Submission of documentation on the platform enabled by the General State Administration.

Submission of administrative documentation (only if required).

ONLY ADMITTED CANDIDATES

Submission of a video explaining the proposal.

Evaluation of the technical documentation and the video submitted by the Technical Office and the Instructing Body.

Defense of the candidacy by public pitch.

Proposal for award.

European Regulation 651/2014 indicates the maximum limits of public aid that can be granted for innovation processes. Depending on whether an applicant is a large enterprise, medium-sized enterprise (less than 250 employees and annual turnover less than EUR 50 million or annual balance sheet total less than EUR 43 million) or small enterprise (less than 50 employees and annual turnover or annual balance sheet total less than EUR 10 million), the limits vary depending on the program.

In Commercial Projects, the subsidy may be up to a maximum of 80% for small companies, up to 75% for medium-sized companies and up to 65% for large companies.

In Pre-Commercial Projects, the subsidy may amount to a maximum of 60% for small companies, up to 50% for medium-sized companies and up to 40% for large companies. In the case of groupings of companies, these percentages refer to each one separately and only to its part of the budget.

There is no limitation in this regard. Applications may be submitted to different calls for proposals.

During the term of each call, the presentation of more than one Idea, Project or both by the same beneficiary, individually or forming a consortium with other beneficiaries, is allowed, provided that the projects are not intended to develop the same activity or one of a very similar nature.

As an exception, it is established that natural persons may not be beneficiaries of subsidies for projects in the Pre-Commercial Phase and in the Commercial Phase, and only legal entities and associations or groups of legal entities may be beneficiaries of such subsidies.

Nor may foreign public-legal entities or the groupings in which they participate be beneficiaries of the subsidies regulated by this order.

Yes, it is essential to justify the initial state of technological maturity of the Idea or Project presented. For this purpose, solid evidence of the previous phases and validations that have been carried out to reach said TRL must be provided.

The compatibility of aid from the Ports 4.0 Fund with other public aid is permitted, as long as they are not justified by the same eligible costs and do not jointly exceed the amounts provided for in the European Regulation for the purposes of exemption from State aid notification.

There is no prevalence between the Ports 4.0 Fund Regulatory Bases and the European Regulation regulating the exemption from state aid notification. They must be complied with simultaneously. For these purposes, the percentage of aid will depend on each project, on what percentage of the total budget corresponds to the innovative component and on the limitations established by the European Regulation based on different factors, which allows reaching up to 80% of the eligible costs.

The costs eligible for subsidy by the Ports 4.0 Fund will be those that undoubtedly respond to the nature of the subsidized activity, correspond to the innovative component of the project, are included in the project budget, are considered necessary for the development of the project, and are carried out within the maximum deadlines established in article 7 of the program rules or, if lower, in the conditions of acceptance of the aid. Mobility expenses can be subsidized as long as they correspond to the innovative component of the project and are considered necessary for the development of the project. For example, mobility expenses due to a trip to a port to test a technology.

In no case may the acquisition cost of the eligible expenses exceed the market value. The details of these costs, in compliance with the conditions described above, can be found in Article 18 of the Fund’s Regulatory Bases.

Expenses related to the presentation of the application will not be considered eligible for subsidies because they do not correspond to the innovative component of the project, are not considered necessary for the development of the project because they are not in the exploitation phase of the project, and are prior to the deadlines after which the resolution of the grant is published. As detailed in the Bases, the Accelerator offers a free mentor to each idea or project presented, who will advise on the presentation of the documentation. The Accelerator also offers free training for all those individuals or legal entities that need to expand or enhance their knowledge of the port sector, as well as in the development of the Business Model Canvas (technical document required for the presentation of Ideas) or the Business Plan (document required in the Technical Block for the presentation of Projects in the commercial or pre-commercial phase).

After reading the Rules and Regulations, the next step is the preparation and presentation of the application. In addition, if you wish, you will have access to specialized advice for the configuration of ideas and projects and for the preparation of technical and administrative documentation for the submission of applications. If you are interested in this advice, please access the registration portal that you will find on the website www.ports40.es. This advice and registration is optional, therefore, those interested in the program who do not want to receive technical advice may also submit their applications and contact the mailbox info@ports40.es for consultations and resolution of doubts about the program.

The program is aimed at startups, spin-offs or entrepreneurs with innovative products, services or processes that improve operations related to the port-logistics sector, which comply with Article 9 of the Regulatory Bases.

Provided that they incorporate a commitment of incorporation of Legal Entity. No payment may be made until the legal entity is incorporated. is constituted.

In the case of submitting an idea, in Article 21.1 of the Rules and Regulations you will find all the necessary documentation to be submitted.

In the case of submitting a project (both pre-commercial and commercial phase), in Article 21.2 of the Rules and Regulations you will find all the necessary documentation to be submitted.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 20.3. of the regulatory bases of the call, the submission of the application and accompanying documents must be made electronically through the electronic headquarters of Puertos del Estado (https://sede.puertos.gob.es). In order to facilitate the submission of applications, a direct connection has been enabled between said electronic office and the program’s web page(www.port40.es), and it is recommended that the application and accompanying documents be submitted directly through said web page using the “Submission of applications” button.

As indicated in Article 10 of the Rules and Regulations, “groups of individuals and legal entities that can carry out cooperative ideas or projects are eligible to participate. These projects must involve more than one of the beneficiaries indicated in Article 9 of the Rules and Regulations and must comply with the requirements established for such beneficiaries”. In addition, the UTE or consortium does not have to be created at the time of the presentation of the candidacy, it is sufficient to present the formalization commitments. “The execution commitments assumed by each member must be stated in the application and in the award resolution” (Article 10.2 of the Regulatory Bases).

