Direct awarding of grants to Spanish projects which have received the Seal of Excellence in the first call for applications to the Accelerator within the European Innovation Council's Horizon Europe programme.

Support R&D projects and/or viability studies carried out by SMEs which have obtained a Seal of Excellence in the call for applications to the EIC Accelerator instrument, in order to:

• Enable beneficiary companies to validate their technology in relevant environments.
• Refine their business model.
• Strengthen the structure for further scaling up.

SMEs, which must:

•   Be validly constituted when submitting their application for support under this call for applications.

•   Have a tax domicile or permanent establishment in Spain.

•   Have obtained a Seal of Excellence in the call by the European Innovation Council's Accelerator Instrument, which is part of the 2021 EIC Work Programme.

SMEs as defined in Annex 1 of EU Regulation 651/2014 of the European Commission on 17 June 2014 are eligible for support.

For more information, please check the call for applications.

Direct awarding of aid

From 25 November to 23 December 2021 at 12:00 Spanish peninsular time.

Closed

Grant

€20,000,000

The amount of aid will be determined on the basis of the actual eligible cost of the project and the available budget, subject to a maximum aid intensity of 70% of the eligible costs.

The maximum amount of aid shall not exceed €2,500,000 per beneficiary and per R&D project or feasibility study.

The eligible activities of the supported R&D project or viability study shall be defined as those eligible under the rules of the Horizon Europe programme, excluding activities that go beyond experimental development.

Eligible activities for the Accelerator call for applications are R&D activities (TRL 5 to 8) and deployment activities (TRL 9). As the latter go beyond the scope of the definition of experimental development, they will not be funded under this call.

Eligible projects may have a one-year or multi-annual duration. They may start from 1 January 2022 and shall end no later than 31 December 2025, including possible extensions.

Esta convocatoria se encuentra incluida entre las actuaciones previstas en el Plan Nacional de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia, que recibirá la financiación de los fondos "Next Generation EU", entre ellos, el Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia.

No serán objeto de ayuda aquellas actuaciones que, directa o indirectamente, ocasionen un perjuicio significativo del medio ambiente (principio DNSH) o que estén dirigidas a aumentar la eficiencia de los combustibles fósiles. La obtención del Sello de Excelencia en la convocatoria del Acelerador del EIC ya garantiza el respeto de este principio, incluido entre los criterios de evaluación del programa.

During its implementation period, the aid granted under this call for applications cannot be combined with any other public aid at the European, national or regional level with the same objectives and purpose.

Yes.

Only costs that are clearly in line with the nature of the activity to be financed and which are strictly necessary, on the basis of the description of the project covered by the application and project technical report, may be considered eligible for funding.

The following costs are considered eligible:

• Equipment, instruments and materials, to the extent and for the period used for the project.
• Staff members.
• External technical collaborations.
• Other additional operating expenses: travel, intangible asset acquisition, intellectual property rights applications, publication and dissemination of results and costs arising from the auditor's report (up to €3000 per year).
• Indirect costs, calculated as a fixed percentage of 25% of the direct costs of the project (excluding technical subcontracting).

The total eligible budget for the project may not exceed the total budget in the project submitted to the EIC Accelerator call for applications.

El importe máximo de las actividades subcontratadas será del 80% del presupuesto total elegible.

Cuando el importe de la prestación de un servicio o entrega de un bien supere el importe de 15.000 euros, el beneficiario deberá solicitar un mínimo de tres ofertas de diferentes proveedores, con carácter previo a la contratación del compromiso, salvo que por sus especiales características no exista en el mercado suficiente número de entidades que los realicen, presten o suministren.

Cuando la actividad concertada con terceros exceda del 20% del importe de la ayuda concedida y dicho importe sea superior a 60.000 euros, la subcontratación estará condicionada a que el contrato se celebre por escrito, sea enviado y autorizado por el órgano de concesión.

Aid will be considered to have an incentive effect if the beneficiary has submitted their application to the call before starting activities.

During its implementation period, the aid granted under this call for applications cannot be combined with any other public aid at the European, national or regional level with the same objectives and purpose.