Public support for innovation works best when instruments do not operate in isolation but as part of an integrated value chain. This is the rationale underpinning the strengthened collaboration between the NEOTEC programmes of CDTI Innovación and Desafía of ICEX, together with Red.es and INCIBE: to build a more connected pathway enabling Spanish technology startups to progress from the creation of their business project to their international deployment.
The foundation of this cross-cutting collaboration lies in the idea that “we are connected” — connected across instruments, across institutions, and, above all, across the different stages of business growth. The goal is not only to finance the creation of new technology-based companies, but also to better support them in their maturation, their entry into strategic markets, and their capacity to scale from Spain into high value-added international ecosystems.
From this perspective, NEOTEC and Desafía act as connected programmes and complementary tools. Within CDTI Innovación, the NEOTEC programme is one of the key instruments for promoting the creation and consolidation of technology-based companies, targeting new business projects from small innovative firms whose business strategy is grounded in technologies or knowledge developed through research activity.
The 2026 call for proposals, which opens on April 14 and runs until May 14, provides grants for technology-intensive business projects with budgets ranging from €175,000 to €750,000. These grants may generally cover up to 70% of the eligible budget, rising to 85% when the project includes the hiring of at least one PhD holder to strengthen the company’s capacity to absorb and generate knowledge. Additionally, the call allocates a minimum of €5 million for women-led companies and includes additional funding for training and capacity-building activities. This reinforces the vision of NEOTEC not only as a start-up aid instrument, but as a tool for building stronger, more knowledge-intensive companies that are better prepared to grow, scale, and internationalise.
In combination, the link between NEOTEC and Desafía aims to strengthen the Spanish innovation ecosystem and facilitate the global expansion of emerging technology companies. To this end, Desafía calls include a specific scoring advantage for companies previously supported by NEOTEC, while NEOTEC considers certain investments related to participation in Desafía as eligible costs.
For their part, the Desafía programmes provide a decisive internationalisation dimension for many companies of this profile. This approach is particularly relevant in the case of Desafía Science United Kingdom 2026, an edition aimed at Spanish deep tech and science-based spin-outs and startups interested in accessing or collaborating with the UK ecosystem.
The programme is designed as a soft-landing and international acceleration pathway, including specialised workshops, mentoring, one-to-one meetings, and immersion activities in Cambridge and other UK hubs. It focuses on companies from science-intensive or high-tech fields, with products or services under validation or in early commercialisation stages, and with ambitions to scale globally.
The programme’s appeal lies not only in its agenda of activities, but also in the ecosystem it opens access to. Desafía Science UK seeks to expose participating companies to the British scientific scaling model, recognised for its strength in knowledge transfer, university–industry collaboration, and access to specialised investment. Its objectives include learning best practices in deep tech, technology transfer, intellectual property, and financing, as well as connecting with scientific hubs, accelerators, incubators, and other key actors in the UK innovation ecosystem.
For CDTI Innovación, this connection between public initiatives has a strategic significance, as it ensures greater continuity in public support for innovation, improves resource efficiency, and offers startups a more integrated value proposition. It reinforces an institutional approach based on a structured pathway: supporting the creation of technology companies, strengthening their capabilities, facilitating their connection to international networks, and enabling access to new markets, partners, and investors.
In a context where technological competitiveness increasingly depends on the ability to turn knowledge into companies and companies into global-scale players, this coordination between public programmes also sends a clear message to the entrepreneurial ecosystem: institutional support does not end at the initial stage of a project, but is designed to accompany companies throughout their growth.
Innovation is important, but connecting innovation, entrepreneurship, and internationalisation is what multiplies its impact. Along this path, NEOTEC and Desafía are part of the same public conversation: helping more Spanish technology startups to be born strong, grow better, and go further.
CDTI Innovación
The Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation (CDTI E.P.E.) is a public entity under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose mission is to promote technological innovation in the business sector. CDTI aims to ensure that the Spanish business fabric generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In 2025, under a new strategic plan, CDTI provided more than €2 billion in support to Spanish companies and startups.
More information:
Web: www.cdti.es
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X: https://twitter.com/CDTI_innovacion
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CDTIoficial
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