Local funding for smaller companies with real digital ambitions
The instrument that reaches the companies the national programmes cannot. Where SICE asks for €200,000 or €300,000 of eligible investment, SIBT calls open at €10,000 — an order of magnitude lower.
Sistema de Incentivos de Base Territorial · administered per CIM as Integrated Territorial Investment · all mainland regions
What is the Sistema de Incentivos de Base Territorial?
SIBT is not a single national scheme. Each Comunidade Intermunicipal (CIM) publishes its own call under its regional programme, framed by that territory's Integrated Territorial Development Strategy. Budgets, rates, sector coverage, investment floors and deadlines all vary by CIM, and calls run on independent schedules — typically once a year per territory.
For a technology project the relevance is direct: the standard eligible-expense list names the acquisition of machinery, equipment and software, alongside intangible assets such as licences and know-how. A small firm buying a POS system, a website, an ERP or a cybersecurity package is making exactly the kind of investment these calls were designed to co-finance.
Your company is the applicant and the beneficiary. Elyntis is engaged as the external technology supplier, and our invoices constitute the eligible expenditure — which is why nothing may be quoted, signed, invoiced or paid before you submit.
Who can apply?
- Micro and small enterprises, of any nature and under any legal form, located in the territory of the CIM publishing the call.
- Two typologies: creation of micro and small enterprises (less than 5 years of activity at submission), and expansion or modernisation of micro and small enterprises (at least 5 years of activity).
- Regional exclusions apply. In the Norte region, service providers and liberal professionals are not eligible; in the AMP, Alto Minho, Douro and Tâmega e Sousa CIMs, sole traders (ENI) and individual limited liability establishments (EIRL) are also excluded.
- Operations in finance and insurance activities are excluded throughout, as are CAE codes outside the call's sector list.
Criteria for eligibility
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At least one paid full-time-equivalent job at the date of application
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Balanced economic-financial situation, with a minimum financial autonomy ratio of 15%
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Technical, physical and financial means to execute the project, evidenced by properly substantiated quotations
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Organised or simplified accounting, as legally required
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Where building works are involved, an approved architecture project or prior notification at the date of application approval
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Maximum execution period of 24 months (18 months in some calls), extendable on justification
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Alignment with the Integrated Territorial Development Strategy of the CIM's intervention area
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DNSH self-assessment submitted with the application, and a minimum Project Merit score of 3.00 for selection
Typical eligible expenses
Exact lists and caps are set by each CIM in its own Aviso, but the structure is consistent across territories — and the first line is the one that matters for a technology project.
Machinery, equipment & software
The core line for a technology engagement — hardware and software acquired for the project.
Intangible assets
Patents, licences and know-how — including the software licences your new systems run on.
Studies, diagnostics & engineering
Marketing plans, architecture and engineering services, capped at roughly 5% to 15% of eligible investment by region.
Construction & adaptation of buildings
Remodelling and adaptation works, capped at around 60% of total eligible investment in most regions.
Certification & brand registration
Product, process or service certification, and the design and registration of new brands.
International fairs & exhibitions
Participation costs, in the Norte and Algarve calls only.
Accountant or auditor validation
Certified Accountant or Statutory Auditor costs for validating payment requests — up to €1,000 in Alentejo, €2,000 in Centro and Norte.
Indirect costs
Typically a fixed rate of around 5% of eligible investment, where the call provides for it.
Where the CIM money sits
Indicative allocations and rates observed in the current cycle. Several of the deadlines below have already passed — SIBT calls are broadly annual per territory, so these show the scale and the timing pattern rather than live availability. We verify the in-force Aviso for your territory before any work is scoped.
