Fund the expansion of your production
Intangible assets and software sit explicitly within the eligible expenditure base alongside machinery — so the digital layer of a production-line investment is fundable at the same rate as the machinery itself.
Sistema de Incentivos à Competitividade Empresarial · COMPETE2030 & regional programmes
What is SICE — Inovação Produtiva?
It stimulates innovative business investment, shifting the specialisation profile of the Portuguese economy and reinforcing external competitiveness through differentiation, diversification and innovation. It funds the equipment and technologies for creating a new production unit or increasing existing productive capacity.
Supported operations must improve SME productive capacity and develop innovative, digital and sustainable solutions — predominantly based on R&D results and increased qualified employment — and must target the production of new goods and services, or significant improvements to current production, through the transfer and application of knowledge.
For Elyntis, this is the principal route into manufacturing clients. Because hardware, software and intangible assets are named eligible expenditure, the MES, SCADA, IoT and ERP layer of a production-line investment carries the same support rate as the machinery it controls.
Who can apply?
- SMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) of any nature and under any legal form.
- Operations located in mainland NUTS II regions — Norte, Centro, Lisboa, Alentejo, Algarve. For SME operations in Lisboa and Algarve, a separate autonomous application must be submitted for investments in each of those regions.
Criteria for eligibility
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Minimum eligible investment of €300,000; maximum below €25 million
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Legal conditions to carry out the activity (industrial permit or similar)
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Tax Authority and Social Security non-debt certificate
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SME certification
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Financial autonomy ratio of at least 15%
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Maintain the investment and its location for 3 years after project completion
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The application must postdate the investments — no prior signed quotations, contracts, invoices or payments
Eligible operations
Your project must fall into one of these four types.
New establishment
Creation of a new establishment.
Capacity increase
Increase in the productive capacity of an existing establishment — at least +25%.
Production diversification
Diversification of production into products not previously produced at the establishment.
Fundamental process change
Fundamental change to the overall production process of an existing establishment.
Eligible expenses
Tangible fixed assets
- Machinery, equipment and auxiliary systems (brand new)
- Hardware and software
Intangible assets
- Patents, licences or unprotected technical know-how
Other expenses
- Studies, diagnostics, audits and engineering projects
Note: investments made prior to the application are not eligible.
Support rate by size, region and top-ups
Base rates by enterprise size, before regional and thematic top-ups. Support is granted as a non-repayable grant.
- +5 p.p. — Climate transition.
- +2 / +5 p.p. — Qualified employment (1–3 posts / 4+); Alentejo & Algarve +5 p.p. for 2 or more.
- +5 p.p. — SME capitalisation.
Maximum rate by region and size
| North, Centre, Alentejo — Micro/Small | Up to 50% (low-density) · 30% (other territories) |
| North, Centre, Alentejo — Medium | Up to 40% (low-density) · 25% (other territories) |
| Alto Alentejo, Beiras, S. Estrela — Micro/Small | Up to 60% |
| Alto Alentejo, Beiras, S. Estrela — Medium | Up to 50% |
| LVT and Algarve — Micro/Small | 20% (GBER Art.17) · up to €300K (de minimis) |
| LVT and Algarve — Medium | 10% (GBER Art.17) · up to €300K (de minimis) |
Result indicators
For approval the project commits to result indicators. Only the two indicators with the best results are used to determine the operation's outcome.
- Total employment.
- Qualified employment (level 6 or above).
- Annual turnover.
- Value added per employee.
What Elyntis delivers under this programme
New machinery only pays back if it is instrumented, integrated and measurable. We deliver the digital layer that turns a capital purchase into a production system.
MES & SCADA
Production-execution software integrated with your new machinery.
Industrial IoT
Sensor networks, data acquisition and edge infrastructure across the line.
ERP integration
Linking the new production line to finance, inventory and logistics.
Digital twin & simulation
Simulation environments supporting the process-change justification in your dossier.
Hardware & network
Server, network and industrial-hardware specification and deployment.
Quality & traceability
Control and traceability systems tied directly to your project's result indicators.
Applications & deadlines
Applications are submitted through the Balcão dos Fundos. Calls typically run in multiple phases across a 12–18 month window, and a given phase stays open until its budget is exhausted — which means the closing date is driven by demand rather than by the calendar.
That is why no fixed opening or closing date is published for this instrument. A phase opens when its notice is published, and closes when the allocation runs out — which can happen well before the 12–18 month window suggests. No date on this page can tell you whether submissions are being accepted today. Ask us and we will check the current phase status for you.
If the current phase is closed
Budget exhaustion closes a phase, not the instrument. SICE Inovação Produtiva runs in successive phases across each programming cycle, and a phase that closes on budget is normally followed by a further phase with a fresh allocation. Because these calls close on demand, the practical risk is being unprepared when one opens rather than missing a fixed deadline.
Confirm the current phase status before planning around any date on this page. And because the application must postdate the investment — no prior signed quotations, contracts, invoices or payments — engage us for scoping before you commit to any supplier, including us.
Official source: COMPETE 2030 — SICE Inovação Produtiva
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