Funding type

Public grants play a key role in business financing, enabling companies to access funds that can accelerate growth. However, not all grants work in the same way: they can involve different funding mechanisms and conditions.

What is it?

The GrantingNature field describes the type of public grant received by a company. These grants can take different forms, such as:

  • Guarantees and sureties: the State or a public body acts as a guarantor, allowing the company to access bank financing on preferential terms.
  • Soft loans: financing with reduced interest rates, longer repayment periods, and grace periods.
  • Public equity injection: a public institution takes a stake in the company, usually for strategic or innovation purposes.
  • Non-repayable grants: cash transfers with no repayment obligation, generally conditional on achieving specific milestones.

It’s important to note that most grants are tied to meeting specific objectives, such as hiring, digitalisation, research, or international expansion.

What is it for?

For data teams and B2B sales teams, GrantingNature is a key signal because it:

  • Shows which companies are receiving public funding and in which areas.
  • Helps identify commercial opportunities: grant recipients often have investment commitments in specific products and services.
  • Supports sales strategies: if a company has received a digitalisation grant, it’s more likely to be looking for technology solutions.
  • Helps anticipate cash flow: grant funds are often disbursed in stages, which affects purchase planning.

Knowing the type of support a company has received helps sellers and suppliers tailor their offer and approach customers at the right moment.

Grant types

Below are the main grant types and their impact.

Guarantees and sureties

  • Definition: a public body backs a bank loan, reducing risk for the lender and enabling better financing terms.
  • Example: ICO in Spain provides guarantees for tech startups.
  • Commercial impact: these companies have better access to credit and may need solutions to meet the loan’s objectives.

Soft loans

  • Definition: loans with reduced interest rates and more favourable repayment terms.
  • Example: financing from BPI France for innovation projects.
  • Commercial impact: more liquidity available to purchase technology or consultancy.

Public equity injection

  • Definition: the State or a public entity invests in the company’s equity.
  • Example: CDP Venture Capital in Italy, which invests in strategic startups.
  • Commercial impact: these companies often have an aggressive growth plan with purchasing capacity.

Non-repayable grants

  • Definition: direct funding with no repayment obligation, generally linked to specific milestones.
  • Example: CDTI grants in Spain for R&D&I.
  • Commercial impact: companies with this funding type are often required to invest in products or services related to the purpose of the grant.

Examples

No data.