Grant for Establishing a Prospecting Office Outside the EEA (Subsidie voor Oprichting van een Prospectiekantoor Buiten EER)

Grant for Establishing a Prospecting Office Outside the EEA (Subsidie voor Oprichting van een Prospectiekantoor Buiten EER)

Supports Flemish businesses establishing prospecting offices for international lead generation.

The Subsidie voor Oprichting van een Prospectiekantoor Buiten EER is a rolling capital-setup grant from Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) that funds Flemish companies establishing a prospecting office in a non-EEA country — outside the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Standard applicants receive 50% of eligible setup costs up to a maximum grant of €50,000; first-time or infrequent applicants (fewer than four approved FIT subsidies since 1 September 2005) receive 75% up to a maximum of €75,000. Total eligible costs are capped at €100,000 ex-VAT. Covered expenses include office rent, utilities, furniture, legal and accounting assistance, and travel and accommodation at FIT forfait rates for one prospecting visit and one management inspection of up to five nights. Unlike most FIT programs, this grant is available to larger enterprises beyond the EU SME threshold in addition to SMEs; business organizations and chambers of commerce are also eligible. A five-year cooldown applies per country: companies may not apply for the same target country if they received a prior FIT office setup subsidy there within the previous five years. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through the MyFIT portal, submitted at least 7 days before operations begin, with a target decision time of 60 calendar days. After approval, the office must be officially established within 9 months; an activity report is due 6 months after the close of the first full operational year. Companies should contact FIT's SubsidieDesk at SubsidieDesk@fitagency.be before selecting a target country to confirm no prior award history creates a geographic exclusion, and to verify current forfait travel rates.