Innova Invest — 4th
Funds foreign-owned firms entering Spain with startup support to build local innovation.
Innova Invest is a competitive grant program administered by ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, a Spanish public business entity operating under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise. The program is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2021–2027 framework, with a total program allocation of €10.8 million across the full cycle. Innova Invest targets foreign-capital companies that commit to starting new R&D activities in Spain — specifically the acquisition of new technological assets and the hiring of qualified human resources. The fourth call has not been published as of mid-2026 but is expected to follow the established annual cycle: publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) triggers an application window that opens the following day and closes within two months.
Eligibility is restricted to for-profit companies with foreign capital that are legally registered and operating in Spain. Spanish-only companies are not eligible. The investment must be in genuinely new R&D activities; continuation of existing R&D does not qualify. The minimum project investment is €500,000. Grant aid intensity ranges from 25% to 50% of executed investment, depending on project type and company size, with a hard ceiling of €800,000 per beneficiary. The third call (deadline April 2025) resolved by August 2025; projects funded under that cycle were executable through December 31, 2026. The fourth call is expected to continue under the same ERDF framework.
Applications are evaluated competitively on three qualitative criteria: business and entrepreneurial capacity, employment impact, and contribution to the green and digital transition. No scoring weights are published. The program manager is Eduardo Sánchez at ICEX-Invest in Spain. Companies planning to apply should monitor the BOE for the fourth-call publication date, as the two-month application window begins immediately upon BOE publication. The program is positioned within the broader Invest in Spain platform, which supports foreign direct investment attraction to Spain.
New R&D activities in Spain by foreign-capital companies, funding acquisition of technological assets and qualified human resources, with aid intensity of 25–50% of executed investment up to €800,000.
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