ENISA provides a participative loan of €25,000 to €1,500,000 with no collateral or guarantees. The condition people trip over most often is this: the company’s own funds must be at least equal to the loan amount, and they must be held as share capital — with a notarial deed and an entry in the commercial register. Until there is a registered deed, the money is not transferred, even if the application has already been approved.
Below: how the instrument works, what ENISA counts as own funds, why more applications fail on timing than on the business plan, and what is assessed besides the plan itself.
What a participative loan is and how it differs from a bank loan
A préstamo participativo (participative loan) is a hybrid between a loan and investor money. It differs from a bank loan in two ways.
No collateral or guarantees. The ENISA website says so directly: sin garantías reales ni personales. What is assessed is the viability of the project, not the founder’s assets. Your personal assets are not put at risk — and this is the main reason people go to ENISA instead of a bank.
The interest rate has two parts. The first tranche is Euríbor plus a fixed margin, recalculated quarterly. The second tranche is variable and depends on your company’s financial profitability: earn more, pay more. That is the meaning of the word “participative”: the lender participates in the results.
There is also a third feature people remember later: for commercial law purposes the participative loan itself counts as part of equity. It makes the balance sheet look better, and talking to private investors is easier after ENISA than before.
And a caveat straight away, because the two are constantly confused: ENISA has two different roles. Here it is a lender. But it also issues the report on the innovativeness of a project for the startup visa — that is a separate procedure unrelated to the loan, and it is covered in our article on renewing the startup residence permit.
Your own funds must be at least what you ask for
ENISA’s wording: tus fondos propios deben ser, como mínimo, iguales a la cuantía del préstamo — own funds must be at least equal to the loan amount. Ask for €150,000 — show €150,000 of your own.
This is not “desirable” but a condition for your application to be considered. Some lines have a softer requirement — for young entrepreneurs figures from 50% of the loan amount are quoted — but you need to check this on the page of the specific line in the year you apply: the conditions are revised.
What ENISA counts as own funds:
- share capital;
- share premium;
- reserves and retained earnings;
- shareholder contributions to cover losses, if properly documented;
- participative loans from other investors — provided they will be capitalised.
Money in a current account is not on this list in itself. What matters is not the balance but how the funds are booked.
The money must be held as capital, not sitting in an account
This leads to the step that most often breaks the schedule. The shareholders’ contribution is formalised as a share capital increase: an escritura pública before a notary and an entry in the Registro Mercantil (commercial register). ENISA does not transfer the money until it receives the registered deed.
The trap is that all three timeframes run one after another and you control none of them. Processing the application takes its time. The notary takes theirs. The register takes its own. You need to work out this schedule before applying: by the time you receive the approval letter, you should already have a plan that accommodates the notary and the register.
Carencia is a grace period on the principal, not an interest-free period
The word carencia is often translated as “interest-free period”, and that is wrong. Carencia is the period during which you do not repay the principal but do pay interest. On the general line it lasts up to two years, and together with the repayment period the total term reaches seven years.
For projects with a long production cycle this is the instrument’s main value: while the product is being built and there is no revenue, the payment consists of interest alone, and repayment of the principal starts once the product is already on the market.
Amounts and lines
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Loan amount, € | 25,000 — 1,500,000 |
| Collateral and guarantees | not required |
| Own funds | at least the loan amount |
| Carencia, years | up to 2 |
| Repayment including carencia, years | up to 7 |
| Interest rate | Euríbor and a margin plus a share linked to profitability |
The line for young entrepreneurs differs in two conditions: age under forty and a company no more than twenty-four months old at the time of application. The full list of business support programmes, including CDTI, ICO and regional ones, is covered separately — business development grants in Spain.
What is assessed besides the business plan
The plan has to add up, but a plan alone is not enough. Two arguments work best.
Proven traction, not promises. For a mobile product, retention turned out to matter more than revenue: how many users come back on day one and day seven. A figure you can show outweighs a forecast that cannot be checked.
A clear money model. Not “we will monetise later” but measured behaviour: how many times a user watches an ad per session, what conversion rates similar products achieve, why a subscription was chosen rather than one-off purchases.
Both arguments come down to the same thing: turning an intention into a number that can be verified.
Consultants: what they charge a fee for
A market for ENISA application support has developed, and it usually works for a percentage of the amount raised, payable on success: no loan, no fee.
This is practice, not a fixed tariff: everyone has their own terms, and you need to check them in the contract rather than rely on general statements. Paying makes sense where the application runs in parallel with other matters and there is physically no time for it — not where it simply feels daunting.
What most often derails applications
- Own funds not formalised. The money exists but sits in an account instead of being booked as capital. Formally the condition is not met.
- Timeframes not aligned. Approval has been received, but the notary and register stages are only just starting. The transfer is delayed, and spending plans slip with it.
- A plan without verifiable numbers. A revenue forecast without a single measured metric reads as wishful thinking.
- Application submitted at the last minute. Line budgets are limited and are used up during the year.
What we do
We handle the Spanish side: company registration, the share capital increase with the notary and the register, preparing the application package and support until the decision. The legal side is handled by an immigration lawyer — a member of the Barcelona Bar Association — and tax and reporting by an asesor (tax adviser).
If your company is just entering the Spanish market, the sequence of steps and the key decision points are covered separately: entering the Spanish market.
We also provide support with grant applications: ENISA follows the same process as other support programmes. Grantomat helps you keep track of calls for the other programmes: it checks them five times a day and sends a notification.
We start with a review: we check whether you have own funds in the form ENISA accepts and whether the timeframes add up. If they do not, we tell you before you apply, not after approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is collateral or a guarantee required?
No. ENISA states explicitly that the loan is granted without real or personal guarantees: what is assessed is the viability of the project, not the founder’s assets.
How much of your own money do you need?
Own funds must be at least equal to the loan amount. Some lines have a requirement from 50%, but you need to check it on the page of the specific line in the year you apply.
Is carencia an interest-free period?
No. During the carencia period the principal is not repaid, but interest is paid. On the general line carencia lasts up to two years, and up to seven years together with the repayment period.
Why isn’t the money transferred straight after approval?
Because the shareholders’ contribution must be formalised as a share capital increase: a notarial deed and an entry in the commercial register. ENISA does not transfer the funds until it receives the registered deed.
Can ENISA be combined with other financing?
Yes, and in practice that is what people do: for commercial law purposes the participative loan counts as part of equity, so afterwards it is easier to talk to private investors and regional development institutions.
Sources
The loan conditions are taken from the official ENISA website, the section on financing for startups and SMEs: amounts, the absence of guarantees, the own-funds requirement, how the interest rate works and carencia. Checked on 8 September 2026.
This article is for information only. Line amounts, terms and requirements are revised, so check the current page of the line on the ENISA website before applying.
- What a participative loan is and how it differs from a bank loan
- Your own funds must be at least what you ask for
- The money must be held as capital, not sitting in an account
- Carencia is a grace period on the principal, not an interest-free period
- Amounts and lines
- What is assessed besides the business plan
- Consultants: what they charge a fee for
- What most often derails applications
- What we do
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
