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Grant Details

https://www.vlaio.be/nl/subsidies-financiering/subsidiedatabank/kmo-groeisubsidie-strategisch-adviesaanwerving-bij-groeitraject

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant, the 'Kmo-groeisubsidie', aims to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and liberal professions in Flanders, Belgium, acquire essential strategic knowledge to achieve their growth ambitions. This is done by subsidizing the hiring of a strategic employee or obtaining external strategic advice. This funding is SECTOR-AGNOSTIC for the applicant, but the proposed growth trajectory must align with one of four specific themes: internationalization, digitalization, innovation, or circular and sustainable entrepreneurship. The grant is offered through competitive calls held three times annually.

Financial Structure

Funding Amounts and Rate
  • The grant offers a subsidy of 50% of the eligible costs.
  • The maximum subsidy amount per growth trajectory is €50,000.
  • This maximum is split: up to €25,000 for advice from one or more external service providers and up to €25,000 for the hiring of one strategic employee.
  • The total project amount (sum of eligible costs for advice and/or hiring) must be at least €20,000 (excl. VAT) to be eligible.
Eligible Costs
  • Strategic Employee:
    • The gross annual salary of the strategic employee for their first year within your company, multiplied by a factor of 1.596.
    • Explicitly excluded are holiday pay, year-end bonus, legally mandatory employer contributions, meal voucher contributions, group insurance, extra-legal pension, and other extra-legal benefits.
  • External Service Provider(s):
    • Personnel and operating costs of the service provider(s) for rendering the advice.
    • Travel costs incurred by the service provider(s).
    • Costs for guiding the SME in implementing the advice.
    • All eligible costs for external service providers are exclusive of VAT.
De Minimis Rule
  • This measure falls under the European 'de minimis' regulation. This means the total de minimis aid received by a company over three fiscal years (current and two preceding) cannot exceed €300,000.
Payment Schedule
  • The subsidy is paid in two installments (tranches):
    • First Tranche (50%): Paid at the earliest when the project starts. For external advice, upon receipt of an initial dated invoice and proof of payment. For a strategic employee, upon submission of the signed indefinite employment contract and proof of valid employment registration.
    • Second Tranche (50%): Paid upon completion of the project, and no later than 24 months after the grant decision date. This requires submission of a final report and all financial supporting documents.
  • If you receive support for both an external advisor and a strategic employee, the support for each will be paid separately in two tranches.
  • The first tranche is an advance based on estimated costs. If actual costs are lower or the project is not executed as approved, part of the first tranche may be reclaimed.
  • The subsidy is only definitively acquired after approval of the final report and reported costs.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Location
  • Your organization must be a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) or a liberal profession operating in the private sector. Non-profit organizations (vzw's) are explicitly excluded.
  • Your business must have an operating branch (uitbatingszetel) in the Flemish Region (Vlaamse Gewest).
Financial and Operational Health
  • Your company must not have negative equity at the time of application.
  • You must have an acceptable main activity as registered in the 'Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen' (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises), which represents the largest part of your turnover.
  • You must have an acceptable legal form.
  • The participation of a public authority in your company must be less than 25%.
  • Your company must demonstrate sufficient demonstrable growth ambition.
SME Definition (European KMO-definition) An SME is defined by the following cumulative conditions, met in one of the two financial years prior to application: * Employment: Fewer than 250 employees (expressed in full-time equivalents – FTE). * Financial: Either an annual turnover of maximum €50 million OR a balance sheet total of maximum €43 million. * Independence Criterion: The figures (employees, turnover, balance sheet) of the applicant company must be aggregated with those of partner companies (25% to 50% participation) and connected companies (>50% participation). Your company must be considered 'independent'; exceptions apply for certain types of investors (e.g., pure investors). Previous Funding Restrictions
  • If your company has previously received this 'Kmo-groeisubsidie' funding, you can only submit a new application 24 months after the positive decision of the previous grant.
Requirements for Strategic Employee or External Advisor
  • Strategic Employee:
    • Must bring new strategic knowledge and expertise to your company, essential for the growth trajectory.
    • Cannot perform purely operational or executive tasks; their role must influence the strategic decisions related to the growth trajectory.
    • Must be hired with an employment contract of indefinite duration (both full-time and part-time are eligible).
    • Must remain employed for at least six months to be eligible for support.
    • The employment contract can start no earlier than the first day of the month following the application submission date.
    • Only support for one strategic profile per project.
    • Must be a new hire; certain persons are excluded (e.g., those employed by the company or its partners/connected entities in the past five years, or close relatives/business partners of management).
    • Must be a third party in relation to the SME (no direct/indirect voting rights/capital in the company, not a spouse, blood relative up to second degree, or cohabitant of management/shareholders).
  • External Service Provider (Advisor):
    • No specific official recognition is required, but the advisor must possess relevant competencies and experience (CV/track record).
    • The advice must relate to the current or future functioning of one or more business processes.
    • The advisor's task cannot consist of purely operational or executive work; the advice must influence the strategic decisions for the growth trajectory.
    • The cost of each advisory agreement must be at least €20,000 (excl. VAT).
    • The advisor's work can start no earlier than the first day of the month following the application submission date.
    • A written agreement with a detailed description of services, methodology, and end goal is required.
    • The price must conform to market rates.
    • Must be a third party in relation to the SME (similar exclusions as for strategic employee).
    • Certain types of advice are excluded: legally mandatory advice, permanent/periodic advice, advice part of ordinary business expenses, non-specialized advice, advice on subsidies, or advice with a cost below €20,000 (excl. VAT). Service providers excluded or suspended from 'kmo-portefeuille', or those legally convicted/under investigation, are also excluded.

