Executive summary · TL;DR

The Kit Consulting funds specialised digital advisory services for SMEs of 10 to fewer than 250 employees, with vouchers of up to €24,000 across 10 categories. Unlike the Kit Digital (which pays for technology), it pays for strategy. The application window is now closed, though the legal framework remains open.

What the Kit Consulting is and what it is for

The Kit Consulting is a public grant programme, managed by Red.es within the España Digital Agenda and financed with European Next Generation EU funds (specifically, Investment 3 of Component 13 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan). Its goal is for SMEs to hire expert digital advice to design their digital transformation sensibly, rather than buying technology blindly.

The mechanism is a voucher: instead of handing cash to the company, the programme grants a credit that can only be spent on advisory services from a closed catalogue and through accredited providers, the so-called digital advisers (the equivalent of the digitalisation agents in the Kit Digital). The adviser analyses the company's situation, defines a roadmap and supports it through its technology decisions.

Put simply: the Kit Consulting does not install a management system or build you an online shop. It tells you what you need, why and in what order, so that the investment in technology (your own or that of the Kit Digital) makes sense and delivers a return. It is the phase of thinking before doing.

This distinction matters more than it seems. Many SMEs accumulate digital tools they barely use: a CRM no one feeds, an online shop with no traffic, dashboards no one looks at. The cause is almost always the same: technology was bought without first diagnosing what problem it would solve. The Kit Consulting was created precisely to correct that pattern, by funding the strategic reflection that prevents spending on solutions that do not fit the business. For a company of 30 or 40 employees, the difference between digitalising with a plan and digitalising on a whim can mean thousands of euros well or badly invested.

Kit Consulting vs Kit Digital: how they differ

This is the most common question, so it is worth clearing it up from the outset. They are two complementary programmes, not competitors:

Put another way: the Kit Digital lays the bricks and the Kit Consulting draws the blueprints. A medium-sized company that combines both first uses the Kit Consulting to define which technology it needs and then implements it with the Kit Digital. There is also an important difference in how the result is measured: with the Kit Digital the deliverable is a working product (a published website, an operational CRM), whereas with the Kit Consulting the deliverable is applied knowledge, usually a diagnostic report and a documented roadmap. This changes how the grant is justified and is worth bearing in mind from the start.

Another point that causes confusion is the target audience. The Kit Digital covers everything from the self-employed person without employees to the medium-sized company, spread across several segments. The Kit Consulting starts at 10 employees and therefore leaves out an enormous part of the productive fabric, which is precisely the self-employed and micro-enterprises. If your company has fewer than 10 workers, the natural route is the Kit Digital, not the Consulting. If you want to dig deeper into the technology implementation programme, read my complete guide to the Kit Digital for SMEs and the self-employed; and if you are looking for the operational detail of how to apply for the advice, my complete step-by-step guide to the Kit Consulting goes into the procedure.

Who it is for: requirements and segments

The Kit Consulting is aimed exclusively at SMEs of between 10 and fewer than 250 employees. The self-employed and micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 workers are excluded, as they are the natural audience for the Kit Digital. The general requirements to be a beneficiary are:

The programme is organised into three segments based on the number of employees, and each segment determines the maximum voucher amount and the number of services that can be contracted:

It is worth checking the headcount calculation carefully, because it is what determines the segment and, with it, the amount. The calculation follows the staffing criteria of the European definition of an SME, which takes into account annual work units and, in certain cases, linked or partner companies. A company on the border between two segments (for example, around 50 employees) should verify its figure carefully before applying, because an error in the calculation can affect the amount granted or, in the worst case, lead to problems during justification.

How much it funds: amounts and how the voucher works

The unit of measurement of the Kit Consulting is the advisory service, which has a fixed value of €6,000 and covers a minimum of 40 hours of expert advice delivered over at least 3 months. Each segment's voucher therefore translates into a specific number of services that can be contracted:

The programme has a total budget of €300 million. The grant covers the cost of the advice within those limits; the rest, if any, is borne by the company. A practical recommendation: the €6,000 limit per service is an invitation to plan carefully which advisory categories you contract, rather than spreading the voucher without a clear objective.

The requirement of 40 hours and 3 months is not a mere formality but a guarantee that the advice has real depth. A serious digital transformation diagnosis cannot be resolved in a single meeting: it requires analysing processes, talking to the teams, reviewing the existing systems and capturing it all in an actionable plan. That is why the programme sets a floor for dedication. For the SME, this means it must set aside time from its own staff to support the adviser; the best experiences happen when there is an internal point of contact who knows the business and gets involved in the process. If the company simply waits for the final report without taking part, the value of the advice plummets, however good the adviser may be.

