CDTI adds €100M to NEOTEC and Misiones 2026 calls for dual-use and defence projects

The story so far, in brief; the legwork, and the full article, stay with the original outlet.

CDTI, the state innovation agency under Spain's science ministry, is adding an extraordinary €100M to two of its 2026 calls, to be published in the coming days. NEOTEC, its programme for young technology-based companies, goes from €20M to €40M, with the new €20M reserved for firms building dual technologies, meaning ones that work in civilian life and in security and defence. Misiones Ciencia e Innovación, which funds large company-led cooperative research projects, grows from €60M to €140M. Its extra €80M goes to proposals under the mission on new capabilities for strategic autonomy in security and defence, with topics running from countermeasures for NRBQ crises to laser applications and long-endurance drone propulsion.

The money is tied to the government's Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defence, and it applies to projects already submitted to the calls. So the applicants have done all the work already; the main change is that a defence angle now makes a proposal more fundable than it was a few weeks ago. CDTI notes that NEOTEC usually funds only 15% to 25% of proposals, leaving many that score above 70 points unfunded purely for lack of budget.

Misiones projects are run by consortia of three to six companies, at least one of them an SME, subcontracting at least 15% to research centres, on budgets of €3M to €10M. CDTI provided €2,423M of support to Spanish companies and start-ups in 2025.