Application Process

Application Process Steps
  1. Complete the online subsidy application: When a call opens, the digital application form becomes available. You register your company and receive a link to an online module to complete and submit your application. Ensure submission within the call's open period.
  2. Project Advisor Contact: After submission, your application is checked for admissibility and completeness by a VLAIO case handler. Two project advisors then evaluate it against the four assessment criteria. If your dossier is complete and admissible but needs further clarification, a project advisor may invite you for an oral explanation (max one hour) via Microsoft Teams.
  3. Decision Notification: The Administrator-General of VLAIO makes a decision based on the project advisors' advice. You will be notified by email and via your company's e-Box Enterprise.
Application Deadlines for 2025
  • Call 1: March 20, 2025 – April 22, 2025 (themes: internationalization, digitalization, sustainable/circular entrepreneurship, innovation) - Closed.
  • Call 2: July 1, 2025 – September 1, 2025 (themes: internationalization, digitalization, sustainable/circular entrepreneurship, innovation)
  • Call 3: November 20, 2025 – December 15, 2025 (themes: internationalization, digitalization, sustainable/circular entrepreneurship, innovation)
Required Documentation
  • A completed trajectory description specific to your chosen growth theme (digitalization, internationalization, sustainable/circular entrepreneurship, or innovation).
  • If applying for external advice:
    • A copy of the signed advisory agreement with the service provider(s).
    • The agreement must detail: service provider's name and business number, SME's name and business number, a detailed description of services (including need for advice, methodology, steps, and desired outcome), start date of services, total price (excl. VAT), and signatures of both parties.
    • If working with multiple service providers, a separate agreement for each must be uploaded.
  • If applying for strategic employee hiring:
    • The vacancy advertisement with a detailed job description and desired profile.
    • Your company's current and future organizational chart, indicating the strategic employee's position.
Project Implementation and Reporting
  • Project Start: The strategic employee's contract or advisor's work can begin no earlier than the first day of the month following your application submission.
  • Duration: While no overall project duration is specified, the strategic employee must remain employed for at least six months.
  • Payment Request: Submitting a payment request is done via the e-loket for entrepreneurs.
  • Reporting for Second Tranche: To receive the second 50% payment, a final report must be submitted no later than 24 months after the grant award date. This report includes:
    • A description of the growth trajectory's progress since the grant award.
    • An outline of future steps planned for the next 24 months to continue the growth trajectory.
    • An overview of achieved results.
    • If applicable, the advisor's final report.
    • If applicable, the strategic employee's achievements and an evaluation by their manager.
    • All financial supporting documents (invoices, bank statements for external advisor; salary slips for strategic employee).
  • Flexibility: Changes to the approved dossier are generally not allowed, except in cases of force majeure (e.g., bankruptcy or death of an advisor, requiring prior approval). Replacement of a strategic employee is permitted if they leave prematurely, provided only one person's costs are subsidized for at least 6 months.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications are competitively evaluated and ranked per theme. Funding is allocated to the highest-scoring applications until the budget for each theme is exhausted. The evaluation is based on four main criteria:
  • Ambition:
    • Assesses whether the applicant has a concrete and ambitious vision for how the company will pursue internationalization, digitalization, innovation, or sustainable/circular entrepreneurship.
    • The proposed trajectory must lead to sustainable growth and/or an increase in the company's competitiveness.
