The Valencian Government will allocate more than 48 million euros to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the Valencian Community reindustrialize. Investments from companies located in municipalities facing depopulation risk will be prioritized by the regional administration.
With these funds, the department expects to support the investments of more than 700 industrial companies, triggering an induced investment exceeding 152 million euros. In addition, the Council foresees the creation or preservation of around 22,000 industrial jobs.
The Official Journal of the Valencian Government (DOGV) has published the call for aid from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism for productive investments carried out by SMEs across various industrial sectors in the Valencian Community (INPYME 2024).
These subsidies, granted under a competitive basis, are part of the Valencia reindustrialization strategy for 2024-2028 and have a maximum amount of 48,300,000 euros for the 2024 fiscal year.
Beneficiaries will be small and medium-sized enterprises that develop or will develop a productive industrial activity in the Valencian Community directly linked to the sectors targeted by this call.
For the purposes of this program, small and medium-sized enterprises are those employing fewer than 250 people and meeting either an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euros or a balance sheet not exceeding 43 million euros.
Assistance
The maximum grant per company is 30 percent of eligible expenses, up to a total of 200,000 euros in non-repayable funds. A new element in this edition is the prioritization of investments in municipalities at risk of depopulation, which will receive a higher grant of more than 40 percent of the investment and will directly earn four additional points in the assessment score.
The subsidies target the following sectors: automotive; space; aerospace; semiconductors; biotechnology; audiovisual production; video game, animation and augmented/virtual reality production; ceramics, glass, and non-metal construction materials; leather and footwear industry; packaging manufacturing; toys, sports goods and other manufacturing sectors; wood, furniture and lighting equipment manufacturing; marble and natural stone and aggregates; metal-mechanical industry; paper and printing; plastics; chemical industry; textiles and material valorization.
Deadlines
The application period runs from February 23 to March 20, 2024. Eligible expenses include external costs for acquiring or upgrading machinery, devices, equipment, and other tangible assets directly linked to production, provided they are necessary for implementing, upgrading, modernizing, or diversifying production lines.
Subsidies may also be requested for investments in fire prevention or extinction facilities, and for investments needed to comply with sectoral safety regulations.
Additionally, eligible costs include external expenses for the acquisition, tailored design, implementation, and commissioning of intangible assets such as patents or industrial designs, manufacturing licenses, software, applications, and third-party industrial innovations used by the beneficiary company in direct production. Royalties for acquiring rights to the image of people, characters or brands to incorporate into products are eligible when directly linked to the beneficiary’s industrial production.