One-liner: the national participatory loan (préstamo participativo) — no collateral, no equity taken — sitting between a bank loan and venture capital. The default non-dilutive instrument for Spanish startups/SMEs, run by ENISA (Ministerio de Industria). €25,000–€1,500,000.
What a participatory loan is (RD-Ley 7/1996, art. 20)
- The interest varies with your business performance — the loan shares your upside, not your equity.
- Counts as accounting equity (net worth) for capital-reduction/liquidation purposes — strengthens your balance sheet.
- Acts as a confidence signal that helps attract business angels and VC. Interest is deductible in corporate tax.
What you get
- Loan €25,000–€1,500,000 (amount reviewed annually), no guarantees — the collateral is your project and team.
- Term up to 7 years, with grace period up to 2 years on principal.
- Two-tranche interest:
- Base tranche — Euríbor (1yr) + an annual differential, settled quarterly.
- Performance tranche — only if your company is profitable; based on your return on equity, capped by your credit rating; zero if profitability is negative. Settled 15 November (send annual accounts before 30 Sep).
- >€300k → externally audited accounts required; ≤€300k → accounts deposited in the public registry suffice.
Who it's for (historical product lines)
- Jóvenes Emprendedores — companies ≤24 months old, promoted by young founders (smaller tickets).
- Emprendedores — companies ≤24 months old (no age-of-founder limit).
- Crecimiento — established SMEs financing growth/expansion/modernisation.
- General logic: viable, innovative business model, with the company able to co-fund (equity broadly matching the loan).
#status/verifyexact per-line caps for the current year.
How to apply
- Online via the ENISA client portal (from enisa.es/servicios/financiacion) — rolling, no fixed deadline, while the annual budget lasts.
- Submit the business plan + financials; ENISA analyses viability (no collateral requested).
- ENISA is also the certifier for ENISA Startup Certification (empresa emergente) — worth securing in parallel.
Relations
- Run by: ENISA
- See also: ENISA Startup Certification
- See also: IVF Participativos FEDER
- See also: NEOTEC 2026