SIMEST financing in 2026: loans, grant share and how to apply

SIMEST lends Italian companies money to grow abroad at an interest rate that, on the day we checked, was 0.371%. That’s not a typo. It’s also not free money, and the distance between those two facts is what this guide is about.

Here is what you’ll have in about nine minutes: what SIMEST financing is, which loan solutions are open in 2026, how the ceiling is worked out (with an example), who can reach the grant share, and how to apply. New to funding in general? Start from our beginner’s map from zero to a first round and come back.

What is SIMEST, and where does the money come from?

SIMEST calls itself the company of the CDP Group (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti) that has supported the international growth of Italian companies for more than 30 years. Its homepage lists four families of tools: subsidised loans, equity investments, a venture capital fund and support for export credit.

This guide stays with the first one, the subsidised loans (finanziamenti agevolati), because that’s where a small company starts. The fund behind them is usually called Fondo 394/81. Equity works differently: SIMEST takes a stake in a company instead of lending to it, and the questions it asks are not the ones in a loan file.

Which SIMEST financing solutions are open in 2026?

On 5 October 2026, SIMEST’s page on subsidised loans for internationalisation listed nine solutions. The names are all in Italian, so we’ve put our own English gloss beside each one in the table.

SIMEST solution	What it is for
Inserimento sui mercati esteri	Opening or strengthening commercial structures abroad, such as a sales office or a showroom
E-commerce	Selling online in foreign markets
Fiere ed eventi	Taking part in trade fairs and events
Temporary Manager	Bringing in a temporary export manager
Certificazioni e consulenze	Certifications and consulting for foreign markets
Transizione digitale o ecologica	Digital or ecological transition projects, with a focus on AI and quantum computing
Potenziamento mercati africani	A package for African markets
Affiancamento strategico per il mercato indiano	Strategic support for the Indian market
Competitività delle filiere italiane in America centrale o meridionale	Competitiveness of Italian supply chains in Central or South America

Two details sit beside the list. SIMEST shows dedicated conditions for the USA, Latin America, Africa and India, and for EXPO 2027 in Belgrade. Projects on AI and quantum computing have had their own conditions since September 2026. Planning something in one of those areas? Read the dedicated conditions before anything else.

Each of the nine solutions has its own numbers. Don’t plan around a figure from one of them until you’ve opened the page of the solution you want. The next section does that for market entry, the loan for opening or strengthening a commercial structure abroad.

How much can you borrow? A worked example

We read the terms of Inserimento sui mercati esteri. SIMEST’s page was first published on 27 July 2023 and last updated on 23 September 2026.

Term	What SIMEST’s page says
Ceiling	The lower of 35% of average revenue over the last two balance sheets and a cap by company type
Caps	€500,000 for micro-enterprises; €2,500,000 for SMEs and startups; €3,500,000 for other companies
Minimum	€10,000
Duration	6 years including 2 of pre-amortisation; 8 years including 2 for US projects
Interest rate	0.371%
Grant share (fondo perduto)	Up to 10% of the request, maximum €100,000; 20% up to €200,000 for some applicants, including innovative SMEs and startups
Collateral	Required; waiver for Central and South America projects filed by 31 December 2026

Pre-amortisation is a stretch at the start when you pay interest only and no principal. Two years of it gives a new showroom time to start selling before the instalments begin.

Now the example. Say a furniture maker in Brianza, 25 people, with average revenue of €6 million over its last two balance sheets, wants a showroom in Chicago. The company is invented; the arithmetic follows the page. Take 35% of €6 million and you get €2.1 million. That sits under the €2.5 million cap for SMEs, so it becomes the ceiling. The owner asks for €800,000, well inside it.

A US project runs 8 years, 2 of them interest-only. At 0.371%, with equal yearly principal instalments after those two years, total interest comes to about €16,300 over the whole period. Your contract sets the real schedule, so read that as an order of magnitude. The grant share could be up to 10% of the request, so €80,000, under the €100,000 cap.

The interest, then, is small change. What the loan really costs is the collateral, the paperwork, and the fact that every euro except the grant share has to come back, whether or not the showroom sells a single chair.

Who can apply, and who gets the grant share?

SIMEST’s page speaks of companies in general, with a particular eye on micro, small and medium-sized ones. Size shows up in the cap, as you saw: €500,000, €2.5 million or €3.5 million.

The profile matters most for the grant, the part you don’t repay. SIMEST’s overview says the non-repayable share can be available to startups, innovative SMEs, youth-led and women-led companies, companies in Southern Italy and companies that meet sustainability requirements. If you’re a young company, our guide to Italy’s innovative startup status explains what that label asks for.

One gap. The ceiling is tied to revenue in the last two balance sheets, so a company with fewer than two approved balance sheets should ask SIMEST how its ceiling is set. We couldn’t find that rule on the pages we read.

Check what else you’ve received, too. SIMEST offers a tool to estimate your de minimis plafond, meaning how much small-amount State aid you can still receive under the EU de minimis rules. Run it before you apply.

How do you apply for SIMEST financing?

You apply online. The application portal is the Portale SIMEST, where you register or log in. The pages we read give no decision time, and we won’t guess one.

1. Skip the portal for now and take a blank page. On it, write which market you’re aiming at, what you’d sell there, who would buy it, how it would reach them and what you can spend. Stuck? Our guide to building a market entry strategy has the questions to answer.
2. Now match what you plan to spend to one of the nine solutions. Opening a showroom or a sales office abroad? That’s market entry. Paying for a stand at a fair? Trade fairs. Building an online shop? E-commerce. Whichever you pick, its page lists the ceiling, the length and the collateral rules, so read all of it before you go further.
3. Run the de minimis estimate and dig out your last two balance sheets, since the ceiling is calculated from them. After that, log in to the SIMEST portal, registering first if you haven’t, and file the application.
4. Then you wait. SIMEST’s site has a sample contract, but the real one only shows up once the approval committee has decided, so don’t sign a lease or a supplier deal you couldn’t walk away from before then. After approval, spend the money as the contract says and keep every invoice.

A fair in March opens in March, whether or not SIMEST has decided, and none of the pages we read promises an answer by any particular day. If your date is fixed, ask SIMEST directly. How long does a decision take? And will costs you commit before approval count?

SIMEST or something else? Where it fits

SIMEST is made for a company that already has a plan and two balance sheets, and that is ready to pay the money back. If what blocks you is collateral on a bank loan, look at the SME Guarantee Fund, a different public scheme that stands behind bank lending. A young startup that wants to build at home first will find the zero-interest loan in our Smart&Start Italia guide.

If your target is in the Americas, the market side has its own guides: how to enter the US market from Italy and how to expand to Latin America. For what the trade deal changes for exporters, read the EU-Mercosur agreement guide for Italian SMEs. Money comes second. The go-to-market plan comes first.

Your checklist before you apply

• Last two balance sheets to hand, since the ceiling comes from them.
• The market plan on one page: who buys, how they find you, what it costs, when it starts.
• The right solution chosen, and its own page read end to end.
• De minimis estimate run.
• A talk with your bank or adviser about collateral, held before you file rather than after.
• A house rule on spending: nothing you can’t undo until the final contract is in hand.
• The page re-opened the week you file, because rates, terms and calls change.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change: check the official call on simest.it or ask a professional before you apply.