Eligibility requirements

SUBJECTIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SELECTION OF START-UPS TO WHICH THE NON-REPAYABLE GRANT REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 8, PARAGRAPH 1, OF THE AGREEMENT IS TO BE AWARDED

1. Nationality of the Startup: the selection is exclusively aimed at Startups, as defined in Article 2 of the Collaboration Agreement. Startups are defined as entities that meet all of the following requirements:

a) incorporation within sixty months prior to the date of submission of the application;
b) registration in the Register of Companies;
c) headquarters in Italy;
d) admission to the Operator’s incubation and/or acceleration programme.

Except for the requirement referred to in letter d), possession of the requirements referred to in letters a), b) and c) must be certified, at the time of application, by means of a specific self-declaration or by submitting a copy of the Chamber of Commerce certificate (see Annex A ‘Application for Admission’).

2. Cybersecurity operations: non-repayable grants for the Agency’s validation activities are aimed at start-ups working on emerging technologies., new solutions and business models with high potential for innovation and scalability that contribute to the development and dissemination of cybersecurity, giving priority, but not exclusively, to technologies such as data science, artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, blockchain, quantum computing and cryptography. The relevance of the start-up’s activity to the above-mentioned field of operation, which is also useful for assessing the merits of any non-repayable grant, must be highlighted when submitting the application by completing the form made available to the Operator by the Agency (see Annex B “Project Form”).

3. Regularity of the individual subjective position: in order to be eligible for non-repayable grants for validation activities, start-ups must meet the following additional cumulative requirements from the date of submission of the application, under penalty of inadmissibility:

a) compliance with financial traceability obligations pursuant to Article 3 of Law No. 136/2010;
b) regular fulfilment of obligations relating to the payment of taxes, duties and social security contributions (DURC), in accordance with Italian legislation;
c) ability to contract with the Public Administration, i.e. not being subject, in the last three years, a disqualification sanction pursuant to Article 9, paragraph 2, letter c), of Legislative Decree No. 231 of 8 June 2001, or any other sanction involving a prohibition on contracting with the public administration, including the disqualification measures referred to in Article 14 of Legislative Decree No. 81 of 9 April 2008;
d) capacity to fully and freely exercise one’s rights and not be subject to judicial liquidation or compulsory liquidation or composition with creditors or proceedings in progress for access to one of these procedures;
e) absence of convictions with final judgement or irrevocable criminal decree pronounced for one of the offences referred to in Article 94, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Legislative Decree No. 36/2023;
f) compliance with health and safety at work regulations and with environmental, social and labour obligations under current European and national legislation, collective agreements or the provisions of Annex X to Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014.

The above requirements must be maintained throughout the duration of the Grant Agreement, under penalty of revocation of funding.

4. Reasons for exclusion of applications: in accordance with the provisions of the ‘de minimis’ regime referred to in Regulation 2023/2831, non-repayable grants will not be awarded to Startups if they:

g) have benefited from a total amount of de minimis aid granted under Regulation (EU) No 2023/2831 or other de minimis regulations that exceeds the most favourable ceiling provided for in the relevant applicable de minimis rules;
h) have received, for the same expenses covered by the subsidies granted for the validated activities, other public contributions that constitute State aid notified pursuant to Article 108 of the TFEU or communicated in exemption pursuant to Commission regulations declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market, such as to result, cumulatively, the highest aid intensity or amount provided for in the relevant applicable rules (absence of so-called “double funding” within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241);

In particular, considering that the grant awarded will be non-repayable, additional requirements for participation are:

i) having returned or deposited in an account restricted to repayment (at the disposal of the judicial authorities or third-party authorities) any public subsidies received for which repayment has been ordered by state and regional authorities, not as a result of a decision by the European Commission;
j) not having been subject, in the three years prior to the date of notification of admission to the subsidies, to measures ordering the total repayment of public subsidies, with the exception of those resulting from waivers by the company.

Start-up applications for non-repayable grants for validation activities must be accompanied by an express declaration, made in accordance with the format provided by the Agency, certifying that the above requirements are met, as also specified in paragraph 6 below (see Annex A “Application for admission”).