Did you know that the Spanish Government launched the Digital Kit Programmeto promote the digital transformation of SMEs and the self-employed? If you are part of one of these groups and haven’t yet applied for the grants, there’s still time, as the application deadlines were extended until December 2024.
In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about it.
Digital Kit: what is it?
The Digital Kit is a Spanish Government programme that aims to promote the digitalisation of the economic and productive activities of SMEs and the self-employed by subsidising digital solutions. This support extends to all sectors regardless of the type of business, as the main aim of this initiative is to promote the digital transformation of the country’s business landscape.
This is a package of grants financed by the European Union’s Next Generation funds under the Economic Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan by the Spanish Government. This plan gives rise to the Digital Strategy 2026 and, as part of the latter, the SME Digitalisation Plan 2021–26, in which the Digital Kit is one of the most prominent measures.
With a budget of over 3,000 million euros, the programme aims to focus on 10 key areas for accelerating the digitalisation of businesses, where the promotion of digital skills and the implementation of new technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence) are the main objectives of the grants.
Who are the beneficiaries of the Digital Kit?
As we have seen, the Digital Kit is aimed exclusively at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as self-employed workers.
What are the objectives of the Digital Kit?
The Digital Kit has five objectives. These are:
- Promoting digitalisation SMEs and the self-employed.
- Promoting digital transformation from as many SMEs as possible.
- Promoting digital maturity of the companies and workers concerned.
- Promoting the strengthening of SMEs through digital solutions.
- Improving access to digital solutions.
Eligibility criteria for the Digital Kit
Meeting the following requirements grants access to the Digital Kit:
- You must fall into one of the following categories: micro-enterprise, small business or self-employed person.
- To remain within the financial limits of each category of business.
- You must be a registered member and have completed the minimum period of service.
- The company must not be in crisis.
- To have fulfilled all obligations to the Tax and Social Security authorities.
- To be exempt from the prohibitions set out in the General Law on Subsidies (Law 38/2003 of 17 November, Article 13.2).
Steps to apply for the Digital Kit grant
If you’ve been wondering how to apply for the Digital Kit for your business or self-employment, there are three steps you need to follow to access the Digital Kit grants. Let’s take a look at what they involve:
- Registration. The first step is to register on the relevant website and fill in the details requested in the sections that make up the self-assessment test. The information provided at this stage is essential for determining, on the one hand, the company’s level of digitalisation and, on the other, for tailoring the range of digital solutions on offer.
- Digital Solutions Catalogue. This is a list of available solutions covering the most important categories relating to the promotion of digitalisation amongst SMEs and the self-employed. You can choose one or more solutions, always taking into account the actual needs of your business.
- Application for the Digital Kit. Once you have completed the first two steps, you will need to fill in the form. Once you have done this, the application process for digital solutions for SMEs and the self-employed is complete.
Grants available under the Digital Kit scheme
The Digital Kit includes a range of categories of digital solutions for SMEs and the self-employed. What are they?
- Website creation and strengthening our online presence
- Setting up an online shop for e-commerce.
- Promoting SMEs on social media
- Digitisation and optimisation of customer management.
- Implementation of business intelligence tools to support informed decision-making.
- Implementation of virtual office services and tools for communication and human resources management.
- Digitalisation and automation of processes in SMEs.
- Issuing electronic invoices.
- Secure communication between employees and the company.
- Implementation of advanced cybersecurity measures.
Deadlines for accessing the Digital Kit
The deadlines for applying for the Digital Kit were set out in various calls for applications throughout the 2021–2023 period. In the first call for applications during this period, SMEs with between 10 and 49 employees were considered.
Following on from this, the remaining calls for applications were categorised according to the size of the applicant companies: those with between 3 and 10 employees, and those with between 3 and 0 employees.
The amounts of the grants are determined according to the composition of each of these groups: 12,000, 6,000 and 2,000 euros, respectively.
In view of the programme’s success, the Application deadline: 31 December 2024. During this additional period, businesses and the self-employed will be able to submit their applications to access the various digital solutions.
The calls for applications are listed on the official website of SME Accelerator.
