Conditions relating to the applicant

Company size

Only companies that meet the European SME definition of a small enterprise are eligible for the Scale-Ready grant. Each support application is submitted by a single company.

Age of the company

The company must have been active for at least 1 year and may be no more than 5 years old at the moment of the decision (decision expected at the end of 2026). In concrete terms, this means that companies incorporated before January 2022 are not eligible.

Important! The age of the company is determined by the oldest linked enterprise number (more than 50% shareholding or voting rights). This includes not only legal persons but also the economic activities of natural persons (e.g. self-employed secondary occupations). 

Operational establishment

Only companies with an operational establishment in Flanders may apply for this grant.

Independence

Founders and co-founders hold at least the majority (50.1%) of the company. 

Team

There are at least 2 active partners and the company can rely on a multidisciplinary team of at least 6 FTE including partners.

The company is guided by a Board of Directors or Advisory Board.

Criteria

A Scale-Ready application is assessed on the basis of 6 criteria and is subsequently ranked according to the score achieved. The evaluation is based on an overall assessment of the project’s contribution to the company’s transformation process and the impact on the company itself and on the Flemish economy.

The assessment criteria are described in the scoring grid. When awarding support, the following criteria are taken into account:

• quality of the team
• innovativeness
• potential
• action plan
• societal impact
• incentivising effect of the grant

For each criterion there is a ‘critical’ score. If a company receives a critical score on any criterion, the project is excluded from funding. The scores are aggregated and used to rank the project proposals.