Future borrowers must fulfill one of the two criteria established by the EIF:
- The loan will be used to invest in producing and/or developing new or substantially improved products, processes or services with an innovative bias or with a high risk of technological or industrial failure. The evidence of this failure would be carried out by an expert, or
- The borrower is a company active for less than seven years following its first commercial sale. Its R&I costs represent at least 5% of its total operating costs in at least one of the preceding three years (or in the case of a start-up enterprise without any financial history, in the audit of its current fiscal period). This point would be certified by an external auditor, or
- The borrower is a "fast-growing enterprise" i.e in business for less than 12 years following its first commercial sale. Its average annual endogenous growth in employees or in turnover is greater than 20% per year, over a three-year period, and employs ten or more people at the beginning of the observation period, or
- the borrower has significant innovation potential or is considered as an "R&I intensive enterprise", by satisfying at least one the following conditions:
* the borrower's R&I annual expenses are equal to or exceed 20% of the loan amount as per the borrower's latest certified financial statements, under the condition that the borrower's business plan indicates an increase of its R&I expenses at least equal to the loan amount; or
* the borrower undertakes to spend an amount of at least equal to 80% of the loan amount on R&I activities as indicated in its business plan and the remainder on costs necessary to enable such activities; or
* the borrower has been formally awarded grants, loans or guarantees from European R&I support schemes or through their funding instruments or regional, national research or innovation support schemes over the last thirty six months, under the condition that the loan is not covering the same expense; or
* the borrower has been awarded an R&D or innovation prize provided by an EU institution or an EU body over the last twenty four months; or
* the borrower has registered at least one technology right (such as patent, utility model, design right, topography of semiconductor products, supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products or other products for which such supplementary protection certificates may be obtained, plant breeder's certificate or software copyright) in the last twenty four months and the loan purpose is to enable, directly or indirectly, the use of this technology right; or
* the borrower is an early stage SME and has received investment over the last twenty four months from a venture capital investor or from a business angel who is a member of a business angels' network; or where the venture capital investor or business angel is a shareholder of the borrower; or
* the borrower requires risk finance investment which, based on a business plan prepared in view of entering a new product or geographical market, is higher than 50% of its average annual turnover in the preceding five years; or
* the borrower is an SME and its R&I costs represent at least 10% of its total operating costs in at least one of the three preceding years, or, in the case of a start-up enterprise without any financial history, in the audit of its current fiscal period, as certified by an external auditor; or
* the borrower is a small mid-cap and its R&I costs represent (i) at least 15% of its total operating costs in at least one of the three preceding years; or (ii) at least 10% per year of its total operating costs in the three preceding years.
