An Innovative Business Group (AEI) is an official recognition granted by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism to entities that demonstrate a high innovation potential for innovation and the ability to drive business competitiveness.

The Clúster Digital de Catalunya, accredited as AEI, actively participates in funding calls promoted by the Ministry to strenghten the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Being part of a cluster is a key requirement to access these grants. That's why Clúster Digital fosters the creation of solid consortia, made up of at least 3 SMEs, 2 or more AEIs, and a newly established company. This structure maximizes the impact of the projects and ensures compliance with the criteria setin the calls.

The execution period varies depending on the call, lasting between 10 and 12 months, while the grant amount depends on the specific funding line.

The Competitiveness Reinforcement Initiatives grants aim to support projects that boost the competitiveness and/or performance of companies and entities within the Catalunya Clusters Program. Therefore, these grants are available to accredited and active clusters within the Catalunya Clústers Program of ACCIÓ, such as the Clúster Digital, as well as companies and industry stakeholders with an operational presence in Catalonia that are part of these clusters.

Projects can have a maximum of 10 participants under Line 1 - Business Competitiveness Reinforcement- or 5 participants under Line 2 - Development and Innovation-.

The granting authority is the Department of Business and Labor, through the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The New Business Opportunities Grants enable companies to launch new initiatives aimed at developing a business plan, implementing related actions, or hiring qualified talent.

These grants support a wide range of initiatives, including strategic transformation projects to create higher value-added products, expand into new sectors, or offer differentiated services to clients, among others. This is a unique opportunity to bring to life a business opportunity identified in your strategic plan, which could potentially become your main business line in the future.

Access to the New Business Opportunities Grants is available through three funding lines: 1. Strategic Business Transformation Projects, 2. Structural Change Project, 3. Talent Acquisition Projects

EPICENTRE is a project funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Digital Cluster of Catalonia. Its goal is to address the challenges of European Midcaps and Corporates in the fields of Digital, Fintech, Health, and Agri-food sectors. 

It aims to create new value chains between SMEs, clusters, and Corporates through effective and sustainable solutions. Initially, Midcaps and Corporates from all over Europe are invited to participate by sharing their challenges as a company. Through two calls, SMEs and startups are encouraged to develop solutions to address these challenges. 

The 50 selected companies become part of the Acceleration Program with which they will be able to obtain up to €42,400 for the development of the solution and the EPICENTRE Academy, with which they will receive training and mentoring up to €6,850.

EPICENTRE is a project funded by the Single Market Programme (SMP), call Joint Cluster Initiatives (Euroclusters) for Europe’s recovery, from the European Comission.