AEESD Program

Grants for technology companies

Modality

Combination of loan and grant

Beneficiaries

Individual or consortium projects

Conditions

Frame the project within the established thematic areas

Amortization

5 years of amortization with 2 years of grace period

Budget

Minimum of 200,000 euros, with a maximum of 10 million euros

Guarantees

Guarantees of 25% of the budget

Amortization

9 years, with a 7 year grace period

Funding

The company must make or have recently made a capital injection

Modality

Participatory loans

Interest

Applied in two sections. The first tranche will be Euribor + 3.25% and the second will be an additional 6% maximum depending on the company's profitability.

Guarantees

They do not require personal guarantees or guarantees, which makes it much more interesting than a traditional bank loan

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AEESD grants finance R&D projects that improve the current state of the art of technology in the ICT, Internet of Things, eHealth, Smart Cities and Energy Efficiency sectors, among others.

Within the framework of the Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Industry, Economy and Tourism manages AEESD grants, which are intended to provide funding for high-level R&D projects to technology companies in the Spanish state, in the form of competitive competition.

It offers two calls a year, usually in June and December, in which the subject areas that can be financed are distributed: Industries of the Future (Big Data, Cloud Computing, Electronics), Cybersecurity, Energy Efficiency, Smart Cities and Smart Mobility, eHealth, Digital Content and applications for improving the competitiveness of SMEs.

What do the AEESD aid acronyms stand for?

The acronym for AEESD aid refers to the Strategic Action for Digital Economy and Society, promoted by the Spanish Digital Agency. This body includes among its main objectives; the development of the digital economy, the reduction of management costs in the administration, the improvement of citizen service, the strengthening of the Spanish ICT sector as a source of wealth and employment and, the promotion of R+D+i projects in the industries of the future.

More specifically, the help provided by AEESD also includes the incorporation of ICT in SMEs, security, or the empowerment of the digital content and services industry.

What is the purpose of the aid?

Finance R&D, industrial research and experimental development projects, carried out by companies or technology centers on an individual basis. It can support large technological projects with high traction potential and socio-economic impact, or it can serve as a technological impetus for R&D projects based on information and communication technologies with a low level of maturity that present a high level of technological risk.

What is the total budget for AEESD grants?

200,000,000 euros distributed as follows between the two subprograms: Technological boost 140,000,000 euros and large projects 60,000,000 euros.

What are the criteria for evaluating technological innovation?

Technological innovation will be evaluated in relation to the level of maturity of the technologies used or designed in the project, in order to establish the maximum percentage of the budget eligible for a grant.

a.) Projects that use technologies that have only been validated at the system or component level in a laboratory environment or there is a validated experimental proof of concept will be eligible for a maximum of 50% grant.

b.) Projects that make use of technologies that have been validated in a relevant, operational or simulation environment, whether the complete system, a prototype of the system or at the component level, will be eligible for a maximum of 35% grant.

c.) Projects that use technology that has been fully tested, validated and certified in a real environment will be eligible for a maximum of 30% grant. It may entail the existence of a first commercial system/prototype whenever it is the final commercial product and its manufacture is too expensive for exclusive use for demonstration and validation purposes.

This line is currently not open but is expected to be reactivated soon.