Below is a step-by-step guide to requesting your "Digital Kit" bonus to help you digitize your business.
The aid is intended to incorporate digital tools such as website and internet presence, e-commerce, social media management, customer management, business intelligence and analytics, process management, electronic invoicing, virtual office services and tools, secure communications and cybersecurity.
Companies from all sectors can apply through the official "Acelera pyme" portal (https://acelerapyme.gob.es/). Once the aid is granted, companies will receive a "digital voucher" that they can spend on the services of "digitalization agents" previously registered on Acelera pyme.
Who will be able to request the Digital Kit
Small businesses, micro-enterprises and the self-employed.
The Government has separated them into three categories, based on the number of workers:
- Segment I: companies with between 10 and less than 50 employees;
- Segment II: companies or micro-enterprises with between 3 and less than 10 employees;
- Segment III Small businesses or micro-businesses with between 0 and less than 3 employees.
Companies that are not up to date with their tax and social security obligations will not be eligible for the Digital Kit. Nor will those that exceed the de minimis, set at €200,000 over the last three fiscal years.
Amount of aid from the 'digital voucher'
By company/self-employed size based on the number of employees:
Once aid is granted, the right to receive it is called a "digital voucher." The amount will depend on the number of employees in the company: for those in Segment I it will be €12,000; for those in Segment II, €6,000; and for those in Segment III, €2,000.
What services will the 'digital voucher' finance?
Amount in euros depending on the size of the company/self-employed person (number of employees) and IT solutions:
The total cost of the contracted services may not exceed the amount of the voucher granted.
Expenses that cannot be subsidized
The BOE specifies some concepts excluded from the Digital Kit program, such as taxes, hardware items or the cost of the Internet connection.
How to apply for help
Acelera Pyme (https://acelerapyme.gob.es/) is the official portal through which all the aid provided by the plan will be processed. It will be the place to apply for the aid and also to contract companies that provide digitalization services. In addition to the application platform, Acelera Pyme already includes aself-assessment testto determine the company's "Digital Maturity Level," which must be submitted with the application.
The only way to claim the Digital Kit subsidies will be electronically through this website; there will be no option to submit the documentation to the Administration in physical format.
First of all, you need to go to https://acelerapyme.gob.es/kit-digital, scroll down to where it says "How to request your Digital Kit voucher," and click on "Register in our private area." Once logged in, fill in the required information: name, tax ID number (NIF), company size or if you are self-employed, location, and contact details to create your Acelera Pyme account. It's very simple.
After filling in all the information, you must submit it, and shortly afterward you will receive an email confirming that your Acelera Pyme account is now activated. You must click on the link provided or copy and paste a URL (whichever you prefer).
Until the different calls for applications are activated, you cannot access the procedures to request your Digital Kit voucher, but you can start to do the digital self-diagnosis of your company, which is an essential requirement to receive the aid.
To do this, the next step, after accessing the link, is to assess your SME's "digital maturity level." This test offered by the website can be taken multiple times if, for example, you want to track how your business's digital maturity evolves over time. You'll need to answer some very simple questions about aspects such as whether your SME has any initiatives in place to raise employee awareness about cybersecurity, the speed of your internet connection (if you have internet access), whether your organization has a social media account, and other related matters.
Based on your answers, you will receive a score according to the following parameters:
Next, you will need to answer many more questions about your company's current technological situation. In total, all the answers you need to provide may take you about 40 minutes. When you finish, you will receive specific information about your company's current status based on its level of digitalization.
Once applications for the grants can be submitted because the different calls for proposals have opened (depending on the company segment), SMEs will need to select the service (or services) they wish to contract from those offered in the "Catalog of Digitalization Solutions" available on Acelera Pyme to use the voucher. This is a closed list provided by companies that register as "digitalization agents" on the portal.
These service providers will not be able to refuse to provide service to any SME that has received the voucher. The "digitalization agents" will also be responsible for disbursing the aid and collecting it from the Administration, for which they must prove that the contract has been formalized and that the service is being provided, which will always take place over a period of 12 months.
"Digitalizing agents"
All program grants must be processed through the services provided by participating "digitalization agents." Registration with Acelera Pyme can begin after the publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the Digital Kit grant framework, which also specifies the required characteristics of these service providers.
Among the requirements is the accumulation of €100,000 in revenue over the last two years, or €50,000 in the previous year alone, always "in projects similar to those to be developed for beneficiaries in any of the categories." Self-employed individuals without employees can also offer their services through Acelera Pyme. In their case, the minimum revenue threshold must be €70,000 over the last two years or €35,000 during the previous year.
These service providers must be up-to-date with their tax and social security obligations. Companies that register as "digitalization agents" will not be eligible for Digital Kit funding. "Among their obligations," the call for proposals states, is also the commitment to "generate the necessary employment in Spain for the provision of the services; and maintain their tax domicile and center of activity providing the subsidized services within the European Union.".
In order of application
"The grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, under a non-competitive system." This will be the sole criterion for accessing them, provided the requirements of the call for applications are met.
The deadline for submitting applications will be at least three months from the publication of the call, or until the budget is exhausted.
NOTE: This information guide is for guidance only and may be subject to change depending on the publication of the various calls for proposals. The published Terms and Conditions Order and the individual calls for proposals to be published will govern the applicable regulations.
You can contact this professional office for any questions or clarifications you may have.
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