Invitalia: Smart & Start Italia

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Invitalia: Smart & Start Italia

Smart & Start Italia” is a funding scheme aimed at supporting the creation and development of innovative, high-tech start-ups throughout the country, to stimulate a new entrepreneurial culture linked to the digital economy, to enhance the results scientific and technological research. The following subjects are considered eligible for submission of proposals:

  • Innovative small-scale start-ups, established from no more than 48 months, which offer innovative products with high technological value and with a production value up to 5 million euros.
  • Team of natural persons which intends to set up an innovative start-up in Italy, even if residing abroad or of foreign nationality.

“Smart & Start Italia” finances business plans for the production of goods and supply of services that:

  • are characterized by a strong innovative and technological content
  • qualify as products, services and solutions in the field of digital economy
  • are based on the valorisation of both private and public research results (research spin offs)

Projects with spending programs, amounting between 100 thousand and 1.5 million euros, for investment goods and/or for business management costs are considered eligible for funding. Expenses must be incurred after submission of the application and in any case realised within 24 months from the signing of the loan agreement. Among the admissible investment and management costs are:

  • Plants, machinery and technological equipment;
  • Hardware and software components;
  • Patents and licenses;
  • Certifications, technical know-how and competences, even if not patented, provided that they are directly related to the production and management needs of the company;
  • Design, development, customization, testing of architectural solutions for information technology and production technological systems, specialized technological consultancy;
  • Interests on external financing granted to the company;
  • Amortization rates of plants, machinery and technological equipment;
  • Leasing fees, i.e. rental costs relating to plants, machinery and equipment;
  • Salary costs related to employees and other costs related to employees with the legal requirements;
  • Licenses and rights relating to the use of industrial property rights and licenses relating to the use of software;
  • Incubation and business acceleration services.

Funding will be provided as mortgages without interests, whose value can reach up to 80% of eligible costs for start-ups consisting of young people and women or with a researcher who is coming back to Italy from abroad as partner and up to 70% of eligible costs in the other cases. Start-up located in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily or in the territory of the seismic crater of L’Aquila will receive a non-repayable share of which only 80% will be returned.

Loans have a maximum maturity of 8 years, are settled at zero interest rates and repaid in constant and deferred six-monthly instalments starting from the last instalment fee, and in any case after 48 months from the signing of the loan agreement. They are not assisted by forms of guarantee, without prejudice to the fact that the claims arising from the repetition of the benefits granted are privileged. Start-ups established from no more than 12 months benefit from technical-managerial tutoring services.

Applications may be submitted until resources are available and projects will be admitted in chronological order. The benefits are granted on the basis of a valuation process with at a counter procedure. The financial envelope amounts to 200 million euros and additional funding resources can be identified.

For more info, please consult the website http://www.smartstart.invitalia.it.

Argomenti
Support for Businesses
30/03/2018