The CDTI Innovation allocates 7.5 million for Spanish SMEs in the 2026 Call for grants for Canary and Valencian companies with European Seal of Excellence of the EIC Accelerator

The CDTI Innovation, the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has opened the call 2026 for the Seal of Excellence+, a program of direct granting of aid to projects of Spanish SMEs from the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community that, previously, have obtained the Seal of Excellence in the calls for the EIC Accelerator instrument of the European Innovation Council of the Horizon Europe program. The call is endowed with 7,491,732 euros that will be cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2021-2027.

The 2026 edition of the Seal of Excellence+ program is specifically aimed at projects that are developed in the Autonomous Communities of the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community, territories eligible for this action within the framework of the ERDF 2021-2027. This territorial approach responds to the regional cohesion strategy of the European Union and the Spanish State to strengthen innovation ecosystems in regions with special potential for technological development. In particular, both autonomous communities have demonstrated, in previous editions of the program, a remarkable ability to compete successfully in European calls of the highest level and have business and scientific ecosystems prepared to absorb this type of aid and convert them into innovation with impact on the market. The concentration of resources in these territories also makes it possible to maximise the tractive effect of the ERDF funds and to strengthen the connection between the beneficiary companies and the regional scientific and technological infrastructures.

The projects supported by this new call will be added to the CDTI portfolio of highly innovative, knowledge-intensive business initiatives with the capacity to generate new technological solutions for very diverse sectors: from health and biosciences to advanced industry, energy, space or digitalization. The objective of this CDTI instrument is to transcend possible European budgetary constraints and to maintain support for excellent projects with high potential for:

• Protect the pipeline of high-potential projects, financing proposals that have already been qualified as excellent, thus reducing the risk of losing technology, talent and industrial property that could move to other countries and turn that recognized excellence into direct investment in business innovation in the national territory.
• Multiply the impact of Horizon Europe in Spain, using the Seal of Excellence as a criterion to deploy national resources and ERDF and thus maximizing the scientific, technological and economic return of its participation in the program.
• Strengthen the international positioning of SMEs, with funded projects that are at high levels of technological maturity (TRL 6-8) and oriented to the market. National support complements European opportunities and makes it easier for SMEs to make the leap from technological validation to commercial scaling, expanding their presence in global value chains.
• Align with national science and innovation strategies within the framework of the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy 2021-2027, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the productive fabric through R&D and to increase the participation and leadership of Spain in European programs.

The EIC Acceleator

The EIC Accelerator is one of Horizon Europe’s most competitive instruments. Its objective is to support SMEs and emerging companies with transformative technologies, helping them to scale and reach the market through a combination of subsidies and venture capital investment through the EIC Fund. In this scheme, the Seal of Excellence is a recognition that the European Commission grants to those proposals that, although having successfully exceeded all evaluation quality thresholds, cannot be financed by budgetary constraints. It is a quality badge that certifies that the project has been considered excellent, viable and aligned with the strategic priorities of the European Union.

The CDTI Innovation has been deploying, since previous editions, specific programs to finance Spanish SMEs with the Seal of Excellence of the EIC Accelerator that have not obtained direct European funding. These grants, in the form of a direct grant, are aimed at R&D projects with high levels of technological maturity (TRL 6 to 8) that allow them to validate their technology in relevant environments, fine-tune their business model and strengthen their structure for a subsequent industrial and commercial escalation.

The call for the CDTI Innovation Seal of Excellence+ continues to turn a European evaluation result into a lever for industrial and innovation policy in Spain. In the specific area of the EIC Accelerator, the CDTI Innovation not only manages the national grants associated with the Seal of Excellence but also deploys a set of advanced services:

• Programs such as NEOTEC, certified by the EIC itself to facilitate the access of Spanish technology startups to the Accelerator
• CDTI Plug-in Philosophy, which connects national innovation support instruments with the EIC Accelerator ecosystem, generating chained funding pathways
• Specialized services such as interview and pitching simulations, which help companies invited to the final evaluation phase in Brussels to prepare both their business presentation and their communication strategy before the expert panels that train and guide companies

This comprehensive approach, which combines funding, advice, accompaniment and preparation services for European instruments, distinguishes CDTI Innovation as the key player in the international positioning of Spanish innovative companies, especially SMEs and technology-based startups.

Submission of applications

Applications can be submitted until 9 June 2026 by SMEs with tax domicile in Spain (or branch office in national territory if the tax domicile is in the EU) listed in Annex I of the call for applications for having obtained the Seal of Excellence in the following calls for applications from the EIC Accelerator: the second call for applications from 2024 (the deadline for submission was 3 October 2024) and the second call for applications from 2025 (which closed on 1 October 2025).

The beneficiary companies must develop their projects in the Autonomous Communities of the Canary Islands or the Valencian Community, territories eligible for this action with FEDER funds.

The grants cover up to 70% of the bankable budget, with a maximum of 2.5 million euros per project,

The deadline for submitting applications is from May 26 to June 9, 2026.

More information:  
https://www.cdti.es/ayudas/ayudas-pymes-sello-de-excelencia

CDTI Innovation 

The Center for Technological Development and Innovation, CDTI E.P.E. It is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose objective is the promotion of technological innovation in the business environment. The mission of the CDTI is to ensure that the Spanish business fabric generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable and inclusive growth. In 2025, within the framework of the Strategic Plan 2024-2027, the CDTI provided 2,423 million euros of support to Spanish companies and startups.

  
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