them to digitize their products and services and to reach new markets. Businesses must operate in one of the following industrial sectors:

CPS / Embedded systems
Smart applications
Artificial Intelligence
Connectivity / IoT
Additive manufacturing
Application-specific semiconductor technologies
Heterogeneous integration and smart miniaturized systems
Micro and nano bio-systems
The energy efficiency of systems

The allocated funding is equal to a maximum of € 55,000 (with a co-financing rate equal to 70% of the budget) for each application and the selected companies will also have personalized technical and business support available to develop their own solution.

To submit your application immediately,click here.
Call deadline: June 8, 2021, h. 17.

b) EIC Accelerator

The EIC Accelerator call encourages start-ups and SMEs – in particular those with women employed in top positions – to develop revolutionary innovations in the field of game-changing. In particular:

Strategic Digital and Health technologies.
Green Deal innovations for the economic recovery.

The loan is disbursed through:

non-repayable grants of up to 2.5 million euros for the costs of innovation development;
investments of up to € 15 million, managed by the EIC Fund, for the scale up of innovation.

In addition, the companies selected by the EIC – who choose to join the EIC community – will receive coaching, mentoring and access to investors.

To submit your application immediately, click here. You will have to prepare a video pitch, a presentation in slides, and answer a short series of questions about your innovation and the company team.
Deadline for the call: June 16, 2021.

c) ZERO

ZERO is the Italian Accelerator of the National Accelerator Network of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) which, with the homonymous call, intends to support, for 3 years, the growth of 30 Italian and international start-ups and innovative SMEs operating in the sector “Clean technologies“, which intend to develop solutions with zero impact on the environment, in one of the following sectors:

circular economy;
prevention and reduction of waste;
new energy sources;
energy storage and transport;
capture, storage and reuse of CO2;
reduction of emissions.

The financing consists of:

an investment of 80,000 euros for an equity of 5 to 10%;
participation in a 5 month acceleration program, with the support of mentor coaches, corporate partners and selected investors.
To submit your application immediately, click here.
Deadline for the call: 18 June 2021.

d) DIGITbrain

The DIGITbrain project aims to give start-ups and SMEs access to Digital Twin Technology, a computerized simulation that allows you to streamline the production process and predict possible machine failures or maintenance needs.

In particular, the “Digital Product Brain” project will aim to:

store data during the entire life cycle of a production line or machine;
customize and configure production machines/plants for very specific production tasks;
thus allowing a new production model, the “Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS)”, which will allow the production of more specialized products, even in small quantities and with economically advantageous methods, at the customer’s request.

This call supports the development of 7 innovative experiments – through a maximum contribution of 100,000 euros for each – proposed by consortia composed of, at least:

an end-user (startup or midcap of the manufacturing sector);
a technical partner (technology providers, research organizations, High Performance Computing provider or Digital Innovation Hub) based in the EU Member States or in the countries associated with Horizon 2020.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Call deadline: June 30, 2021, h. 17:00.

e) IMPACT EdTech

The IMPACT EdTech project is aimed at startups and SMEs engaged in addressing, through digital technologies, one of the following challenges of the educational systems:

inclusive education, to combat early school leaving or support the improvement of school results;
personalized learning, based on artificial intelligence (AI), analytical learning analysis, and other emerging technologies, to support new pedagogical approaches;
development of the skills of children and teachers, with particular attention to the development of STEM, Computional Thinking and other skills relevant today (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication).

The call helps companies to market innovative solutions in the field of Education Technology (EdTech), in one of the following areas:

(A) School EdTech solutions.
(B) EdTech solutions for any age group and / or level of education

17 startups/SMEs will be selected to participate in a 9-month incubation and acceleration path, divided into two phases:

MVP Validation – Incubation: the selected companies:
- will be supported to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which will be tested by a pool of education experts;
- will receive up to € 87,388 to fund this phase.
Proof of Market – Acceleration: 8 companies selected from phase 1 with the best MVPs will receive:
- further support to put their solutions on the market;
- up to € 110,000 in subsidies from the EU.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Call deadline: June 30, 2021, h. 1:00 pm.

f) Living Lab

Living Labs are environments that foster innovation, collaborative creation and start-up development and represent a modern method for testing new technologies and applications in real and controlled environments.

With this announcement, the European Commission has followed up on the expressions of interest for the creation of Living Labs at the JRC laboratories of ISPRA (Italy) and Petten (Netherlands).

Selected public and private start-ups and SMEs, based in EU Member States, operating in the fields of intelligent transport and energy, will have an environment that simulates the urban context, state-of-the-art laboratories and technical support. scientific expertise and advanced infrastructures, to develop future mobility solutions including:

ad hoc shared rides;
automatic door-to-door delivery;
vehicle connectivity and communication (V2X);
automated shuttles, robo-taxis;
solutions for clean vehicles;
Digital solutions for energy;
Etc.

To send your application, fill out the appropriate form (click here to download it) and send it by e-mail to JRC-livinglabs@ec.europa.eu.
Call deadline: June 30, 2021, h. 1:00 pm.

g) Get it

The Get it call selects a maximum of 30 teams of innovators/start-ups who:

generate social, cultural or environmental impact;
have at least one person under the age of 35 within them;

providing them with the opportunity to:

take part in an incubation/acceleration, consultancy and mentorship process, with a total market value between € 20,000 and € 25,000;
be part of the FSVGDA equity investment portfolio, with important benefits in terms of visibility and access to the communication channels of FSVGDA and Cariplo Factory S.r.l., attendance at dedicated events, etc;
compete with the best start-ups that will have completed the paths for accessing a further investment by FSVGDA, between a min. of € 25,000 and a maximum of € 50,000.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Deadline for the call: 27 September 2021.

The importance of legal and tax support

How to choose between all these incentives?

Our advice, especially in the early stages, is to rely on serious, qualified professionals with proven experience in business consultancy, who will guide you with confidence in choosing the safest financing methods and in line with your commercial strategy.

Our Firm, thanks to the expertise and experience in consulting and assistance to start-ups, both in the legal and commercial and corporate fields:

provides all entrepreneurs interested in creating their own start-up or defining an optimal business strategy, advice and specific assistance in bureaucratic and commercial practices;
- assists its customers in the market analysis phase, in the preparation of the business plan and in the search for the economic resources necessary to finance the start-up;
- supports the company at every stage of development, recommending the best commercial and legal strategies to be implemented.

Contact us immediately at the numbers +39 0683521985 or +39 3711453121, or write to us at info@studiolegalecoscia.it for specific advice.