Yes, provided that the projects are not intended to carry out the same or similar activities (Article 17 of the Rules).

It is not necessary to have previous experience or knowledge of the logistics-port sector. The Accelerator will organize training sessions in the port sector that will be published later on the platform so that anyone interested in participating can access them.

From the moment of publication of the Regulatory Bases in the Official State Gazette, you will have two months to present an idea and three months to present a project (Article 20.4 of the Regulatory Bases).

According to Article 29 of the Regulatory Bases, “the instructing body will request the interested party to correct the application within a maximum and non-extendable period of 10 days”.

• TRL 1: Basic idea
• TRL 2: Formulated concept or technology
• PRE-COMMERCIAL PROJECTS PROGRAM
• TRL 3: Experimental proof of concept
• TRL 4: Component-level validation in the laboratory
• TRL 5: Component-level validation in a relevant environment
• TRL 6: Component-level demonstration in a relevant environment
• COMMERCIAL PROJECTS PROGRAM
• TRL 7: Demonstration of prototype in a real environment
• TRL 8: Full validation and certification in a real environment
• TRL 9: Successful testing in real operational environment

Yes, as established in the Second Final Provision, section 3 of the Regulatory Bases, seventy-five thousand euros (75,000 euros) will be allocated to intra-entrepreneurship. “Intra-entrepreneurship is considered to be the ideas presented exclusively by working personnel of the Port Authorities and State Ports. Intra-entrepreneurship is not contemplated in the modalities of project in pre-commercial and commercial phase”.

It is important to submit the right product, service or innovative process to the right program. If you do not correctly demonstrate that your innovative product, service or process meets the requirements to be submitted to the program you have applied for, you will not be eligible for the grants you have applied for. These are the main keys to know whether to submit an idea or a project:

• Without a proof of concept in a logistic-port environment carried out prior to the submission of the application, only the IDEA program can be applied for.
• If you have a proof of concept in a logistics-port environment conducted prior to the submission of the application, then you will be eligible for the project program:
  • Project in pre-commercial phase: the results obtained at least up to the level of development of proof of concept must be presented (Article 6.5 b) of the Regulatory Bases).
  • Project in commercial phase: the results obtained must be demonstrated at least up to the deployment level, once the prototype tests in a real environment have obtained demonstrable positive results (Article 6.5 c) of the Regulatory Bases).

A facilitating agent is the Port Authority, concessionaire or public or private agent of the port-logistic community in whose facilities the project is executed (Article 11.2 11º of the Regulatory Bases).

Upon request, the technical tutors will serve as intermediaries to put interested parties in contact with the facilitating agents. However, those interested in participating in the program may also contact the facilitating agents independently.

The expected result for a project in the Commercial Phase will be that the resulting product, service or process will be ready to be marketed, even internationally.

The purpose of the Ports 4.0 Fund is to subsidize the innovative component of an idea or project to help increase its technological maturity, i.e. its TRL.

Therefore, all expenses or investments made prior to the call to reach the degree of technological maturity with which they are presented to the same, and that means the starting point of the idea or project for its technological maturity, are not eligible.

The above should not be confused with the contributions agreed between members of a grouping to finance the additional amounts (the remaining 40% or 20% depending on the type of project) necessary for the maturation of the project.

The natural and legal person is responsible for defining, quantifying (in %) and justifying the innovative component of the idea or project presented. In the event that there are doubts during the evaluation of the candidacy by the Instructive Body on the definition, quantification and/or justification of the innovative component, the Instructive Body will contact the natural or legal person who has submitted the candidacy to detail, redefine, quantify or rejustify the innovative component on which the proposal for the Ports 4.0 Fund is based.

In the technical block of the documentation to be provided for the application of each Idea or Project, it is necessary to specify the objective and management plan of the intellectual property, as well as of the patents in case they have been registered. In the event that a consortium has been formed to submit an application, the objective and management plan of the intellectual property, as well as of the patents in the event that they have been registered, must also be included in the agreement establishing the rights and obligations of the participants in the consortium, as well as the commitments of execution and the amount of the subsidy to be applied in each case if they are beneficiaries. It should be noted that the Ports 4.0 Fund is a grant and, therefore, does not participate in any type of exploitation rights or patents.

Year N is the year of the project’s market launch.

Any person may initiate the application up to the moment of signature. However, if a third party carries out the management, it is necessary to attach to the application a document showing that they have the authorization to represent the company and this document must include the signature of the authorized person and the representative, as well as the identification data of both. Also, if necessary, it will be possible to carry out the process using the electronic certificate of the consultant, but it must be clearly indicated that it is being done on behalf of a third party and upload the authorization to represent the company.

A letter of support consists of a written document that expresses the support of one or more port agencies or other agents and companies of the port-logistic community that endorse the port community’s interest in the implementation of the project. Likewise, it is advisable that the letters of support reflect the level of support offered by the agents, specifying what it will consist of (specifying characteristics and intensity).

These letters do not replace the agreement with the facilitator, which is of greater importance, as it contains the explicit commitment of the facilitating agent to allow the activities to be carried out under the terms set forth in the technical report for the implementation of the project.

When there is a grouping, the advance or payment will be made to the coordinating company and it is the responsibility of the coordinating company to distribute it among the members of the grouping, although it should be noted that a specific part goes to each member of the grouping for tax reasons.