In just three months, more than 60 SMEs from 10 to less than 250 employees in La Rioja have already requested the assistance of the Kit Consulting program since the application deadline was opened on June 18 through the electronic headquarters of Red.es (https://sede.red.gob.es). The deadline for submitting applications ends on December 31, 2024 and around 8,500 applications have already been received nationwide, which represents more than 56% of the target universe of companies, some 15,000 SMEs. This volume of applications would amount to more than EUR 117 million from European NextGenerationEU funds when the aid is granted.
Kit Consulting is a government aid program, managed by Red.es with a budget of 300 million euros, financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of Spain through the Next Generation EU funds. The aim of this programme is for SMEs with between 10 and less than 250 employees to take a further step on the path of digitisation through advisory services.
Kit Consulting’s regulatory bases were published in the BOE on May 11. The published call details the requirements for applying for aid, the obligations incurred by the beneficiaries, the maximum amounts of aid for each category of advisory solutions, the justification, payment and control of the implementation of the solutions, among other important matters.
The call has an initial budget of 150 million euros expandable and aims to provide a digital advisory service so that SMEs can take another step in their digital transformation.
Bonuses of 12,000, 18,000 and 24,000 euros for advisory services
The aid is materialized in a Digital Advisory Voucher that SMEs must use in the contracting of one or more of the advisory services of which the Program is composed. These advisory services will allow beneficiary SMEs to have a roadmap to advance in the digitalization of their business and continue to advance in their digital transformation.
Three segments of companies are established according to their size and the amount of aid for each of them. For the segment of companies between 10 and less than 50 employees the bonus will be 12,000 euros, for the segment of companies between 50 and less than 100 employees the amount will be 18,000 euros and for companies between 100 and less than 250 employees, the aid will be 24,000 euros.
Red.es will determine the segment to which the application corresponds taking into account the data of the number of workers existing in the General Social Security System and in the Special System of Self-Employed Workers or using any other means valid in law. The average workforce for the last 12 months prior to the date of the application is counted.
The grants are non-competitive and will be awarded directly and in order of arrival, once the checks of compliance with the requirements required in the call have been carried out.
Once it is verified that the company meets the requirements, the digital advisory voucher is awarded. The beneficiary will be able to consult in www.acelerapyme.es the catalog of advisory services offered by the Program and also the catalog of Digital Advisors. You will need to select one or more advisors with whom to develop the services that best suit the needs of your business and sign the “Advisory Services Delivery Agreements”.
10 advisory services available for SMEs
Beneficiary SMEs must allocate the Kit Consulting digital advisory voucher to the contracting of one or several advisory services from a catalogue composed of 10 categories of services in key areas in digital transformation: AI Advisory Service, Data Analytics Advisory Service (Basic and Advanced), Digital Sales Advisory Service, Business Process or Production Advisory Service, Business Strategy and Performance Advisory Service, Cybersecurity Advisory Service (Basic, Advanced and Certification Readiness) and a “360” Digital Transformation Advisory Service.
Terms of formalization of agreements, provision of the service and justification
The announcement states that the maximum period to formalize the first Agreement for the Provision of Advisory Services will be 3 months from the publication of the concession in the Electronic Headquarters of Red.es. For the second and subsequent agreements, this deadline does not apply, but the maximum date for the submission of the agreements will end on May 31, 2025 at 23:59 hours.
Once the agreement between the beneficiary SME and the digital advisor has been signed and validated, the digital advisor has 3 months to provide the service from the date of validation of the agreement. After the provision and once the invoice is issued, it will be the time when the service has ended. And after completion, the Digital Advisor must justify the work done having a maximum period of 5 months for it, and which begins to count from the validation of the agreement.
Automated processing and AI support for justification
Kit Consulting will have an innovative automated processing system, with robotization tools and Artificial Intelligence to reduce the bureaucratic burden, reduce the number of documents to present and shorten the concession deadlines. In this way, SMEs will be able to apply for assistance without providing any documentation.
Kit Consulting also includes the figure of the “voluntary representative” that allows any third party, be it a natural or legal person, duly authorized, to request the subsidy on behalf of the company, thus contributing to eliminate procedures for the SME. In this case, each volunteer representative may submit a maximum of 500 applications per day.
It will be Red.es who performs the check of the justification of the aid. And in that verification process the Entity launches, for the first time, an Artificial Intelligence platform that will serve as support in the process of verification of the justifications of the advisory services. It will be carried out through an LLM system to detect plagiarism, copies and check the quality of the documents presented.
About 2,000 Digital Advisors attached
The Digital Advisors will be in charge of carrying out the advisory service chosen by the SME and guiding it in the next steps that it must take in its digitalization process. During the entire validity of the program, the term of adhesion as Digital Advisor will be open. Currently, there are about 2,000 digital advisors who join the program and can be consulted in the Acelera SME catalog: https://www.acelerapyme.gob.es/kit-consulting/catalogo-asesores
To be so, the companies concerned must have invoiced at least 100,000 euros in the previous year or have an average income above this threshold in the last three years, among other requirements that can be consulted in the regulatory bases of the Program, and in the Announcement of Accession.
Information channels
Interested companies can access all the information on the web https://www.acelerapyme.es/kit-consulting, on the telephone 900 223 322 and in the email info@kitconsulting.es. The Digital Advisors will also have a service of attention to the Digital Advisor on the telephone 900 903 595 and in the email infoadvidigital@acelerapyme.gob.es