SIMEST and Smart&Start handbook
Smart&Start doesn’t average your scores. One parameter under 6 and the plan is out.
A 38-page handbook in Italian and in English, with a workbook. It shows how Smart&Start Italia and SIMEST’s soft loans work today: who qualifies, what they pay for, the documents, the steps, and how to use both without funding the same cost twice.
Italian and English editionsRules checked on 7 October 2026Instant download after payment
Two editions and a workbook, checked on 7 October 2026.
Where you are
Two schemes, two agencies, two portals. Nobody hands you the map.
Invitalia explains Smart&Start on one site. SIMEST explains its nine soft loans on another. Every line runs on its own operating circular, and those change: SIMEST updated its circulars in July, then again in September 2026. Smart&Start has a new decree too. It still needs the circular that puts it into force.
So how do the two fit in one company? Which do you prepare first? No page tells you.
What the rules say
Three rules most founders find out late.
The threshold is per parameter
Invitalia scores each Smart&Start evaluation parameter from 0 to 10, and every one must reach 6. A strong market section can’t make up for a vague answer on how you protect the innovation.
SIMEST sizes loans on your accounts
SIMEST’s lines lend up to 20% or 35% of average revenue in your last two filed balance sheets, and total exposure to the fund can’t pass 35%. A young company qualifies for less than it expects.
One de minimis ceiling for many aids
SIMEST’s grant share and subsidised rate, regional vouchers and even your angels’ 65% tax deduction all count against the same €300,000 over any three years.
What it costs to get it wrong
Where applications lose time and money.
The review window
Invitalia examines Smart&Start applications in order of arrival and decides within 60 days, unless it has to ask for more documents. Every missing piece adds to the wait.
What an early invoice is worth
Smart&Start pays nothing on costs ordered or invoiced before the application, and SIMEST nothing on costs before its CUP project code. Founders who start spending early fund those costs themselves.
The guarantee you didn’t budget
SIMEST asks for guarantees of up to 40% of the loan, depending on your credit score. Innovative startups and SMEs are exempt, a status worth checking before you apply.
Where you want to be
Now picture the next twelve months.
Your Smart&Start plan goes in with every parameter answered and the numbers tying up from the sales targets to the cash flow. The interview is about your product, not your spreadsheet. A year later, with your first balance sheet filed, you already know which SIMEST line comes next.
And no invoice ever sits in two files.
What’s inside
Two editions and a workbook, dated and sourced.
Manuale SIMEST e Smart&Start
The main edition, written in Italian. Smart&Start as it works today, the nine SIMEST lines open on 7 October 2026, how to combine them, a plan for each, three worked examples and a dated sources page.
SIMEST and Smart&Start handbook
The same substance written for founders coming from abroad, with the Italian terms explained: SPID, PEC, DURC, the CUP code, the special register section for innovative startups.
Workbook
Eligibility checklists for both schemes, a Smart&Start budget builder by cost category, a SIMEST loan simulator, a document checklist with status columns and an aid register that tracks your de minimis.
A page from the handbook
The same plan, in Milan and in Bari.
From Part 1: one €600,000 Smart&Start plan, two locations. The workbook redoes the calculation with your own numbers.
Handbook · 1.11 · worked example
A €600,000 plan, two outcomes
| Milan | Bari | |
|---|---|---|
| Loan percentage | 80% | 90% |
| Zero-interest loan | €480,000 | €540,000 |
| Not repaid (South) | – | €135,000 |
| To repay | €480,000 | €405,000 |
| Instalment, 20 half-years | €24,000 | €20,250 |
Smart&Start today: eligibility, costs, the platform’s sections and limits, scoring, interview, payments, repayment.
The nine Fondo 394/81 lines open on 7 October 2026, with caps, terms, rates, grant share and guarantees.
Using both without double funding, the de minimis ceiling, and the plan behind each application.
