Am I Eligible?
Individuals planning to set up a business and SMEs are eligible provided that they are based in Scotland or planning to set up in Scotland and we welcome university spin-out companies. SMEs must meet the European Community definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise which means you must have :
- less than 250 employees (full-time equivalent world-wide, including partners and executive directors) and have either
- an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million and/or
- an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million
- in general, most SMEs are autonomous since they are either completely independent or have one or more minority partnerships (each less than 25% sharehlding) with other enterprises
- if the shareholding rises to no more than 50%, the relationship is deemed to be between partner enterprises
- if the shareholding is over 50%, the enterprises are linked.
Detailed guidance on calculating your data is contained in the European Commission's User Guide : "The new SME definition: User guide and model declaration" which can be accessed on the internet at : http://europa.eu.
To check if you and your project are eligible please go to the How Do I Apply section.
Grants will be made at the discretion of Scottish Enterprise. The selection process will take account of a number of factors including the technological, intellectual property, financial and commercial aspects of an application as well as the management expertise available to the business.
Account will also be taken of the wider impact and the project's implications for society including factors such as environmental impact, sustainability and health and safety. We will not support projects which will have an adverse effect on the environment and/or society.
If you believe that any decision during the grant process is unsound because we failed to take proper account of the information you provided, or if you can supply more information or an explanantion to help us look at the project again, you can write to us to request a review. As part of your request, you must clearly set out why you believe the decision to be unsound. Our decision will be fully reconsidered in light of the the extra information or explanations provided.
