Italian grants and EU funding for SMEs: what is open now

In short: Italy publishes its business incentives, national, regional and local, in one official catalogue run by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy: incentivi.gov.it, released as open data. This page reads it every night and shows the Italian measures still open, the ones valid in every region, the European Commission calls that mention SMEs, and what to check on an Italian partner before you apply or invest together. Data and sources checked on 2026-10-28.

What is the Italian incentives catalogue?

incentivi.gov.it collects the measures that public bodies in Italy offer to businesses: ministries, regions, autonomous provinces, chambers of commerce and other agencies. Each record follows the same official template: who grants the aid, opening and closing dates, eligible regions and municipalities, company size, types of applicant, form of the aid (non-repayable grant, loan, guarantee, tax relief, risk capital), eligible costs, minimum and maximum eligible spending, ATECO activity codes, legal basis and a link to the granting body. The catalogue is published under the Italian Open Data License 2.0, which allows reuse with attribution.

The live block above counts only measures that are not closed: either with a future closing date or with no closing date at all, which in the records usually comes with a note such as “until funds run out”.

Can a company based outside Italy use an Italian grant?

There is no single answer: each call sets its own rules. The catalogue record tells you the first filters. It lists the eligible regions (many measures cover a single region or a list of municipalities), the eligible company sizes and the types of applicant, for example “company”, “consortium”, “network of companies” or “company to be set up”. Whether a foreign company, a branch or a new Italian subsidiary qualifies is written in the call itself, which the record links. Read it, or ask an Italian adviser, before planning on the money.

Does your company count as an SME?

Most measures are reserved for small and medium-sized enterprises as defined by the European Commission: fewer than 250 staff and an annual turnover up to 50 million euro or a balance sheet total up to 43 million. Below 50 staff and 10 million it is a small enterprise, below 10 staff and 2 million a micro enterprise. The data of partner enterprises (25% to 50% holdings) is added in proportion and that of linked enterprises (more than 50%) in full, so a corporate shareholder can push a company over a threshold. Veryfy’s SME size calculator (in Italian) adds partner and linked enterprises for you.

EU calls with an Italian partner

The European Commission publishes its calls on the Funding & Tenders portal. Many are submitted by consortia of organisations from several countries, and “cascade funding” calls let EU-funded projects pass grants on to third parties, often SMEs. The block above lists the calls that mention SMEs and whose deadline has not passed. If one of your consortium partners is an Italian company, its financial health becomes part of your project.

What should you check on an Italian partner?

• That it exists and is active: registration in the Italian business register and a valid VAT number. See how to check an Italian VAT number.
• Who owns and controls it: shareholders, directors and the beneficial owner.
• Warning signs: protests (unpaid bills of exchange and cheques) and insolvency proceedings.

Veryfy’s reports collect these public data on an Italian company in one document; how to read the report explains each section. The report itself is in Italian.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the list of Italian measures come from?

From the open data catalogue of incentivi.gov.it, the portal of the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, read every night. The call published by the granting body always prevails over the catalogue.

Are the measure titles translated?

No. Titles stay in Italian, as published, so that you can search for them on the granting body’s website.

Which EU calls are listed?

Calls for proposals and cascade-funding calls on the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders portal that are open or forthcoming, mention SMEs in their text and have a deadline that has not passed.

Sources

• incentivi.gov.it, Open data (Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy), read on 2026-10-28.
• incentivi.gov.it, Metadati Scheda Incentivo (fields of each record).
• European Commission, SME definition.
• European Commission, Funding & Tenders portal.