  • Transformation:
    • Evaluates whether the growth trajectory represents a substantial and new direction for current business operations.
    • It should demonstrate an impact on multiple critical business processes.
  • Documented Approach ('Onderbouwde aanpak'):
    • Judges whether the company has a well-thought-out step-by-step plan for the project.
    • Assesses if there is sufficient financing available to realize and sustain the proposed growth trajectory within the company.
  • Need for Knowledge & Expertise:
    • Determines if the growth trajectory cannot be successfully implemented without acquiring specific knowledge and expertise.
    • Verifies that the chosen external service provider or strategic employee indeed possesses this missing knowledge and expertise.
    • Emphasizes that the work must not be purely operational or executive; the knowledge acquired must genuinely influence the company's decisions during the growth trajectory.
Projects that meet all minimum criteria are assigned a score based on a detailed scoring matrix, available per theme in the 'Documents' section.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance
  • The grant is subject to the European 'de minimis' regulation, which limits the total amount of state aid a single undertaking can receive over a three-year period to €300,000.
Communication and Data
  • Companies must activate and use their e-Box Enterprise for all official communications and decision notifications from VLAIO.
Project Integrity and Changes
  • Strict adherence to the approved project plan is required. Any changes to the approved dossier are generally not permitted.
  • Exceptions for changes (e.g., replacing a service provider or strategic employee) are only considered under circumstances of force majeure (e.g., bankruptcy, death of the service provider) and require prior approval from VLAIO with thorough justification. Changing a service provider due to dissatisfaction with competencies or execution is not accepted.
Third-Party Relationship
  • Both the strategic employee and the external service provider must be considered third parties in relation to the applicant SME. Specific criteria define what constitutes a non-third-party relationship (e.g., direct/indirect capital or voting rights, shared management/employees/shareholders, close family ties between parties, or prior significant subcontracting relationships).
Excluded Activities and Advice
  • Funding is specifically for strategic knowledge acquisition. Purely operational or executive tasks by the strategic employee or external advisor are not eligible.
  • Certain types of advice are explicitly excluded from funding, including:
    • Legally mandatory advice.
    • Advice of a permanent or periodic nature.
    • Advice that falls under the ordinary operating expenses of the company.
    • Non-specialized advice.
    • Advice related to other subsidies.
    • Advice with a cost less than €20,000 (excl. VAT).
  • Service providers who have been excluded, suspended, or refused from the 'kmo-portefeuille' program, or who have been legally convicted or are subject to a legal investigation, are not eligible.
Strategic Alignment
  • The growth trajectory must be aligned with one of the four specified themes (internationalization, digitalization, innovation, circular and sustainable entrepreneurship) and demonstrate a transformative impact on the company's business operations and competitiveness.

Grant Details

kmo-groeisubsidie vlaio sme small and medium enterprises flanders belgium growth subsidy strategic advice hiring subsidy strategic employee external advisor internationalization digital transformation innovation circular economy sustainable business capacity building business development competitive growth de minimis aid flemish region business support knowledge acquisition competitive call private sector
Kmo-groeisubsidie: strategic advice/hiring for growth trajectory
Kmo-groeisubsidie: strategisch advies/aanwerving bij groeitraject
Kmo-groeisubsidie
SME OTHER
BE
OTHER
GROWTH
0-10 11-50 51-250
SDG8 SDG9 SDG12 SDG13
FUNDING CAPACITY_BUILDING OPERATIONAL_SUPPORT
None
20000.00
50000.00
EUR
50.00
Dec. 15, 2025, 10:59 p.m.
Continuous during call periods in 2025