The Active Financing Program, one of the first published grants of the Next Generation funds, contemplates providing funding to the projects presented, depending on the size of the companies that develop them, through two different lines of action: Activa-SMEs and Activa-Large Implementations.

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Lines of action

Activa-SMEs: For projects carried out by small and medium-sized companies. ‍

Active-Large implementations: For projects carried out by any type of company.

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Type of funding

Grants will be granted in the form of loans or through a combination of loans and grants. Broadly speaking, the total amount granted (nominal loan plus grant) will be a maximum of 80% of the total eligible expenses. And, the amount of aid to be granted in the form of a grant, will be at most 50, 20 and 5% for small, medium and large companies, respectively. On the other hand, the maximum intensity of aid in the form of grants, for the line Active-Large Implementations, will be limited to:

‍For industrial research projects:

• Large companies: Up to 50% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Medium-sized companies: Up to 60% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Small and micro enterprises: Up to 70% of the eligible cost of the project.

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For experimental development projects:

• Large companies: Up to 25% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Medium-sized companies: Up to 35% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Small and micro enterprises: Up to 45% of the eligible cost of the project.

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For organizational and process innovation projects:

• Large companies: Up to 15% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Medium-sized companies: Up to 50% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Small and micro enterprises: Up to 50% of the eligible cost of the project.

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In cases where aid is granted in the form of loans:

• The amortization period is set at 5 years, with a 2-year grace period, for the Activa-SME line.
• In the case of the Activa-Large Implementations line, the amortization will be 10 years, with a 3-year grace period.
• Both the amortization of the principal and the liquidation of the interest will be carried out on an annual basis. In the event that the aid is made through a combination of loan and grant, the loans will have the same characteristics as in the previous case.

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Beneficiaries

Companies, with their own legal personality, legally constituted in Spain and duly registered in the corresponding register; regardless of their size, that carry out an industrial activity, for a minimum period of 3 years, and that are not part of the public sector.

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Requirements

Projects should be adapted to one of the following thematic priorities:

• Platforms for interconnecting the company's value chain.
• Solutions for advanced data processing.
• Artificial intelligence solutions.
• Industrial simulation projects.
• Additive design and manufacturing.
• Augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial vision projects.
• Collaborative and cognitive robotics. -Sensory.

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Types of projects

To be eligible for aid, projects must be defined and involve any of the following activities:

• Industrial Research
• Experimental development projects
• Organizational innovation projects
• Process innovation projects
• Preliminary validation projects

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Financiable expenses

Investments and expenses incurred from the day following the submission of the application and up to a maximum period of two years, starting from the resolution of the concession, will be bankable. The minimum bankable budget for the actions will be 100,000 euros.

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As a general rule, bankable expenses are defined as:

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‍For the Activa-SME Line:

• Production equipment and equipment - Hardware infrastructure
• Expenses of external collaborations exclusively derived from the project

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‍For the Active Line—Large Implementations: -

• Personnel costs.
• Costs of inventoriable instruments and material.
• Contract research costs, technical knowledge and patents acquired or obtained by license from external sources.

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Criteria for evaluating applications

The evaluation committee will give each project a total score of between 0 and 100 points. In order to be eligible for aid, it will be necessary for projects to meet the minimum scoring thresholds established for each criterion, which are defined in:

• Adequacy to the thematic priorities, to the types of projects eligible for aid and the beneficiaries established in the order: Excluding criterion‍
• Incentive effect of aid: Excluding Criteria‍
• Economic and financial viability: 15/30. Current Assets/Current Liabilities: 0/1.5. Gross Economic Result/ Net Turnover: 0/3. Assets/Liabilities: 0/3.Net Turnover/Total Assets: 0/3.Net Economic Result/Total Assets: 0/3.Gross Economic Output/Total Net Debt: 0/3.Current Assets/Total Assets: 0/1.5. Own funds/Total net worth and liabilities: 0/3. Medium and long-term debts/Total net worth and liabilities: 0/3. Tangible assetable/Non-current assets: 0/3. Net economic result/financial expenses: 0/3. Economic-financial risk assessment ratio: 0/1.‍
• Technical viability of the proposal: 20/40.Quality of the entity and the work team: 0/10.Quality of the work plan: 0/20.Adequate time schedule of the project: 0/10.‍
• Socio-economic impact and technological projection: 0/30.Direct impact on the manufacturing industry: 0/10. Direct impact of the project on the value chain of suppliers and customers: 0/10. Project contribution to the ecological transition: 0/10.

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Deadlines for submitting applications: Grants may be announced through annual calls, with a defined and determined deadline for submitting applications, or through open calls, of an annual nature. More: Public funding for R+D+i