Digital Tools for Small and Medium Enterprises: From the summer the second cycle of the program
From the summer, the new cycle of the “Digital Tools Small and medium-sized Enterprises» support and individual enterprises, which have been established since January 1, 2024.
The program in question is one of the three programs of the action “Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Enterprises” implemented by the Ministry of Digital Governance through the Information Society in the framework of National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
Who is addressed by the second circle
The beneficiaries of the Program “Digital Tools Small and medium Enterprises” are going to basically cover the eligibility criteria of the first cycle, with some important differences, such as:
- Businesses that do not employ workers will also be strengthened.
- In order to cover the eligibility regarding the activity of each business, the KAD with the highest gross revenue will be additionally taken into account.
- Businesses, which may be financed, should have been founded/incorporated before 01.01.2024.
Eligible costs will include combined solutions, where they will include equipment and software and/or services.
It should be noted that in the first cycle of the program in question, which has already been completed, 45,509 beneficiaries were supported with a total amount of the grant that reached 92,990,407.56 euros, i.e. 78.37% of the total approved public expenditure. In particular, 7 out of 10 businesses employing between 1 and 5 staff were supported, while over 60% of the aid amount was given to businesses employing between 10 and 250 people. About 70% of the public expenditure was absorbed by the beneficiaries in applications to improve the operation of the businesses.
What is the “SMB Digital Tools” Program
It is recalled that the program “Digital Tools for Small and Medium Enterprises” concerns the strengthening of small and medium enterprises active in a wide range of sectors of the economy with a budget of 135,000,000 euros and is addressed to around 100,000 small and medium enterprises by providing vouchers for acquisition, through purchase or lease, of new digital products and services. In particular, they give the possibility to:
- modernize their productive, commercial and administrative function,
- upgrade the way of communication and collaboration and introduce new forms of hybrid work (hybrid workplace),
- digitize electronic transactions with customers and partners, including e-commerce,
- increase the level of security and trust in electronic transactions, through the use of new digital products and services.