European incentives for start-ups: what are the opportunities? (Guide updated to September 2021)

The European Union also provides start-ups and SMEs with incentives in the form of loans or grants.

Let’s see the most important incentives.

1) Cultura Crea 2.0

Cultura Crea 2.0, a measure promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture, supports the birth and growth of companies – therefore also start-ups – and non-profit initiatives in the tourism – cultural sector, in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily, with the following incentives:

“Creation of new businesses in the cultural industry“, which supports:
- micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) of the cultural industry established in the last 36 months, including cooperatives and teams of individuals who want to set up a business, presenting spending programs of up to € 400,000 for the creation or introduction of certain products or services;
- through a subsidized interest-free loan, up to 40% of the admitted expenditure and a non-repayable grant of up to 40% of the admitted expenditure.
“Development of cultural and tourism industry companies“, which supports:
- the development and consolidation of the MPMIs of the cultural, tourism, creative, entertainment and manufacturing sectors typical of the local area, which present spending programs of up to 500,000 euros for the creation or introduction of certain products or services;
- through:
  - a subsidized interest-free loan up to 60% of the admitted expenditure, which can be raised to 65% in the case of a female business, or a youth business or in possession of a legality rating
  - a non-repayable grant up to 20% of the admitted expenditure, which can be raised to 25% in the case of a female business, or a young business or in possession of a legality rating.
“Support for the third sector of the cultural industry“, which encourages:
- the development and consolidation of companies and other third sector subjects in activities related to the management of goods, services and cultural development activities, which present spending programs of up to 400,000 euros in certain areas of intervention;
- through a non-repayable grant of up to 80% of the permitted expenditure, which can be raised to 90% in the case of a female business, or a youth business or in possession of a legality rating.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Deadline of the call: until resources are exhausted.

2) Calls financed by the Horizon 2020 project

Get it

The Get it call selects a maximum of 30 teams of innovators/start-ups who:

generate social, cultural or environmental impact;
have at least one person under the age of 35 within them;

providing them with the opportunity to:

take part in an incubation/acceleration, consultancy and mentorship process, with a total market value between € 20,000 and € 25,000;
be part of the FSVGDA equity investment portfolio, with important benefits in terms of visibility and access to the communication channels of FSVGDA and Cariplo Factory S.r.l., attendance at dedicated events, etc;
compete with the best start-ups that will have completed the paths for accessing a further investment by FSVGDA, between a min. of € 25,000 and a maximum of € 50,000.

To submit your application immediately, click here.
Deadline for the call: 18 October 2021.

The calls DigiFed per Application Experiments, EIC Accelerator, ZERO, DIGITbrain, IMPACT EdTech e Living Lab were closed in June 2021.

The next updates

Our “incentives for companies” page periodically updates you with all the most relevant measures for innovative start-ups (click here to open it).

The importance of legal and tax support

How to choose between all these incentives?

Our advice, especially in the early stages, is to rely on serious, qualified professionals with proven experience in business consultancy, who will guide you with confidence in choosing the safest financing methods and in line with your commercial strategy.

Our Firm, thanks to the expertise and experience in consulting and assistance to start-ups, both in the legal and commercial and corporate fields:

provides all entrepreneurs interested in creating their own start-up or defining an optimal business strategy, advice and specific assistance in bureaucratic and commercial practices;
assists its customers in the market analysis phase, in the preparation of the business plan and in the search for the economic resources necessary to finance the start-up;
supports the company at every stage of development, recommending the best commercial and legal strategies to be implemented.

Contact us immediately at the numbers +39 0683521985 or +39 3711453121, or write to us at info@studiolegalecoscia.it for specific advice.