Through the partially repayable loans of the PID line, the CDTI encourages research and technological development of Spanish companies.
Find out how to access this type of funding!
As we have mentioned on other occasions, through the CDTI (Center for Technological Development and Innovation) you can access different lines of funding for your startup or SME.
What aspects should you consider to choose the CDTI line that best suits your project?
The type of applicant (SME or large company) and the degree of technological and business maturity will determine the fit of your project with one or another line of the CDTI.
Discover the different financing options offered by the CDTI by clicking hither.
This time, we will focus on the process that as an entrepreneur you must carry out to apply for a loan through the CDTI PID line.
What projects can be eligible for a PID loan?
Through the PID line, the CDTI offers funding for projects of industrial research and/or experimental development that involve the significant improvement of a production process, product or service.
Projects must not be started at the time of the request. The funding granted will be in the form of partially refundable aid, consisting of a combination of a current loan and a non-refundable tranche (TNR), this tranche is a non-refundable grant that the company does not have to repay.
The expenses eligible for the PID Program are the necessary instruments and equipment, the personnel involved in the project, subcontracting and general expenses.
Through the CDTI PID line, you can access partially repayable loans of up to 85% of the approved budget with the following conditions:
- Non-refundable tranche: Between 20 and 33%
- Interest rate: Euribor +0%
- Amortization period: 10 or 15 years, starting from the center of gravity of the project. The first reimbursement is made 3 years after the project's center of gravity, with a minimum of 2 years from its completion date.
- By default, a 50% down payment is offered without the need for additional guarantees, with a limit of 300,000 euros, and the rest of the Aid is disbursed in installments and depending on the milestones defined in the Project. Up to 75% of an advance can be requested if they present execution guarantees for the difference.
What requirements must your company meet to be a beneficiary of the line?
- Not being in a crisis situation both at the time of the request for aid and in the last closed financial year.
- To do this, your company's own funds must be greater than half resulting from the sum of capital plus premium. That is to say: ffpp> (K+P) /2.
- Count on monthly recurring billing that demonstrates the acceptance of your product in the market.
- To have a own R&D team dedicated to technological projects with which the development and the amount of the project presented can be justified.
- Comply with the principle of no significant harm to the environment (DNSH).
- That the project has a duration between 12 and 36 months. Projects developed in cooperation may last up to 48 months.
Criteria for evaluating CDTI-PID proposals
- Scientific-technical quality of the proposal and degree of innovation.
- Technical and financial capacity of the company to carry out the project.
- Company capacity to Exploit the results.
- Potential market of the developments to be carried out.
- Impact on the internationalization of the company's activities.
- In the case of projects in cooperation, complementarity and balance of the consortium.
What are the steps to make the request?
To start applying for a PID loan you must register in the portal of the entity and start a new application in the “Aid Management - Private Area” section.
Once you have obtained your username and password, you must upload the administrative and economic information requested from you to the platform, including a summary of the project and its budget (you must be able to break down this budget by activity and by bankable concepts).
After completing this first step, you should be prepared two essential documents: the project report (including the objectives of the project, the solution to be developed, the work plan, the justification of the project, etc.) and company information (including current company status, market, business model, products, equipment, etc.).
To make this report, you can download and complete the template available at the CDTI-E.P.E. Electronic Office.
Later, you must provide additional information that includes the registered annual accounts for the last 3 years (if applicable) and the provisional accounts for the current year.
What is the evaluation process like?
To be a beneficiary of a loan from the CDTI PID line, the agency analyzes your project in two different parts: after a technical evaluation1 You must pass one financial evaluation2.
It is important to keep in mind that, although the evaluation usually lasts between 2 and 4 months, depending on the time of year in which you made the request, the process can take up to 6 months.
Technical Assessment. During the technical evaluation of your project, the evaluator assigned by the CDTI may request additional information to that previously provided and will coordinate a face-to-face visit to your offices, where your company's CTO or, in his absence, the project director must attend. The criteria under which this evaluation is carried out can be summarized as:
- Plan for commercial exploitation of the project
- Project Technology and Innovation
- Capacity of the company or consortium
- Socio-economic and environmental impact
Financial evaluation. During the financial evaluation, the evaluator assigned by the CDTI will seek to verify that, in fact, your company has a healthy balance sheet, a consolidated turnover and that the budget presented is within the usual margins. To do this, you can request additional information to that provided during the application process.
It is at this point that if the financial evaluator determines that the project needs guarantees, he will make a proposal of conditions to the client.
The processes that are carried out in this evaluation can be summarized as:
- Analysis of the consideration of a company in crisis.
- Economic-financial and risk analysis, measuring the level of solvency.
- Determination of the CDTI contribution percentage, non-refundable tranche, amortization schedule and aid intensity for the project.
- Economic-financial analysis of the project.
- Economic-financial adaptation of each company to the budget it makes in the project.
After going through both evaluations, the project will move to counsel3, where they will approve or disapprove the loan application.
Depending on the decision the board makes, you will receive a approval or rejection letter4 and, if approved, the conditions and the breakdown of the approved budget by milestones.
From now on, you will have 2 months to formalize the signing of the contract5 in “remote signature” mode. To do this, you must submit a series of administrative documents and submit the guarantees in case CDTI has required guarantees. Once the contract has been signed by CDTI, it is time for you to sign it through ratification6 before the chosen notary office, for which you will have 10 calendar days. The advance, of up to 50% of the amount granted (with a maximum limit of €300,000), is received during the weeks following the ratification.
If you need it, and duly justifying it, you can extend this period through what are known as term extensions.
Once you have been approved to grant aid, you must justify the execution of the project to receive full payment for it.
Do you know what is needed to carry out the justification we are talking about? In future articles, we will discuss the importance of doing it correctly and the steps to be able to carry it out correctly.
You should keep in mind that to send the request it is necessary to have a valid electronic signature certificate, since you must apply for the call through an external application (self-signature). The electronic certificate with which the presentation is made must correspond to the legal representative or agent of the requesting company.
?How do CDTI guarantees work?
The CDTI may require a percentage of guarantees from the company on the total amount of aid, depending on the financial risk of each transaction.
These guarantees are presented through pledge guarantees of the loan itself, that is, they are not personal guarantees of the entrepreneur or the company, but the bank retains part of the aid as a guarantee. These guarantees are linked to the percentage fixed to each of the payments made by CDTI, that is, the advance and the payments corresponding to each milestone.
What do we recommend from Intelectium?
To be a beneficiary of a CDTI loan, it is not enough to meet the above-mentioned requirements. It is essential that you are able to accompany your company information with a good memory that makes clear the value of the project and your capacity to carry it out. To this end, Intelectium recommends:
- Technical specificity- Include references
- Clear wording
- Include illustrative graphics and footnotes
- Present a budget adjusted according to the CDTI criteria (you should keep in mind that the CDTI differentiates between categories of personnel according to their qualifications).
- Include new hires (gives points in the evaluation).
At Intelectium we are experts in applying for CDTI PID loans. We help you assess your company's eligibility for the call. Once analyzed, we prepare a detailed report to be able to make the request and obtain the aid.
We operate under a completely success-oriented model, in which we don't charge initial set up fees to start working, but we are at risk and only get paid if we get funding for the company.
Get in touch with us hither to be able to receive expert advice without any commitment. Discover the history of some of the companies we have helped to obtain the CDTI PID line
