One-liner: Spain's national public agency for business R&D+i — a public business entity (E.P.E.) attached to the Ministry that runs the flagship NEOTEC deep-tech grant, Innvierte venture-capital arm, EIC co-funding, and the country's international network of innovation offices.
What a founder gets
- NEOTEC 2026 — flagship non-dilutive grant for tech-based companies under 3 years old: up to 70% of eligible budget (85% with a PhD hire), max €250k (€325k with PhD), min €175k project size. €20.38M total budget for 2026, €5M ring-fenced for women-led projects.
- CDTI Sello Excelencia EIC (CDTI Sello de Excelencia EIC 2026) — €7.5M FEDER pool for Valencia/Canarias SMEs holding an EIC Accelerator Seal of Excellence.
- CDTI Cervera para Centros Tecnologicos 2026 — national grant for groupings of 4–7 Technology Centers running strategic R&D+I programs in priority "Cervera" technologies (defense/dual-use, circular economy, intelligent transport). €20M base budget, expandable to €70M ceiling; deadline 10 July 2026, 12:00 noon. Not a direct-to-startup grant, but funds the technology-center partners (AIMPLAS, ITE, ITI, AINIA and other REDIT institutes) founders rely on for lab/testbed access.
- Innvierte — CDTI's public venture-capital vehicle, co-investing in innovative Spanish companies (equity, not grant).
- Ecosistemas de Innovación — support for innovation-ecosystem building (accelerators, hubs) beyond single-company grants.
- Compra Pública de Innovación (CPI) — CDTI runs its own CPI initiatives and "informes motivados" (a certification that unlocks R&D tax deductions — see CPI - Compra Publica Innovadora).
- Red PIDI — free national network of regional advisory points for R&D+i aid applications (non-financial: mentoring on which grant fits).
- International offices network (Oficinas Internacionales CDTI) — soft-landing / internationalization support for Spanish deeptech firms entering foreign markets, plus EU Framework Programme support and European defense-program cooperation. (Note: "Cervera" is CDTI's domestic Technology-Center excellence program — see CDTI Cervera para Centros Tecnologicos 2026 — not an international-transfer scheme; corrected 2026-07-05.)
- MIT / GeorgiaTech training add-on — NEOTEC winners can add up to €18,300 (MIT) or €10,000 (GeorgiaTech Enterprise Innovation Institute) to attend a capacity-building course abroad.
- Loans ("ayudas parcialmente reembolsables") for larger R&D and innovation projects (Proyectos de I+D, Proyectos de Innovación) — separate from NEOTEC, aimed at more capitalized companies.
Who it's for
- Technology-based companies (EBTs) whose competitive edge is proprietary tech developed from R&D — NEOTEC explicitly excludes business models based mainly on third-party services without own tech development.
- Best fit: seed/early-stage deeptech, but CDTI's broader instruments (Proyectos I+D, Innvierte, CPI) also serve growth-stage and more mature innovative SMEs/midcaps.
- Sector-agnostic ("cualquier ámbito tecnológico y/o sectorial") — not limited to deeptech, though deeptech/deep R&D firms are the natural fit.
How to engage
- Apply for NEOTEC via CDTI's electronic HQ ("Sede electrónica") during the annual window — 2026 call ran 14 April – 14 May 2026 (closed; next cycle expected 2027, watch
cdti.es/ayudas/ayudas-neotec-2026). - General national-aid queries: phone 900 923 122; international-aid queries: 900 924 735; email info@cdti.es.
- Use the "Buscadores de ayudas" (aid-matrix / guided search tool) on cdti.es to find the right instrument beyond NEOTEC.
- Free advisory: Red PIDI regional advisory points — locate the nearest one via cdti.es.
- Non-financial route: the "Ecosistemas de Innovación" and international-office channels are worth a direct outreach if the founder needs internationalization rather than cash.
Key facts
- Legal form: E.P.E. (Entidad Pública Empresarial) attached to Spain's Ministry — public business entity, not a ministry department itself, giving it budgetary/operational flexibility.
- 30 June 2026: CDTI Innovación's governing Council approved >€61M for 107 new business R&D+i projects — indicates strong ongoing deal flow beyond NEOTEC.
- NEOTEC 2026: budget €20,383,300; subcontracting cap 50% of financeable budget; up to 60% advance payment (max €150k) with no guarantee required; funded via CDTI's own patrimony (not FEDER/MRR for this line).
- Legal basis: Orden CNU/161/2025 (7 Feb 2025) sets NEOTEC's bases reguladoras, under the Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2024-2027.
- CDTI Sello Excelencia EIC 2026 line: exact budget €7,491,732.00, FEDER 2021-2027 co-financed, deadline 9 June 2026 (now expired/recurring — watch for the next EIC cycle); open nationwide (not restricted to Valencia/Canarias — corrected 2026-07-05, see CDTI Sello de Excelencia EIC 2026). #status/verify
- (2026-07-05) Cervera confusion resolved: verified directly on cdti.es. "Ayudas Cervera para Centros Tecnológicos 2026" is a single active call — base budget €20,000,000, expandable up to a €70,000,000 ceiling (base + up to €50M possible top-up under RD 887/2006 art. 58.2.a) — both figures seen in different secondary sources (gvanext.gva.es cited the €20M base; ite.es cited the €70M ceiling) refer to the same call, not two different programs. Deadline confirmed: 10 July 2026, 12:00 noon peninsular time (window opened 11 June 2026; approved by CDTI Presidencia resolution 3 June 2026). Beneficiaries are groupings of 4-7 Centros Tecnológicos, not individual startups. No separate "Redes de Excelencia" sub-line exists in the 2026 call. See CDTI Cervera para Centros Tecnologicos 2026.
- (2026-07-05) CDTI homepage news feed (checked live) shows no new NEOTEC/Sello EIC announcements since last scan — most recent items are regional-collaboration news (SEKUENS/Asturias, Junta de Extremadura, CEMOSA interview) unrelated to open calls. NEOTEC 2026 page confirms "Estado de la convocatoria: Cerrada" with a 5 Jun 2026 subsanación-de-errores notice for applicants already in process — no 2027 edition announced yet.
- Alliances/network memberships: SECPHO, MIT Industrial Liaison Program, SPRIN-D, OEPM, COTEC, Taftie, Innovation Growth Lab, Red IDI, ENAC, Club Excelencia en Gestión — signals CDTI's role as Spain's node in international innovation-agency networks.
- Runs Spain's "Oficina Nacional de Emprendimiento" (ONE) portal presence and DANA-recovery innovation project lines (Proyectos de Innovación DANA) alongside standard R&D lines — evidence of disaster-recovery-linked innovation funding.
- Governance: Consejo Asesor (Advisory Council), Comité de Dirección, full organigrama published at cdti.es/quienes-somos — director-level detail not yet captured in the vault. #status/verify
Relations
- Runs: NEOTEC 2026
- Runs: NEOTEC 2026 (Program)
- Runs: CDTI Sello Excelencia EIC
- Runs: CDTI Sello de Excelencia EIC 2026
- Runs: CDTI Cervera para Centros Tecnologicos 2026
- Governs: CPI - Compra Publica Innovadora
- See also: Deeptech (niche)
- See also: CEEI Valencia — CEEI's financing page lists CDTI as one of its aggregated external funding links (alongside ENISA, IVACE, ICO).
- Partners with: Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM ES)