The Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), the State Innovation Agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, will soon publish the extraordinary budget increase of €100 million, which will be applied to projects submitted to the 2025 calls for NEOTEC and Science and Innovation Missions, focusing on dual-use, security, and/or defense technologies.
In line with the deployment of the Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved by the Spanish Government, this extraordinary budget increase aims to accelerate the market introduction of knowledge-based technological innovations and strengthen the country’s strategic autonomy, without compromising support for innovation in non-dual or civilian technologies. The new budget package will allow more projects to receive funding compared to the initial allocations.
At a time when Europe is accelerating to protect its industrial base and gain technological sovereignty, the budget increase announced by CDTI Innovación positions Spain proactively: more applied science, more business innovation, and more tangible results for people’s lives. The combination of technological entrepreneurship (NEOTEC) and large-scale collaborative projects (Science and Innovation Missions) not only bridges the gap between laboratory and market but also creates capabilities that remain within the national ecosystem: talent, intellectual property, advanced suppliers, pilot plants, and investor confidence.
This budget reinforcement for NEOTEC and Science and Innovation Missions adds to a year of historic highs for CDTI Innovación in public support for business R&D, estimating that in 2025 it will allocate up to €1.942 billion in grants, direct expenditure, venture capital investments, and partially subsidized loans for business technology projects. This comprehensive funding environment, covering everything from pre-competitive research to market-driven innovation, amplifies the impact of the programs now being reinforced.
NEOTEC Call for Technology-Based Companies (EBTs)
For its part, NEOTEC, CDTI’s flagship program for early-stage technology-based companies (EBTs), doubles its 2025 budget to €40 million, with €20 million dedicated to EBTs developing novel dual-use technologies (applicable to both civilian and security/defense sectors). This focus preserves NEOTEC’s essence—supporting the creation and consolidation of EBTs, fostering talent, and accelerating knowledge transfer—while adding traction to projects with high scaling potential and technological externalities.
NEOTEC serves as an early public bridge between knowledge generated in universities, research units, centers, and organizations, and its conversion into business by new EBTs. This budget increase will address the very high demand for the program, as typically only 15–25% of proposals receive funding, leaving a large number of proposals scoring above 70 points unfunded due to budget constraints. Dual-use technologies provide a multiplier effect and accelerate the transfer of knowledge into cross-sector solutions (energy, health, Industry 4.0, space, security), enhancing scalability and investment attraction potential.
In terms of value creation, doubling NEOTEC’s budget intensifies the creation of new EBTs and their early consolidation with technical teams and intellectual property as the core of competitive advantage; professionalizes knowledge transfer and business development, integrating research talent and business management; and generates network effects in territorial ecosystems (incubators, accelerators, universities, science parks) and leverage for private funding rounds.
With the additional €20 million, CDTI Innovación enables more projects to reach higher TRL levels during the funding period, improving their readiness for market entry and international competition. After the budget increase, EBTs applying under the dual-use reserve must provide additional specific information on their technological base and dual-use potential.
Science and Innovation Missions Call: Business Cooperation for National Challenges and Technological Autonomy
The Science and Innovation Missions program raises its total budget to €140 million. The initial allocation of €60 million is now expanded with an additional €80 million, which will be allocated to projects aligned with the “strategic autonomy in security and defense” mission. The goal is to accelerate the technological maturation of critical solutions (cybersecurity and information protection; advanced automation and remote management; new aerial, land, or naval platforms; critical infrastructure protection and CBRN risks) and maximize dual-use synergies between civilian and security/defense applications.
The Science and Innovation Missions program funds large cooperative projects led by companies that tackle strategic challenges with high-impact pre-competitive research. The 2025 edition launched with seven missions, including a primary focus on “strategic autonomy,” and has a robust historical record: across five previous calls, 168 projects received €467 million in grants and mobilized €695 million, involving 688 participating companies (65% SMEs) and more than 140 subcontracted knowledge-generating organizations.
The new budget increase, up to €140 million, intensifies several key effects associated with the call:
The resource increase will also multiply the impact of public action on society, with more projects, better territorial balance, and greater solution diversity. For citizens, this translates into areas such as:
Why now: context, opportunity, and technological leadership
The budget increase is part of the Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense (April 2025), which mobilizes €10.471 billion in 2025 to modernize capabilities, promote dual-use technologies (AI, quantum, advanced telecommunications, cybersecurity, 5G/IoT, automation), and energize the industrial fabric with spillover effects on skilled employment and productivity. The plan itself highlights the importance of CDTI’s consortium and research center funding programs as levers to channel R&D toward strategic autonomy.
From an innovation policy perspective, the measure aligns with three public interest goals:
About CDTI Innovación
CDTI Innovación is the State Innovation Agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, with the objective of promoting technological innovation in the business sector. CDTI’s mission is to ensure that Spanish companies generate and transform scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In 2024, within the framework of a new strategic plan, CDTI provided over €2.3 billion in support to Spanish companies and startups.
The Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology, CDTI E.P.E., is a public company under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
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