The new measures join the already existing financing lines and the Next Tech fund
MADRID, 11 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
After obtaining the approval of the ‘Startup Law’, the Government prepares tenders and programs endowed with more than 100 million euros from the ‘Next Generation’ funds to continue promoting the technological entrepreneurship sector in the coming year.
Thus, the Executive is preparing the deployment of almost thirty ‘startup’ accelerators financed with public funds to reach 6,800 signatures, as well as various programs to promote emerging companies in fields such as cybersecurity such as the CyberEmprende program, dependent on the National Institute of Cybersecurity (Incibe).
This series of incentives will come at a time when, after a record 2021, investment in ‘startups’ has suffered a setback due to macroeconomic conditions and the rise in interest rates, which has reduced investor appetite due to the high risk.
Thus, in the absence of finishing the year, the 3,343 million euros raised by the sector represent a decline of 22.5% compared to the 4,314 million euros of 2022, a figure influenced by a start to the year marked by several ‘mega rounds’ , which have become scarcer with the passing of the months.
However, the figure is still practically three times higher than that of any year between 2018 and 2020, according to data collected in the Startups Observatory of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation.
The new ‘Startup Law’ includes numerous tax advantages for the sector, such as lower corporate tax, greater investment deductions and a reform of the ‘stock options’ regime, one of the measures most demanded by entrepreneurs.
The Incibe has been assigned a leading role in these government plans, which will seek to grow ‘startups’ in the cybersecurity sector, a field in which Spain already has a ‘unicorn’ (Devo).
For this, the entity has a budget of more than 60 million euros to strengthen its CiberEmprende programs, aimed at incipient ‘startups’ that must negotiate their business model, and Cybersecurity Ventures, aimed at companies with up to five years of life.
The firm will place accelerators in five points on the peninsula and will reduce the frequency of holding events. In each of the editions of these programs, a minimum of 20 ‘startups’ will participate in the case of CiberEmprende and eight, in the case of Ciber Security Ventures.
To this, the innovative public purchase program will be added, a mechanism also reformed by the ‘Startup Law’, and which will allocate 137.2 million euros to the purchase of cybersecurity services in the development phase.
In parallel, the School of Industrial Organization is in full tender for a network of public accelerators, which will cover both the regional level, with one per autonomous community, as well as different sectors such as finance, mobility and energy and ecological transition.
In total, the public entity will award just over 33 million euros divided into 27 lots, 17 regional and 10 for specific sectors with the aim that together they serve up to a maximum of 6,800 ‘startups’.
After the presentation of offers, firms such as Telefónica, Auren or PwC stand out among the best valued offers to manage accelerators. In the case of the operator, it has been the most valued offer for the Madrid and Catalonia and mobility and digital projects, which total a budget of 11.6 million euros.
In addition, EOI will also support up to 20 events related to innovative entrepreneurship with grants of 200,000 euros through the ‘Flag Program’, endowed with a total of four million euros.
These measures will accompany others not specific to the sector in 2023, but which come to reinforce digitization among small and medium-sized companies such as the ‘Digital Hub’ announced by Industry or aid to SMEs for their growth.
These will join other programs already implemented in the last year such as the Line for Digital Entrepreneurs, which finances projects led by women and managed by Enisa, which has a total endowment of 50 million euros and 18 million euros by 2023.
Likewise, the Government has already committed up to 270 million euros of investment in funds to create Spanish ‘scaleups’ through the Next Tech fund, which will mobilize 2,000 million euros of public investment through injections into funds that provide an equivalent amount of private investment.
The Government also maintains the Activa Startup line, which helps innovative projects with up to 40,000 euros and accumulates a dozen calls.
