After obtaining the approval of the ‘start-ups’ law ‘startup’ on November 3, the Government prepara tenders and programs endowed with more than €100 million coming from the fondos europeos Next Generation to continue promoting the technological entrepreneurship sector in the coming year. Thus, the Executive prepares the deployment of almost a thirty start-up accelerators financed with public funds to reach 6,800 signaturesas well as several programs to promote emerging companies in fields such as cybersecurity such as the CyberEmprende program, dependent on the National Institute of Cybersecurity (Incibe).
This series of incentives will come at a time when, after a record 2021, investment in ‘startups’ has suffered a setback due to the macroeconomic conditions and the rise of interest rates, which has reduced investor appetite due to high risk.
In the absence of finishing the year, lhe 3,343 million euros raised by the sector represent a decline of 22.5% compared to the 4,314 million euros of 2022, a figure influenced by a start to the year marked by several ‘mega rounds’, which have become rarer with the passing of the months. However, the figure is still practically three times higher than that of any year between 2018 and 2020, according to data collected in the Startups Observatory of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation.
The new ‘startup’ law includes numerous tax advantages for the sector. Among the keys to the new regulations, a lower corporate tax stands out, greater deductions for investment and a reform of the ‘stock options’ regime, one of the measures most demanded by entrepreneurs.
The role of Incibe
The Incibe has been assigned a leading role in these government plans, which will seek make the ‘startups’ of the sector grow cybersecurity, a field in which Spain already has a ‘unicorn’ (Devo).
For this, the entity has a budget of more than 60 million euros to strengthen its CiberEmprende programs, aimed at incipient ‘startups’ that must negotiate their business model, and Cybersecurity Ventures, aimed at companies with up to five years of life.
The firm will place accelerators in five points of the peninsula and will reduce the periodicity of holding events. In each of the editions of these programs, a minimum of 20 ‘startups’ will participate in the case of CiberEmprende and eight, in the case of Ciber Security Ventures.
To this will be added the innovative public purchase programa mechanism also reformed by the ‘startup’ law, and which will allocate 137.2 million euros to the purchase of cybersecurity services in the development phase.
Regional accelerator network
In parallel, The School of Industrial Organization is in full tender for a network of public acceleratorswhich will cover both the regional scope, with one per autonomous community, as well as different sectors such as finance, mobility and energy and ecological transition.
In total, the public entity will award just over 33 million euros divided into 27 lots, 17 regional and 10 for specific sectors with the aim that together they serve up to a maximum of 6,800 ‘startups’.
After the presentation of offers, firms such as Telefónica, Auren or PwC stand out among the best valued offers to manage accelerators. In the case of the operator, it has been the most valued offer for the Madrid and Catalonia and mobility and digital projects, which total a budget of 11.6 million euros.
In addition, EOI will also support with grants of 200,000 euros to up to 20 events related to innovative entrepreneurship through the ‘Flag Program’endowed in total with four million euros.
Other measures
This measures In 2023, they will accompany others that are not specific to the sector, but they come to reinforce digitization among small and medium-sized companies such as the ‘Digital Hub’ announced by Industry or aid to SMEs for their growth.
These will join other programs already implemented in the last year such as the Line for Digital Entrepreneurs, which finances projects led by women and managed by Enisa, which has a total endowment of 50 million euros and 18 million euros by 2023.
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Likewise, the Government has already committed up to 270 million euros of investment in funds to create Spanish ‘scaleups’ through the fondo Next Techwhich will mobilize 2,000 million euros of public investment through injections into funds that provide an equivalent amount of private investment.
The Government also maintains the Activa Startup line, which helps innovative projects with up to 40,000 euros and accumulates a dozen calls.