Until the end of 2023, ENISA's main funding lines operated on the basis of a budget that was approved each year by the Council of Ministers.
Thus, in the years when there was some political stability, the budget was usually approved during the second quarter of the year. In these cases, if a startup applied for a loan within the first quarter of the year, the disbursement could be expected to occur between June and September of the same year. If, on the other hand, the request was made in June-July, the disbursement occurred in the months of November-December. Sending requests later than the end of September was not usually recommended because the risk of the bank running out of budget was high, and in that case it had to be represented in the first months of the following year.
In the years when the budget was approved late, say in August or September, it had to be expected that the disbursement would be made between December and January-February of the following year.
This will soon change, because since November 2023 we have been working on the creation of a fund that will allow the organization to be permanently endowed with capital throughout the year. This fund was expected to be operational in early 2024, but since it requires a law and the political situation is unstable, the entity is looking for alternatives to see how to implement a solution that does not have a negative impact on startups. The positive thing is that through the fund's solution, ENISA will have much more predictability and its processes will improve even more than they have already done in 2023.
It is important to note that the entity has already been taking steps to provide more predictability to its approval processes for a couple of years. This is the case of the Digital Entrepreneur, AgriInnpulso or Audiovisual and Creative Cultural Industries loan lines, which have specific annual budgets, can be requested at any time of the year and have fast and consistent approval and disbursement periods. If your startup is included in the context of these lines, it is also advisable to submit them in the first months of the year, to avoid running the risk of running out of budgets corresponding to the period in question.
There are other elements that it is important not to neglect in order to speed up the structuring and disbursement of the transaction as much as possible. One of them is the issue of formalizing the capital increase, since ENISA requires that the capital increase be written and submitted to the registry, although not necessarily registered, in other words, it is sufficient to present proof of entry in the Commercial Register. However, if the round involves a change of powers, in the review phase with the entity's legal team, they will require that the power of attorney be properly registered.
Finally, we always recommend being conservative about the amount to be requested when the visibility of the timing and amount of the capital increase round is not completely clear. This is the case because, for example, if you say that the round will be 200,000 euros, and Enisa approves a loan conditional on this round, if finally the 200,000 euros are not achieved and the round remains at 180,000 euros, ENISA will cancel the approval directly and the request will have to be represented.
We help you get help from Enisa
If you want to assess whether the different Enisa lines can fit your company or project, we can advise you without obligation. At Intelectium, we work under a successful model in obtaining public aid. We help you to identify which grants are the best fit for you and to prepare all the necessary documentation to carry out the procedure correctly until you obtain funding. You can contact us through our form or by sending an email to comunicacion@intelectium.com