| CIM / territory | Region | Allocation | Rate and status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinhal Interior | Centro | €4,000,000 | 70% (+10 p.p. Beiras e Serra da Estrela) — closed 30 Apr 2026 |
| Médio Tejo — Just Transition | Centro | €4,000,000 | 65% — Phase 2 open to 30 Sep 2026 |
| CIM Oeste — Industry | Centro | €2,500,000 | 40% — closed 30 Apr 2026 |
| ITI IIBT OVT (Médio Tejo + Oeste) | Centro | €2,000,000 | 50% , digital-transition specific — verify status |
| CIM Região de Coimbra — Commerce & Services | Centro | €748,395 | 50% — closed 8 Jan 2026 |
| CIM Douro | Norte | €1,920,288 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| CIM Tâmega e Sousa | Norte | €1,831,886 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| CIM Terras de Trás-os-Montes | Norte | €1,257,908 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| Área Metropolitana do Porto | Norte | €1,231,724 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| CIM Ave | Norte | €1,220,305 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| CIM Alto Minho | Norte | €1,168,676 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| CIM Cávado | Norte | €830,893 | 60% — 2nd round, verify status |
| Alentejo — general ITI CIM | Alentejo | €5,000,000 | 60% — verify status |
| Algarve — Regime Geral (AMAL) | Algarve | €5,000,000 | 60% , phased to 15 Jan 2027 — includes Digitalização e TIC |
Incentive rate by territory
Support is a non-repayable grant. Rates vary by region, CIM and territory classification — low-density and just-transition territories carry the highest rates.
Pinhal Interior carries a further +10 p.p. for the Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-region. Rates are set per Aviso and can change between editions.
Merit & result indicators
Applications are scored on Project Merit across four first-level criteria — Strategic Fit, Quality, Execution Capacity and Impact — with weightings set in each call. Contracted indicators typically include:
- Jobs to be maintained (output indicator).
- Turnover in the cruising year, per the call's methodology (result indicator).
Example of a supported project
A small retailer in a Norte CIM territory modernising its operation end to end, with Elyntis delivering every line:
| ERP and POS deployment | €18,000 |
| Website and online store | €8,000 |
| Cybersecurity baseline | €6,000 |
| Cloud migration and licences | €8,000 |
| Total eligible investment | €40,000 |
| Grant at 60% | €24,000 |
| Net cost to the company | €16,000 |
At a glance
| Support form | Non-repayable grant (fundo perdido) |
| Typical project size | €10,000 to €50,000 of eligible investment |
| Execution period | 24 months, 18 in some calls |
| Administered by | Your CIM, as Integrated Territorial Investment |
When SIBT is the right instrument
Two exclusivity rules, both checked before any work begins
First, a beneficiary may not have applications submitted or approved under SICE — Inovação Produtiva, or other instruments funding the same purpose. Second, within Centro 2030's SIBT ITI-CIM calls, the same company (NIF) may not submit more than one application. The practical consequence is that you have to choose a lane before either application is drafted — not after one is rejected.
Use SIBT when
- You are a micro or small enterprise in a CIM territory with an open or upcoming call.
- The total project sits between roughly €10,000 and €50,000.
- The objective is modernisation — systems, digital channels, security — rather than research and development.
Consider SICE instead when
- You are a larger SME, comfortably above the SICE investment floors.
- The project exceeds €200,000 of eligible investment.
- The work spans multiple competitiveness domains and warrants a full national application.
What Elyntis delivers under this programme
Fixed-scope packages sized to the band these calls fund, delivered inside the execution period the Aviso allows.
ERP & POS deployment
Business-management and point-of-sale systems selected, implemented and populated with your data.
Website & e-commerce
A digital storefront that connects to your stock and order handling instead of standing beside it.
Cybersecurity baseline
Identity, access, backup and endpoint protection sized for a small team without a security function.
Cloud migration
Files, mail and line-of-business applications moved off ageing on-premise hardware, licences included in the eligible spend.
Substantiated quotations
The technical specification and costed quotation the call requires in substantiated form — the part most small applicants cannot produce alone.
Delivery inside the window
Scope planned against the 18 or 24-month execution limit from the outset, so the project closes on the terms it was approved under.
Applications & deadlines
Applications are submitted exclusively through the Balcão dos Fundos (Balcão 2030), with prior registration. Each CIM publishes its own Aviso and is the point of contact for clarifications on it.
Because calls are independent per CIM and generally annual, there is no national announcement to wait for. The practical approach is to track the Plano Anual de Avisos for your regional programme and your own CIM's website — which is part of what we do for you before scoping anything.
If your territory's call has closed
A closed window is rarely the end of the road. These calls run on an annual cadence per territory, and the companies that prepare during a closed window are the ones ready to file on day one of the next. Since expenditure must post-date the application, the scoping work has to happen first anyway.
Official source: CIM Região de Coimbra — Sistema de Incentivos de Base Territorial
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