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.