Invented figures for illustration, built on Invitalia’s rules: 90% for an all-under-36 team, 30% not repaid in the South except on working capital.
The handbook
One download, both editions.
€89
Instant download after payment
Buy nowEvery rule in the handbook points to the official page or circular it comes from.
- Italian and English editions, 38 pages each
- The workbook, for Excel and Google Sheets
- October 2026 edition, every source dated
- Licence for your own company or companies
How it works
Three steps, one evening.
Buy
Pay at checkout with your name, email and company details.
Download
The files download right after payment, and a copy of the link is emailed to you.
Start
Run the two eligibility checklists in the workbook. They tell you which part of the handbook to read first.
Why Adaxit
Built around how applications are prepared.
Adaxit is an advisory boutique in Milan. Since 2019 we’ve prepared founders and SMEs for capital and for growth abroad, and public funding is part of that work. This handbook puts the method in two editions and a workbook you can use yourself.
Checked at the source
Every amount, rate and deadline was checked on Invitalia, MIMIT and SIMEST pages and circulars on 7 October 2026.
Clear on what’s pending
Where a rule is about to change, like the Smart&Start decree of 13 July 2026, the handbook says what applies today and what changes next.
Italian and English
The Italian edition is the main one. The English edition explains the Italian terms for founders arriving from abroad.
Plain about limits
Read it as general information. It isn’t legal or tax advice. Invitalia and SIMEST decide every application themselves, so nobody can promise you a yes.
Honest fit
Is it for you?
It’s for you if
- You run an Italian innovative startup, or a team about to become one, and Smart&Start is on your list.
- You run an Italian company with filed accounts and want to finance fairs, e-commerce, an office abroad or a digital project.
- You’re a founder from abroad weighing an Italian company or an Italian subsidiary.
It’s not for you if
- You’d rather have the application prepared with an advisor. See our public funding support.
- You’re looking for equity investors. The handbook covers public loans and grants, not fundraising.
Questions
Before you buy.
Will the handbook get my application approved?
No. Invitalia and SIMEST decide on every application, under their rules and within the funds available. The handbook helps you send one that is complete and consistent. Adaxit doesn’t provide investment services.
How do I get the files?
You download them right after payment, and a copy of the link is emailed to you.
How current is it?
It’s the October 2026 edition. Every rule was checked on the official sites on 7 October 2026, and the sources page lists them with dates. Where a change is pending, like the new Smart&Start decree, the handbook says so.
I’m not Italian. Is the English edition enough?
It’s enough to understand both schemes and prepare. The platforms and official guides are in Italian, so plan for Italian in the application itself; the English edition explains the terms you’ll meet there.
Does the workbook work in Google Sheets?
Yes. It has no macros and no external links, and opens in Excel and Google Sheets.
Can my co-founder use it?
Yes, within your company. The licence covers your own company or companies; please don’t resell the files or share them publicly.
Before you apply
Two schemes, one plan, the right order. Start this week.
Buy the handbook, run the two eligibility checklists, and by the end of the week you’ll know which application to prepare first.
Prefer to prepare it with an advisor? See public funding supportSources: Invitalia, Smart&Start Italia pages (status, eligibility, costs, aid, FAQ, loan conversion), read 7 October 2026, figures at 31 August 2026; MIMIT, Smart&Start page (updated 2 September 2026), decree of 13 July 2026 (art. 2) and circular 439196 of 16 December 2019, Annex 1 (minimum score of 6 for each parameter, 60-day review); SIMEST, soft loans page and the nine instrument pages (updated 23 September 2026), operating circulars 3/394/2023 and 5/394/2023 (15 September 2026) and 4/394/2023 (25 September 2026) for caps, exposure limit, guarantees and the CUP rule; Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, art. 3(2); MIMIT, FAQ on de minimis tax incentives for startup investors (point 3.2). Contents: Adaxit SIMEST and Smart&Start handbook, October 2026 edition.