Among the most outstanding CDTI 2024 grants are PID, LIC, Innvierte, Neotec or Cervera and many more grants that you are unaware of but may be ideal for your company. Discover all the grants offered by CDTI, one of the main public funding entities for R+D+i at the national level.
What is CDTI 2024?
CDTI (Center for Industrial Technological Development) is an entity under the Ministry of Science and Innovation, which supports R&D and business innovation. It offers different lines of financing in the form of partially repayable loans or non-refundable grants. Below, we explain in detail all the lines it presents and which ones can be better adapted to finance your business. Throughout its career, as we learned from the conversation that Intelectium had a few days ago with Emilio Iglesias, Head of Area of CDTI, CDTI has granted its own financial aid both for the development of R&D, IT and international cooperation projects.
What are the aspects to consider when choosing one of the CDTI grants?
The basic characteristics for CDTI grants are as follows:
- Type of applicant: Entrepreneur, SME or a large company.
- Business Maturity: What phase is your company in? Startup, consolidation, expansion or growth.
- Individual or cooperative projects: Individual, with CCTT, with CCII, consortium or international.
- Technological maturity of the proposal (TRL): R&D, Innovation or more than a 6 in TRL.
- Type of help: Grant, partially refundable aid, capital or public purchase.
The level of technological maturity (TRL) is a fundamental element. Most CDTI projects have a TRL range between 2 and 6. It is considered that starting from TRL 2 to TRL 5 is R&D. If the company has a TRL of 5 or higher, we would already be talking about Technological Innovation.
What are the main CDTI grants?
This is a general outline of the funding lines offered by CDTI. Below we will go into more detail about each instrument.
Invest CTI
Invest is the investment arm of CDTI available at any stage of the company. It has been operating since the end of 2019 and has invested in more than 80 companies. The concept of this line is the co-investment of CDTI in companies together with more than 70 approved investors or investment funds. The steps to follow are simple:
- Contact an inverter approved by CDTI
- Analysis of the company by the investor
- The investor proposes co-investment to CDTI
- CDTI co-invests (< 50% total investment) in the company with the investor.
The strategy or CDTI investment focus For this line, it is that technology-based and innovative companies in Spain are able to transfer the knowledge generated in research organizations to the productive fabric and that, thanks to investment, they are able to become relevant players in global markets.
Neotec CDTI
Neotec It is an aid from the CDTI in the form of subvention, so there is no need to return the capital provided by the public entity, but it does require a subsequent justification.
Neotec can finance up to 325k€ per company, if you want to have a doctor incorporated, otherwise the maximum funding to be obtained will be 250K€ per beneficiary company. It is focused on young technology-based companies with a business strategy based on an intensive mastery of scientific and technical knowledge. Companies must be more than 6 months old and less than 3 years old. The expenses of the Business Plan are financed over 1 or 2 years.
The main objective of this CDTI grant is to support the creation and consolidation of technology-based startups. For CDTI, a technology-based company, or EBT, is a company whose activity is focused on the exploitation of products and/or services that require the intensive use of technology or knowledge developed from Research.
One of the aspects to which they give the most importance when evaluating the proposals for this competitive call is that the business strategy of the company that is submitted must be based on the development of technology (technology must represent the company's differential value compared to the competition), basing its business on the development and creation of its own lines of R+D+i.
A type of companies that do not finance this line of CDTI are companies whose business model is mainly based on servicing third parties, such as consulting firms.
Neotec women entrepreneurs CDTI
Neotec women entrepreneurs is the same concept as the NEOTEC line but incorporating the concept of women's leadership. Therefore, any young technology-based company can participate. The grant can be up to 250k€, up to 70% of the total project budget. 1 or 2 years of the expenses of the Business Plan are financed.
Neotec Mujeres's CDTI grants may be used for business projects in any technological and sectoral field, however, limiting the above-mentioned models of service consultants.
Within the call, it will be possible to finance all those costs derived from the start-up of an innovative company, such as: investments in equipment, personnel costs, materials, external collaborations and advice, rentals, etc.
PID R&D Projects
PID R&D projects The CDTI, as its name suggests, promotes R&D (industrial research and experimental development) activities. It is a multisectoral and multitechnological line.
You can submit any type of project starting at 175,000€, individually or in cooperation. The type of financing is interest-free and has a grace period of 2 to 3 years and a repayment period of 10 to 15 years. The TNR can be up to 33%, meaning that there is a part of the aid that does not have to be returned, it depends on the company and the aid. The company must have at least 15% of its own resources compared to the budget it wants to finance.
This aid from the CDTI is very flexible, it is a call that is open all year round and that has several varieties:
CERVERA
When an R&D project is carried out in collaboration with a technology or research center, the possibility of requesting a CDTI can be studied CERVERA.
