The Government allocates 9 million euros to promote female talent and entrepreneurship in the technological and digital fields to reduce the gender gap

1. Empresa i Treball opens the call for grants to reduce the gender gap in the field of ICT within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed with Next Generation EU funds.
2. The grants aim to promote initiatives aimed at promoting female digital entrepreneurship, technology-based company projects led by women, and financing projects for SMEs that develop technological or digital female intrapreneurship programs.
3. Grants of up to €150,000 will be awarded until the total budget of the call, which is 9 million euros, is exhausted.
4. Beneficiaries of the subsidies may include companies, self-employed individuals, consortia, foundations, Catalan universities, research and investigation centers, and private non-profit associations and entities.
   

The Government of the Generalitat, through the Secretariat of Digital Policies of the Department of Business and Employment, has published the call for grants to reduce the gender gap in the field of ICT within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union through the Next Generation EU program. Until February 3, 2025 at 2:00 p.m., applications may be submitted to request these grants for projects aimed at reducing the female digital gap and promoting the female digital entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the Catalan territory.

4 lines of aid

The call for grants is divided into 4 lines of aid. Line 1 is aimed at projects aimed at the visibility and promotion of female talent in the field of ICT. Line 2 is intended for projects or initiatives aimed at training, qualification and support for female digital entrepreneurship. Line 3 is aimed at projects for technology-based companies led by women, technology and business model validation projects, launching new products or services on the market, among others. Finally, line 4 refers to projects intended to finance small and medium-sized companies that develop technological or digital female intrapreneurship programs.

The amount of aid for beneficiary applications will be a maximum of €150,000 for projects in lines 1, 2 and 3, and a maximum of €25,000 for projects in line 4, which will be awarded until the total budget of €9 million is exhausted. At most, each beneficiary can request 80% of the activity budget. The criteria that will be taken into account to determine the amount of the subsidies are the cost of the project in coherence with the score obtained in the report according to the evaluation criteria and the budgetary availability.

Beneficiaries of the grants may include companies, self-employed individuals, consortia, foundations, Catalan universities, research centers, business schools, and private non-profit associations and entities. Applicants who wish to apply for the grants must submit a report that complies with the assessment criteria established in the regulatory bases.

Mandatory requirements and documentation to be submitted

To be eligible for these grants, applicants must meet general and specific requirements, indicated in the regulatory bases . Each line of subsidies includes specific requirements that are broken down in these bases.

Applicants for this aid must submit the application forms, duly completed, and must attach the documents indicated below:

1. Descriptive technical report of the activity or action project according to the established model, which develops all the sections indicated and includes the expected start and end dates and the place of implementation.
2. Complete and detailed budget of the submitted project, including all expected expenses and income, the amount of aid requested and details of the sources of funding, according to the established model. In the event that the subsidized activity consists of several actions, the budget must be broken down by actions and by expense items.
3. In the case of a grouping of entities, the entity form completed by each of the grouped entities, and the entity grouping document, are requested.
4. Declaration of minimum aid for the last three years and links with other entities.
5. Model of responsible declarations within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

In subsidy line 3, the company's deed document at the time of incorporation and a document certifying the current percentage of women's participation in the company are requested.

More information about the rules, the call and how to access the application process, at this link.

RETECH Fund Grants

Through the European recovery funds, the Secretariat for Digital Policies of the Department of Business and Employment of the Generalitat de Catalunya has received a total of 29.3 million euros to finance three RETECH projects. The program aims to articulate regional initiatives aimed at digital transformation and specialization within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

Thus, these subsidies are part of investment 1 ("Entrepreneurship") of component 13 ("Impulse to SME") of the Plan, and specifically aim to address the issue of gender equality in the creation of emerging companies, since only 20.8% of Catalan emerging companies have been founded by women, according to data from the analysis of the ecosystem of emerging companies in Catalonia for 2023 by ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness of the Department of Business and Employment of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

The RETECH funds of component 13 that are deployed in Catalonia with the Tech FabLab project represent a reinforcement of the strategic lines of the DonaTIC Plan, and specifically of the line of measures aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the digital field and female digital entrepreneurship. These subsidies aim to boost the visibility of female talent and promote leadership and female digital entrepreneurship with the aim of reducing the gender gap in this field.