Financial assistance for your project
Hauts-de-France offers one of the widest selections of assistance packages for investment projects of any region in France. Foreign businesses investing in the country may be eligible for a variety of programs, but you won’t find a single list summarizing them all. Instead, availability and eligibility hinge on a range of criteria that require expert guidance. Read on.
Financial assistance for your project
Hauts-de-France offers one of the widest selections of assistance packages for investment projects of any region in France. Foreign businesses investing in the country may be eligible for a variety of programs, but you won’t find a single list summarizing them all. Instead, availability and eligibility hinge on a range of criteria that require expert guidance. Read on.
Financial aid to facilitate your start-up in France
When you’re looking for a site for your project, financial assistance should never be the sole deciding factor. But it is worth identifying and reviewing your options early on, since assistance can make your move easier and faster. In Hauts-de-France, we’ve developed a comprehensive toolbox that can be adapted to a wide range of situations.
Regulatory framework defined by the European Union
In EU member countries, public funding for investment projects is regulated by the European Commission, whose AFR/Regional Aid Zones program defines ceilings based on amounts engaged. The maximum authorized is higher for SMEs than for large corporations—25% of the total investment vs 10%—and depends on the status of the municipality hosting the project.
But even within the EC framework, actual funding is provided by the French State, the Hauts-de-France region and local authorities, in line with applicable criteria. These differ depending on:
- company size
- business sector
- type of project (start-up, expansion, upgrade, etc.)
- number of jobs created over 3 years
Wide range of financial assistance and grants to meet a variety of specific situations
Assistance can take several forms:
- subsidies, which are non-reimbursable if jobs created are maintained for at least 5 years
- subsidized loans
- tax exemptions
- advances (repayable)
- and more
There is no comprehensive table listing all potential options. Instead, authorities base decisions on a case-by-case approach, with amounts depending on:
- your needs
- type of investments planned
- your own business plan
- your project’s impact on employment and the regional ecosystem
In addition to grants and subsidies, Hauts-de-France offers other types of support that have the advantage of not being subject to the EC-defined ceilings mentioned above. These include:
- training assistance, with authorities covering part of training costs and in some cases the remuneration of staff members enrolled in courses
- support for developing and scaling up new products
- revitalization grants
The region also has financial tools that allow it to acquire equity interests. These solutions will depend on the type of project involved and its specific features. For more information, download our brochure.
We can help identify available assistance for your project
Whatever your project, you’ll find financial solutions and tools that apply. Nord France Invest is ideally positioned to advise you, providing very concrete assistance as you apply for funding. We take the broadest possible approach—from start-up assistance to aid for recrutiment/hiring, assistance with paperwork, applications and red tape, and more.
Here’s how we work:
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