The Non-Dilutive Capital Map for Women's Health

Am I eligible?

A small technology-based enterprise (EBT) less than three years old, with at least €20,000 of share capital, not distributing profits and not listed except on alternative trading platforms. The business model must rest on intensive scientific and technological knowledge rather than on providing services. Minimum financeable project €175,000, subcontracting capped at 50%.

How much?

Up to 70% of the eligible budget to a maximum of €250,000, rising to 85% and €325,000 where the project employs at least one doctorate holder. The 2026 budget was €20.38m, of which €5m was reserved for the NEOTEC Mujeres line for women-led projects.

How likely?

Not verified. CDTI publishes results by call; ask for the previous year's ratio of applications to awards before you commit.

When?

The 2026 window ran 14 April to 14 May at 12:00 and is now closed. Funded projects start 1 January 2027. On the recent pattern, expect the 2027 call around April 2027, though the pattern is not a guarantee.

Route

Single application through CDTI's electronic headquarters, then evaluation. An advance of up to 60% of the grant, capped at €150,000, is available without a guarantee, which matters more than it sounds for a company with no balance sheet.

Other key requirements

The three-year age limit is absolute and it is measured from incorporation, so for many founders this instrument has a closing window rather than an opening one.

Women's health fit

The €5m NEOTEC Mujeres reserve is the most concrete gender provision in Spanish innovation funding. A women-led women's health company under three years old with a doctorate on the founding team is close to the archetype it was written for, and the doctorate is what turns a €250,000 award into €325,000.

Am I eligible?

An SME by the EU definition, with its registered office or principal activity in Spain, an innovative business model, scalability and a balanced financing plan, and compliance with the do-no-significant-harm principle. Women must hold a leading role in the share capital, in management or on the board. Real estate and financial services are excluded outright.

How much?

Up to 300,000 euros without audited accounts, and up to 1,500,000 euros with audited accounts and more than two years of trading. Pricing is the part to notice: this line charges Euribor plus 2 to 3.75%, against Euribor plus 4 to 6% on ENISA's general Startups y pymes line. A women-led company is not only reaching a separate pot here, it is borrowing more cheaply.

How likely?

Not a ranking against other applicants but a credit assessment of your own numbers, and the weighting depends on your history. For a company with no track record the analysis is reportedly 100% qualitative: business model, team, competitive advantage, and whether the plan is ambitious but coherent. For a company with history it inverts to roughly 80% financial.

When?

Applications go directly to ENISA rather than through an annual window. Timing is itself an evaluation criterion, so applying while the cash from a recent round is still on the balance sheet is materially different from applying six months later.

Route

Direct application to ENISA, then financial and business analysis, then a credit decision. With no trading history, the case is built on signed customer contracts, commercial agreements or partnerships, a validated sales pipeline, and pilots or first implementations.

Other key requirements

Own funds (patrimonio neto) must be at least equal to the loan requested. That 1:1 test is where most applications fail, and any qualifying capital increase counts, so it need not be a venture round. Terms run to two years' grace plus four of amortisation, extending to seven and nine in specific sectors, with no collateral and no personal guarantees. There is a 0.5% arrangement fee and 1% on early repayment.

Women's health fit

Sector-neutral by design, but a women's health company with women in leadership meets the defining criterion by construction and gets the cheaper pricing with it. Note the structure before treating it as soft money: the second interest tranche runs from 3% to 6% tied to profitability and falls to 0% when the result before tax is negative, so ENISA costs you nothing extra while you are pre-profit and more once you are not. For a company facing years of clinical development, that asymmetry works in your favour.

Am I eligible?

Any company paying Spanish corporate tax that carries out qualifying research, development or technological innovation. There is no call, no ranking and no competition with other applicants, only a test of whether the work qualifies.

How much?

25% of qualifying R&D spend, rising to 42% on the part that exceeds the average of the two previous years, plus an additional 17% on the cost of researchers working exclusively on R&D and 8% on tangible and intangible assets dedicated to it. Technological innovation, a lower bar than R&D, attracts 12%. Unused deductions can be carried forward for 18 years.

How likely?

This is an entitlement rather than a competition. If the work qualifies and the paperwork is right, the money follows.

When?

Annual, with the corporate tax return. The monetisation route requires at least a year to have passed since the end of the tax period in which the deduction was generated, so the planning starts a year before the cash does.

Route

Qualify the project, ideally with a binding informe motivado vinculante from the Ministry, which is not compulsory for every deduction but is what gives you legal certainty. Then apply the deduction in the corporate tax return, or claim it in cash.

Other key requirements

The part that matters for a pre-profit company is article 39.2 LIS, which lets you receive the deduction in cash when you have no tax liability to set it against. It costs a compulsory 20% reduction, and it carries conditions: maintaining average headcount or R&D headcount for the prescribed period, and reinvesting an equivalent amount in qualifying R&D.

Women's health fit

Sector-neutral, and structurally the most overlooked money on this map for a Spanish company. A loss-making femtech with a real development programme can convert its R&D spend into cash without a call, a jury or a deadline, which is true of almost nothing else here.

Am I eligible?

Companies, including spin-offs and young innovative enterprises, along with technology centres, innovation support centres, business associations and science and technology parks. The doctorate holder must work on industrial research, experimental development or preliminary feasibility studies.

How much?

A maximum of 56,000 euros a year per contract, over three years, at an aid intensity between 25% and 70% depending on the project and the type of entity. Only costs arising from annual gross pay of 29,070 euros or above are financeable. The 2026 call carries 20.1 million euros.

How likely?

Not verified. With 20.1 million euros against contracts of up to 56,000 a year, the call funds a substantial number of posts, which makes it less of a lottery than most competitive grants.

When?

The 2026 window opens on 5 November 2026 at 00:00 and closes on 26 November at 14:00, peninsular time.

Route

Application through the Ministry. The contract runs three years, so this is a hiring decision as much as a funding one.

Other key requirements

A maximum of 300,000 euros of the call is reserved for hiring people with a disability of 33% or above. Read this instrument alongside NEOTEC: having a doctorate holder on the team is what raises a NEOTEC award from 250,000 to 325,000 euros and its intensity from 70% to 85%. Torres Quevedo is how a small company affords that person.

Women's health fit

Sector-neutral. Most useful to a company whose product carries a clinical evidence burden and therefore needs research capability it cannot yet pay for.

Am I eligible?

Spanish companies undertaking research, development or innovation projects. The family covers Proyectos de I+D and Proyectos de Innovación, alongside Cervera for transfer projects with a research centre, the LIEE testing and experimentation line, and Innvierte, which is equity rather than non-dilutive.

How much?

Project-dependent, structured as a loan with a non-repayable tranche rather than as a pure grant. Read which part is which before modelling the cash.

How likely?

Not verified. Continuous submission makes this less of a lottery than a fixed-deadline call.

When?

Generally continuous rather than by fixed call, which makes it an instrument you can time around your own milestones.

Route

Application through CDTI, then technical and financial evaluation.

Other key requirements

Partially repayable aid puts real debt on the balance sheet with a forgiven portion on top. Useful, but it changes what your next investor sees in the accounts.

Women's health fit

CDTI runs a joint action with the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, which is the closest thing Spain has to a dedicated health innovation instrument and is worth a direct conversation if your product carries a clinical evidence burden.