Deep Tech Development Aid (Aide au Développement Deeptech, ADD)
Supports French deep-tech teams with practical innovation toward deployable outcomes.
The Aide au Développement Deeptech (ADD) is a blended aid instrument operated by Bpifrance combining a non-repayable grant and a recoverable advance, designed to finance breakthrough R&D projects by French-registered PMEs (EU definition) and ETIs up to 2,000 employees (FTE). The programme funds activities classified as Industrial Research (RI) and Experimental Development (DE) strictly before any industrial or commercial launch. It operates on a rolling continuous basis with no published closing date and carries no application fees. The maximum total aid — grant plus recoverable advance combined — is 2,000,000 €, making it the largest single-project deeptech instrument in Bpifrance's early-stage portfolio. Programme duration may not exceed 36 months. Aid is disbursed in two or three tranches; the advance portion is repaid in quarterly instalments in arrears.
The ADD was launched as part of France's Plan Deeptech (2019, envelope of 2.5 Md€) to accelerate the transfer of scientific breakthroughs from the laboratory to the market. Eligible applicants are constrained to for-profit entities — sole proprietors, universities, and non-profit research organisations are excluded. Projects must present a genuine breakthrough technological innovation (innovation de rupture) with clear scientific grounding. The split between the grant and recoverable advance components is determined case by case and is not published as a fixed ratio. Eligible cost categories span internal and external R&D personnel, subcontracting, equipment, and related overhead.
The ADD sits above the Bourse French Tech Emergence (90,000 €, sub-one-year companies) and the Bourse French Tech (30,000 €, all SMEs) in Bpifrance's ladder, and typically addresses companies that have already validated technological feasibility and are now ready for a multi-year R&D execution phase. Because part of the funding must be repaid, applicants should model cash-flow impact of quarterly repayments when sizing the project budget. The competitive differentiator is the strength of the rupture narrative: reviewers assess the degree of scientific disruption, the distance from the current state of the art, and the credibility of the path to industrial or commercial exploitation after the 36-month project window.
Breakthrough industrial research and experimental development (R&D) for deeptech innovation projects, funded as a mixed grant and recoverable advance up to 2,000,000 €, strictly before industrial or commercial launch.
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