CDTI Misiones: grants of up to 80% for collaborative R&D&I

In 2025, the CDTI Misiones de Ciencia e Innovación programme awarded €139 million in grants to 35 collaborative R&D&I projects, reaching 150 companies, 87 of them SMEs (Ministerio de Ciencia, December 2025). The 2026 call opens in May with a larger budget, part of the 1,817 million euros CDTI is mobilising this year. If your company carries out R&D&I, this is one of the most powerful funding routes available in Spain.

What is the CDTI Misiones programme?

Misiones de Ciencia e Innovación is a competitive grant line from CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación, the Spanish centre for technological development and innovation) that funds large R&D&I projects run jointly by several companies. Each project has to tackle a strategic socio-economic challenge set by CDTI: sustainability, the energy transition, health, security, digitalisation or new materials.

Unlike other CDTI lines, which offer partly repayable loans, Misiones awards non-repayable grants that can reach:

Those intensities make Misiones one of the most generous funding lines in the CDTI grants ecosystem.

Does your company do R&D&I and want to explore this funding? Contact our team to assess your project.

Requirements to take part in CDTI Misiones

Who can apply

Private for-profit companies legally incorporated in Spain and up to date with their tax and Spanish Social Security obligations. There is no sector restriction: industrial, technology, agri-food, pharmaceutical and advanced services companies can all take part.

How the consortia are formed

The project has to be submitted as a consortium meeting these conditions:

• 3 to 6 partner companies
• At least 2 companies independent of each other (no group relationship)
• At least 1 SME in every consortium
• A minimum of 15% subcontracting of the budget to research bodies (universities, technology centres, hospitals)

Budget and duration

• Eligible budget: between €3.5 million and €15 million per project
• Minimum per company: €175,000
• Duration: 3 or 4 years
• Share of industrial research: at least 40% of the project (70% is advisable)

Misiones 2026: new strategic challenges

For the 2026 call, CDTI has run a co-design process with industry, working through 9 proposed missions in three areas that will be narrowed down to between 3 and 5 final challenges (CDTI, 2026):

Industrial area

• Advanced recycling and materials: economic autonomy through raw material recovery and the creation of skilled jobs
• Renewable energy: smart grid management and energy storage for a low-emission system
• Digital farming: digital technologies to optimise resources and traceability in agri-food SMEs

Social area

• Pharmaceuticals against antimicrobial resistance: new pharmaceutical capabilities with a One Health approach
• Affordable housing: industrialised, digitalised construction to cut timescales, costs and environmental impact
• Healthy ageing: technology solutions for older people's quality of life

2026 calendar

• Opens: May 2026
• Closes: 1 July 2026
• Expected decision: end of 2026

Does your company fit one of these challenges? Start putting the consortium together now. Talk to our CDTI grants team about how to structure your bid.

Real results: the 2025 call

The Misiones 2025 call, decided in December 2025, gives concrete figures on the programme (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, 2025):

• 294 proposals submitted
• 35 projects approved (an 11.9% success rate)
• €206 million in total approved budget
• €139 million in grants awarded
• 150 beneficiary companies, 87 of them SMEs (58%)
• SMEs received €75.8 million (55% of the total)
• 18 dual-use projects (security and defence) with €80 million tied to the Plan Industrial Tecnológico

Two things stand out. Competition is demanding — only 1 in 8 proposals is approved — and SMEs carry real weight, both in the number taking part and in the funding they receive.

How to prepare a competitive bid

With an approval rate of 11.9%, preparing the proposal is decisive. What makes a bid solid:

1. Pick the right challenge: the project has to fit clearly into one of the challenges CDTI has set for 2026
2. Build a balanced consortium: combine complementary capabilities across the partners, with at least one SME and one research organisation
3. A realistic budget: the €3.5 million floor calls for partners with demonstrable delivery capacity
4. Share of industrial research: make sure at least 40% of the project (ideally 70%) is industrial research
5. Plan the subcontracting: set aside a minimum of 15% for accredited research bodies

CDTI Misiones and tax deductions: a double benefit

Projects approved under CDTI Misiones can also claim the R&D&I tax deductions under Article 35 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre Sociedades (the Spanish corporate income tax act). That lets you combine the non-repayable CDTI grant with a deduction of up to 42% on research spending and 12% on technological innovation against your Impuesto sobre Sociedades liability.

At Tecnocim Innova we specialise in both grant management and R&D&I tax deductions. We can help you maximise the return by combining the two routes.

Your next step

The CDTI Misiones 2026 call opens in May. Now is the time to build the consortium and the proposal.

At Tecnocim Innova we run the whole process: from identifying the challenge and forming the consortium through to writing the technical proposal and handling the administration afterwards.

Contact us to assess whether your project fits Misiones 2026 and to design a funding strategy around it.