Spanish SMEs and startups will be able to apply from next Tuesday, From September 24th to October 15th participate in the “ICEX Next” program, aimed at promoting their internationalization through advice and financial assistance.
This will be the first period in which you can apply for this program, although there will be a second application window that will run from November 25 to December 17.
The Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Enterprise, through this “ICEX Next” program, will allocate 6 million euros this year to support Spanish SMEs and startups in order to promote their internationalization.
This program will cover 250 companies and It can be extended to 75 additional people depending on demand, for which a total budget of 7.8 million euros would be mobilized.
The “ICEX Next” program is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is aimed at companies that wish to promote the internationalization of their activity, by addressing new foreign markets or consolidating existing ones.
By advising SMEs that join the program, the objective is to help them define or adapt their international strategy and boost their growth in third markets.
For that, ICEX provides two support mechanisms for SMEs and startups. The first consists of specialized advice on foreign trade and the second subsidizes, for two years, the expenses incurred in the process of internationalization of the company, with a maximum of 24,000 euros.
Beneficiary companies will benefit from a minimum of 30 hours of specialized and personalized advice in person and by telematics from an expert consultant approved by ICEX to design and implement or revise the strategic international business plan.
In addition, they will have access to specialist advice in other areas, such as digital transformation, international contracts, international digital strategy or participation in international calls for tender.
They will also be able to obtain grants of up to 24,000 euros to cover the 60% of the expenses of the actions which encompass your international strategic business plan.
These expenses include prospecting and market research; international promotion of the brand, products or services; development of a commercial network; rental of technological tools and solutions to implement international trade or implementation of digital marketing strategies.
The requirements to participate in the program are to be a Spanish SME or startup, have your own product or service and your own brand, not be a foreign commercial or production subsidiary, not have a company in crisis, have a turnover greater than 300,000 euros in 2023 (not applicable for technology startups), have personal and material resources to face internationalization and have its own website.
Nearly 1,750 beneficiary companies in four years
Over the last four years, 1,748 Spanish companies have benefited from the “ICEX Next” program, the majority are based in Catalonia (384), Madrid (284) and Andalusia (215).
Participating companies invoiced an average of 4.6 million euros per year and per annual call, of which 29% came from their exports.
By sector, 32% of program participants were industrial product and technology companies, Next come those from the service sector (31%), the agri-food sector (16%) and consumer goods (21%).
These companies had an average of 25 workers at the time of the request to participate in the “ICEX Next” program and of the total number of beneficiaries, in each call, an average of 28 were “startups”.
