Spain government promotes women entrepreneurs digitalization with a new funding line of 51 million euros - The Government of Spain continues its commitment to invest in digital transformation with the opening of a line of funding dedicated to female digital entrepreneurship of 51 million euros.

The program, under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation controlled by Nadia Calviño, will be managed by Enisa and aims to" promote female digital entrepreneurship projects and reduce the existing gender gap in this area " during the next 3 years.

Enisa is a public company dedicated to the financing of viable and innovative business projects of Spanish SMEs through loans.

Spain government promotes women entrepreneurs digitalization

Minister Calviño stressed at the presentation of the aid package the importance of the entire business fabric sum in the economic recovery, highlighting the confidence of the Executive in a digitalization sector in which he has assured that 20,000 million euros will be invested.

Calviño has explained that this funding dedicated to women, in addition, culminates several weeks of intense work by the Government after the approval of the preliminary draft of the Startups Law and the green light of Brussels to the economic recovery plan presented by President Pedro Sánchez.

The CEO of Enisa, José Bayón, explained that the organization he directs has financed to date more than 1,100 million euros to more than 6,400 companies.

The line of financing Emprendedoras Digitales joins Enisa projects such as entrepreneurs or AgroImpulso, and is aimed at both start-ups and those who are considering a consolidation, growth or internationalization project.

Spain government promotes women entrepreneurs digitalization

Participatory loans can be obtained by small and medium-sized enterprises in which "one or more women hold a relevant position of leadership or power within society", either in the shareholding, in the management body or as part of the management team.

The minimum amount of the loan will be 25,000 euros and the maximum will be 1,500,000 euros, with an interest rate that in the first tranche is fixed at euribor plus 3.7%.

Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, announced at the event held in Madrid that 17 of the 51 million euros of funding available will be available to entrepreneurs this year.

"The program is already funded by the recovery, transformation and resilience plan, "said Artigas, stating that the Government" is already giving way " to the plan approved from Brussels.

Spain government promotes women entrepreneurs digitalization

The secretary of state stressed the importance of this commitment at a time of social and economic recovery in the country after a pandemic in which technology has played an essential role.

He has also advocated building a Spanish economic model that is "much more sustainable, resilient, modern, but above all, more inclusive".

Artigas has assured that Spain cannot afford to leave half of its talent behind. "Women are half of the population and we are not equally represented either in the world of entrepreneurship or in the world of digitalization," he said.

Arguing that this funding will help both continue with the digital transformation that the Government has made one of its main workhorses for the future, and with the reduction of the gender gap, Artigas has defended the importance of the measure.

Spain government promotes women entrepreneurs digitalization

"The gender gap persists today, and I would say it is unjust and unsustainable," said Artigas.

Despite highlighting that 16% of startups founded by women in Spain is higher than the European average of 13%, the secretary of State has lamented the opportunity lost by the country arguing that the fight for equality is beneficial for the country's economy.

"There is a study prepared by PwC [...] that says that if we managed to close the gender gap in the digital field there would be an increase of 18% of Spanish GDP," said Artigas. "Startups led by women receive on average 23% less funding and have less access to institutional funding."

Revealing that she herself has been a beneficiary of Enisa funding, the Secretary of State has maintained that projects led by women have greater capacity for survival. A sign, he pointed out, that does not translate into women"being smarter than men".

What happens, has qualified Artigas, is that "only when we are very prepared we decide to undertake", a limitation with which the secretary has joked that "real equality will exist when there are so many incompetent men and women in positions of power and responsibility".

The event to present the funding was attended by Claudia de la Riva, CEO of Nannyfy, Elena González-Blanco García, general director for Europe of Cover Wallet, and Teresa López, president of Fademur.