Vouchers for Incubators and Accelerators

• In addition to the eligibility criteria for projects defined in the Regulation of the Incentive System «Companies 4.0», approved by nº 8 of Ordinance no. 135-A/2022 of April 1st, projects must be promoted by entities that develop or intend to develop incubation and/or acceleration services in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Eligible entities or Beneficiaries of this measure are organisational structures, of any legal nature, framed in the Regulation of the Incentive System «Companies 4.0», approved by Ordinance no. 135-A/2022, of April 1, with a physical presence and corresponding the designation of “Incubators, Accelerators or Support Structures for startups”.

Support for Beneficiaries should focus on investment projects such as support for Ignition or Acceleration Programs; support training; and support for HR Reinforcement. So:

• Costs with technical personnel directly related to the implementation of the project;
• Expenses with accreditation or technological certification of human resources;
• Acquisition of specialised external services for the pursuit of the project’s objectives;
• Acquisition or operational leasing of equipment, as well as licensing or software subscription costs, for the activities to be carried out within the scope of the project;
• Costs with the protection/enhancement of intellectual property rights;
• Indirect costs. Expenses assumed from the date of submission of the application are eligible, and the project cannot have started on the date of submission of the application.

• Relevance of the project vis-à-vis the objectives of the measure;
• Implementation capacity of the Beneficiaries;
• Impact of the project on the Beneficiaries’ competitiveness.

• The selection process is carried out quarterly by Startup Portugal, taking into account the date of submission of applications (quarterly cut-offs). Following the publication of Ordinance No. 43/2023 (of February 10) and due to the high number of applications received in NOTICE No. 10/C16-i02/2022 – VOUCHERS FOR STARTUPS – NEW GREEN AND DIGITAL PRODUCTS, the deadline for decision on project financing was extended to up to 90 working days. IAPMEI notifies the candidates of the final decision within a maximum period of 5 working days, counting from the date of the decision.

• Projects have a maximum duration of eighteen months from the date of signature of the Term of Acceptance. The execution of the projects must start within a maximum period of three months after the communication of the decision to grant the support, having to be completed by 30 September 2025 at the latest.

In the case of the reopening of the Notice, the budget allocation is that stipulated in point 11 of the Notice.