New Bases for Funding Deep Tech Start-ups in Catalonia

On April 17, 2024, RESOLUTION EMT/1198/2024, dated April 10, came into effect. This resolution approves the regulatory bases for the start-up capital co-investment line, which consists of a repayable aid in the form of a loan and a non-repayable grant.

Small and medium-sized start-up companies developing deep tech technologies, with their main operational center in Catalonia and having previously formalized a funding round, can benefit from these aids.

According to the resolution, deep tech technologies are understood as those with a solid technological and scientific basis that generate impact and aim to make the world a better place.

Below, we list the most relevant requirements to access this aid:

Start-ups developing deep tech technologies

• Companies established at least 6 months before the publication of the call in the DOGC and at most 36 months before the date of the aid application submission.
• Founding partners must be entrepreneurs with a minimum individual participation of 10% and a joint participation of not less than 51% of the share capital, including phantom shares and the exercise of options or other rights allowing the acquisition of social shares. Furthermore, the founding team must work exclusively and full-time in the company.
• They must not be listed on a regulated stock market.
• They must not have distributed dividends since their establishment.

Funding Round

• The start-up must have formalized a funding round from private investors or venture capital funds within 6 months prior to the aid application submission date.
• The funding round must be a minimum of €75,000 from one or more private investors or venture capital funds, with a minimum investment of €20,000 from each.
• The private investors/venture capital funds must not have previously invested in the company and must demonstrate their investment experience in deep tech technologies.

Other Notable Requirements

• Employ at least 2% of workers with disabilities relative to the total number of workers in the entity or apply alternative measures according to current regulations on people with disabilities.
• Be up-to-date with tax obligations to the State and the Generalitat, social security obligations, and not have debts with ACCIÓ.

If all requirements are met, the applicant will be granted aid for the company's growth plan expenses and investments equivalent to the amount of the last funding round conducted, but with a maximum of €250,000. This aid will be granted in the form of a loan for 80% of the agreed financing and a non-repayable grant for the remaining 20%.

The resolution period for granting the aid is six months, and silence will be considered as a rejection.

Finally, the beneficiaries of the aid must justify the application of the funds by submitting an explanatory account with an auditor's report within a maximum period of two months after the end of the subsidized activity.

In conclusion, these partially repayable aids are designed to foster the growth of start-ups with an operational center in Catalonia, provided they develop disruptive solutions addressing global problems.