Bankia : launches “Inveinte”, a free solution that allows companies to identify the official aid programs they may be eligible for

• The tool analyses the submitted R&D+i project and provides a response about whether it meets the requirements of European, national and regional innovation aid programs
• Using a simple procedure, companies can obtain a fully customised analysis about the official programs that may benefit their innovation project
• This advisory service about official aid programs developed by Bankia is available to all parties, whether they are customers or not, atwww.inveinte.esOpen in a new window

Bankia has launched 'Inveinte', a free tool that enables companies, whether they are customers of the bank or not, to identify the official aid programs that they may be eligible for to develop their research, development and innovation projects (R&D+i).

The advisory service developed by Bankia is available to any interested party via www.inveinte.es. The tool will analyse the submitted innovation project and provide a response about whether it meets the requirements for European, national or regional aid programs, identifying those programs for which the project is eligible.

By simply completing a short form available on the website, companies can obtain a fully customised analysis of the official aid programs that may be available to their innovation projects.

The form requires the company to provide some basic information such as their identification, a contact person and the characteristics of the innovation project for which aid is sought. The company will then receive a report from Bankia within a short period of time, which describes the official aid programs for which the project may be eligible.

The analysis is performed by specialist professionals who are independent of the bank. Bankia has set up agreements with various specialist consultancy firms, which are responsible for analysing the information provided by companies and drawing up customised reports in each case.

'Inveinte is the solution that Bankia has developed to help companies undertaking innovation projects, since they are not always aware of the range of public programs that may be useful for them' said Gonzalo Alcubilla, Deputy General Director of Business Banking at Bankia. Moreover, 'Companies have the option to arrange financing with the bank to speed up their project's development and receive the aid payment in advance'.

'Horizonte 2020' - €80 billion in aid for businesses

The most emblematic program -although not the only one- for this type of aid is the 'Horizon 2020' program. This research, development and innovation programme launched by the European Union has an approximate budget of €80 billion over the 2014-2020 period and is intended to secure Europe's global competitiveness.

'Horizon 2020' is part of the campaign for new growth and employment in Europe based on improved competitiveness by establishing a broad range of opportunities for innovative companies and those seeking to make their projects a reality.

Its budget is used to finance research projects and initiatives, technological development, pilot schemes and innovation, regardless of the status of the specific project. It therefore covers the complete project cycle, from the initial generation of the idea through to its commercialisation in the market.

In addition to aid from Horizon 2020, there are other programs to support business innovation such as the FEDER, Jessica, Cosme and LIFE funds, all at the EU level.

Bankia's advisory service will also analyse the range of programmes available from Spanish administrations at a national and regional level.

Bankia Índicex

The Inveinte initiative is another step by Bankia to become the leading bank for Spanish SMEs and will complement Índicex, a tool launched by the bank last summer to enable both customer and non-customer businesses to freely and immediately measure their digital competitiveness based on an evaluation of their online performance.

Bankia ÍndicexOpen in a new window analyses nine areas and provides the company with an extensive report that includes an overall score and individual scores for each aspect, with details of the strengths and weaknesses of the company's online strategy and proposals for improvements across 100 different parameters. The areas analysed by the tool are SEO positioning, social networks, web analytics, content, digital marketing, mobility, e-commerce, user experience and security.

'SMEs are a strategic sector for the bank and we hope that tools such as InveinteOpen in a new window and Bankia Índicex Open in a new window will help to improve their innovation and digitalisation processes, which we believe are fundamental for the future' said Juan Luis Vidal, Corporate Director for SMEs.