Sustainable Investments 4.0 — Call (Investimenti Sostenibili 4.0 — Bando)

Sustainable Investments 4.0 — Call (Investimenti Sostenibili 4.0 — Bando)

Funds Italian Mezzogiorno manufacturers scaling Industry 4.0 upgrades in AI, robotics, and automation.

Eligibility · Italy — 7 regions

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Investimenti Sostenibili 4.0 – Bando 2025 is a MIMIT program under Decree of 22 November 2024 that provided EUR 300,488,426.61 to support technology-intensive investment projects by small and medium enterprises located in Italy's seven less-developed Mezzogiorno regions: Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sicilia, and Sardegna. The measure is embedded within the National Programme 'Research, Innovation and Competitiveness for the Green and Digital Transition 2021-2027' (PN RIC), Specific Objective 1.3, Action 1.3.2. A mandatory 25% of the total envelope was ring-fenced for micro and small enterprises.

Eligible SMEs must hold at least two approved and deposited balance sheets, operate in ordinary accounting, and carry out their investment at a single production unit inside the Mezzogiorno. Investment programmes must range from EUR 750,000 to EUR 5,000,000 — and in any case not exceed 70% of the last approved turnover — and rely predominantly on Industria 4.0 enabling technologies as defined by Piano Transizione 4.0. Projects must be started after application and completed within 18 months of the concession decree. Excluded sectors include steel, coal extraction, shipbuilding, synthetic fibres, transport infrastructure, and energy generation and distribution. Eligible costs cover new tangible and intangible fixed assets, civil works up to 40% of total eligible costs, related software licences, environmental certifications, and specialised consulting up to 5% of asset costs.

Aid takes the form of a capital grant covering 35% of eligible costs plus a soft loan covering 40%, for a combined 75% coverage; applicants must self-fund at least 25% with no further public support on those costs. Applications were submitted exclusively online via Invitalia's platform, opened for compilation on 30 April 2025 and for submission on 20 May 2025. The sportello was closed by ministerial decree on 21 May 2025 following full resource exhaustion after a single day of submissions. The ranking for admission to the instruction phase was published in GURI n.143 on 23 June 2025.