The relevant share of technology centers must be at least 10% of the budget. The non-refundable tranche of aid is up to 33%. The rest, as in the case of CDTI PID, is a 0% loan to be repaid in 10-15 years and with a grace period of 2-3 years from the end of the R&D project.
The exclusive lines defined as technologies for CERVERA are the following:
- Advanced materials
- Eco-innovation (circular economy)
- Energy transition
- Smart manufacturing
- Technologies for health
- Safe and healthy food chain
- Deep learning, Artificial Intelligence
- Advanced mobile networks
- Intelligent transport
- Information protection.
R&D projects international cooperation
This CDTI R&D line is focused on cooperation with its international partner, outside of Spain. It is often used to open markets. It is possible to collaborate with more than 70 countries on lateral Multi-Bi-Uni projects. CDTI funding has a TNR of 33% for both SMEs and large companies. There are usually specific calls with countries. It may be that there will be a reduction in guarantees if the company has a good financial valuation.
CIEN R&D Projects
This aid from CDTI applies if the R&D project is carried out in a consortium under the leadership of a large company (50% industrial research). It is focused on strategic cooperation projects of large companies. They usually cost between 5 and 20 million euros in cooperation projects. There must be several companies, between 3 and 8 and a minimum of one SME. It is a type of financing similar to PID with a TNR of 33%. The grace period is 2-3 years and they are returned in 10.15 years.
Eurostars projects, eranet
Eurostars and IT WAS NET are projects at European level with calls for SMEs. They cover R&D activities (industrial research and experimental development). The type of help is in the form of direct grant but it depends on the type of company:
- 40% large
- 50% medium
- 60% small
In all of them there must be an International Cooperation project in a consortium. In the case of ERANET, the calls are thematic and, on the other hand, in EuroStars they are non-thematic. These are European competitive calls. The calls can be viewed on the CDTI website.
What exactly does TNR (Non-Refundable Section) mean?
In CDTI grants for R&D projects, there is a non-refundable tranche (TNR) of funding, which means that it is a grant tranche that does not have to be returned to the entity, but rather is like a prize for the company. TRNs range from 20 to 33% depending on the type of company and the autonomous community. In the table it is specified:
Motivated reports for R+D+i projects
CDTI is the competent body to issue binding reports on projects it finances in any of its R & D lines.
- In the cataloguing of R&D projects
- Important for the tax deduction for R&D expenses in corporate tax.
- Single report that covers the entire duration of the project. No cost to the company.
- Issuance of the report after approval of the project, upon signing of the contract and upon request by the company.
- For cooperative projects, a report for each partner.
- Except in foral territories.
For companies that are in more advanced stages, with a TRL greater than 5, we find two types: LIC and LICA.
LIC (Direct Line to Innovation)
The CDTI Innovation Line seeks to improve the company's competitiveness through the incorporation of emerging technologies.
It is not based on the development of its own technology, but on incorporation. Loans can reach up to 85% of the budget and have a one-year interest rate of Euribor + 0.75% (in 4 years) or 1.50% (in 6 years).
They are marked within the type of minimum aid. The TRN is 4% for CDTI funds or 7% for ERDF funds. For the CDTI LIC line, as an indispensable condition, it is required that candidate projects have a minimum amount of 175,000 euros, which would be linked to investments in equipment and expenditure on personnel costs, materials, external industrial collaborations (suppliers) and R&D (research centers).
This aid has an advance of 35% with a limit of 400,000 euros, without the requirement of guarantees additional to the financial conditions valid by the Board of Directors. The projects submitted through this grant must be executed at a maximum interval of 18 months and the expenses must not have started prior to the application for the aid.
LIC-A Expansion Hotline
The Expansion Hotline serves to boost the growth of innovative companies, improving the capacities that propose investment plans that facilitate their growth. Up to 30 million euros in funding can be reached in a maximum of 18 months.
Direct investment in technological assets is financed. The aid is 75% of maximum intensity, with a one-year Euribor interest plus 1% (9 years of repayment and 1 year of grace period). The main objective of this CDTI grant is to promote innovation in certain Spanish regions that are increasingly disadvantaged and/or that are experiencing special economic difficulties. It is an aid that is open all year round.
Here you can find a brief summary of CDTI's R+D+I funding lines that may best fit your company.
The projects that are most funded by CDTI are industrial. Thanks to the next generation CDTI funds, the number of grants that are in grant format has increased by almost 50%. You can find more information in the CDTI's official website or View the webinar that we offered last March 10, which deals in more depth with each line.
Read more: CDTI Missions Program
