Source: VLAIO

VLAIO, the Flemish government’s Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, is offering a substantial subsidy to young enterprises in the region to assist them in scaling up their business or operations.

Applications for the Schaalklaar (Scale-ready) subsidy is open to small companies of between 1 and 5 years old, which have the ambition and potential to scale up. If approved, they can receive a grant of up to 70% of their project budget, with a maximum of €350,000 available. There must be a robust project plan in place which requires an investment of at least €500,000.

Further eligibility criteria have been outlined by VLAIO:

• Companies must have at least two active partners and a multidisciplinary team of at least six full-time employees (including partners).
• The founders and co-founders own at least the majority (50.1%) of the company.
• The company must fall within the parameters of the European definition of a small company: fewer than 50 employees, and a maximum annual turnover or balance sheet of  €10 million.
• The company’s operational location must be in the Flemish region.
• The company must have achieved initial turnover, or have a Letter of Intent (LOI) from one or more customers.
• Eligible companies are those that have not yet distributed profits and have not emerged from a merger or acquisition.

Application process

Pre-registration of the relevant project is mandatory, and can be submitted between the dates of April 7-30, 2026. If the project is approved, a full project can be submitted between June 1 and August 20 – more details on this process can be found here.

Assessment criteria

Applications will be assessed according to six criteria, then ranked based on the score achieved:

• quality of the team;
• innovation;
• potential;
• plan of approach;
• social impact;
• incentive effect of the subsidy.

Evaluation

After the submission period closes, all eligible project applications will be assessed by a jury of independent experts. Applicant companies will present their project applications to this jury, during sessions scheduled on September 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, and 28, 2026.

Together with VLAIO advisors, the project applications will be assessed according to the established selection criteria. The projects will be ranked based on the evaluation. The 15 best-scoring projects will receive funding. 

Those wanting more details can register for the informational webinar, organized by NOA in collaboration with The Growth Collective and VLAIO, on March 23.