Let’s discover all the incentives for female entrepreneurship active in Italy in 2024, both nationally and regionally. These measures aim to support women’s employment by focusing on self-employment through subsidized funding, non-repayable contributions, credit support and other initiatives to facilitate women who want to start or develop their business
.
In this guide, we summarize the national and regional incentives operating in 2024 in favor of female entrepreneurship and we explain what to do to access them.
National Incentives for Women’s Entrepreneurship 2024
1. Equal Opportunity Guarantee Fund
The Equal Opportunity Guarantee Fund is a special section activated by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department for Equal Opportunities, as part of the central guarantee fund for SMEs. The resources of the section are dedicated to hedging the risk of guarantee transactions granted to women’s and professional businesses, on favorable terms
.
2. Subsidized loans up to 90%
With the Made in Italy bill for female entrepreneurship, the government has allocated 15 million euros for female entrepreneurs, who will be able to access subsidized financing at zero interest rates, with coverage of up to 90%, for projects involving investments of up to 3 million euros.
3. ON more than new zero-rate businesses
ON, in addition to new zero-rate businesses, is a mix between a non-repayable contribution and zero-interest financing to support micro and small businesses composed mainly or totally of young people under 35 or women of any age. Finance investment projects to carry out new initiatives or expand, diversify or transform existing activities
.
4. Smart and start
The ministry has allocated 100 million euros to the Smart and Start fund for women’s businesses only. Smart e Start Italia supports the birth and development of innovative start-ups with a high technological content in all regions of Italy, financing business projects with spending plans between 100,000 euros and 1.5 million euros
.
5. More business for agriculture
With ISMEA’s ‘More Business’ measure, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry has allocated 60 million euros for female agricultural entrepreneurs. Women who wish to take over the management of a farm or who have already been active in the agricultural sector for at least two years can benefit from
this support.
6. Microcredit of freedom
The Freedom Microcredit is a zero-interest loan for the birth and development of business activities of women who have suffered violence. It is aimed at women assisted by anti-violence centers or guests of shelter homes, with a maximum amount of
50,000 euros.
7. Innovative female mountain businesses
The measure “Innovative investments supported by women’s businesses in mountain municipalities — IFIM” is still active. The benefits are aimed at innovative start-ups consisting mainly of women in the form of limited companies, including cooperatives, with an operational headquarters or branch office in one of
the mountain municipalities indicated by Invitalia.
Regional incentives for women’s entrepreneurship 2024
Friuli Venezia Giulia
SISSI 2.0 Project
The SISSI 2.0 project supports the development of entrepreneurial skills in Friuli Venezia Giulia among young people, women, the unemployed, new entrepreneurs and disadvantaged categories of workers. It includes orientation courses, coaching for the business plan and support for the start-up’s training
.
Call for women’s SMEs
The Friuli Venezia Giulia region has planned a call for women’s SMEs with resources equal to 1.1 million euros, allocated to the granting of non-repayable contributions for women’s entrepreneurship projects. The contribution covers 50% of the eligible expenditure, with an amount between a minimum of 2,500 euros and a maximum of 30,000 euros
.
Other regions
At the moment, in other regions such as Basilicata, Campania, Trentino, Veneto, Lazio, Calabria, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Umbria, Tuscany and Valle d’Aosta, specific calls are not open for female entrepreneurship. Women residing in these territories can refer to initiatives at the national level.