The 10 advisory categories of the Kit Consulting

The voucher can only be spent on services from a closed catalogue of 10 categories, all of them in key areas of digital transformation. These are:

Cybersecurity is the only category with three levels of depth, which makes it one of the most sought after. How should you choose between so many categories? A simple rule: start where it hurts most. If the company has an obvious customer-acquisition problem, digital sales is usually the priority; if it has suffered an incident or fears for its data, cybersecurity; if it works but does not know where to head, business strategy and performance or digital transformation 360 give the overall view. There is no point in contracting the trendy category (today AI attracts a lot of attention) if the business does not yet have its data in order or its basic processes digitalised, because then artificial intelligence has no raw material to work with.

If your company is seeking to get certified or to align with the National Security Framework, you will be interested in my specific article on the Kit Consulting for cybersecurity and ISO 27001, as well as the complete guide to ISO 27001.

How the Kit Consulting was applied for, step by step

Although the call is closed (we will see this in the next section), it is worth knowing the procedure, because it will be the same if new windows open with remaining funds. The path was as follows:

1. Registration on Acelera pyme

The entry point is the acelerapyme.gob.es portal, where the company creates its account. It is the same gateway as for the Kit Digital, so many companies that had already processed the latter start with their registration done.

2. Digital diagnostic test

Before applying for the voucher you must complete the digital maturity self-diagnosis test, which is mandatory in order to process the grant. Beyond the procedure, this test is useful in itself: it forces the company to look in the mirror and place itself on a maturity scale, which already indicates which advisory categories make the most sense.

3. Application on the Red.es electronic headquarters

With a digital certificate, the company submits the application on the Red.es headquarters within the period of the call. The award is resolved on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted, so speed matters: having the documentation ready in advance is the difference between arriving in time and being left out.

4. Choosing the digital adviser and the agreement

Once the voucher is granted, the company chooses a digital adviser registered with Red.es from the catalogue (who must demonstrate experience and qualifications) and formalises the service agreement with them. As a general rule there is a period of around 6 months to formalise the agreement. It is worth not choosing the first one that appears: review their specialisation in the specific category you are going to contract and, if possible, their experience with companies of a size and sector similar to yours.

5. Delivery of the advice and justification

The adviser delivers the service (a minimum of 40 hours, 3 months) and it is justified with documentation. As with the Kit Digital, justification is the most delicate phase and where most companies stumble. The principles for avoiding problems are the same ones I set out in my guide on how to justify the grant and avoid having to repay it.

Current status of the programme: call closed, framework alive

Let us be clear: the Kit Consulting call is closed. The application period, opened on 18 June 2024, ended on 31 March 2025 after several extensions, and the programme entered the justification phase. In its first year more than 17,400 grants were awarded, and between June 2024 and May 2025 more than 16,600 grants were distributed for an amount exceeding €232 million.

That said, the legal framework remains alive. Order TDF/38/2026, of 26 January (published in the BOE of 28 January 2026, reference BOE-A-2026-2069), amended the programme's governing rules. Its new wording establishes that the provisions will apply to grants called "until the total exhaustion of the Kit Consulting Programme funds", and adds that "Red.es will reinvest any unspent budget surplus, even after 2026". In practice, this removes the programme's rigid deadline and opens the door to new calls with leftover funds, although as of today there is no open call or new deadlines published.

What does this mean for an interested SME? Above all, that it is worth staying alert without creating false expectations. The fact that the framework allows surplus funds to be reinvested is not the same as a confirmed reopening with a date; they are different things. The prudent approach is to prepare the ground (have your registration, the test and the documentation up to date) so you can react swiftly if a new window is published, but without paralysing other company decisions while waiting for an announcement that may be slow to arrive or may not come in the short term. I analyse this scenario in detail, with what the official sources do and do NOT say, in my article Will the Kit Consulting return in 2026? Status and alternatives.

Alternatives if the Kit Consulting is closed

The call being closed does not mean sitting on your hands. If your SME needs advice or digitalisation now, you have several routes:

The smart strategy is to plan now and have the documentation and the adviser ready, so you can apply swiftly as soon as a new window of leftover funds opens.

Particularities for SMEs in Castilla y León and Canarias

Although the Kit Consulting is a nationwide programme, managed by Red.es with the same rules across the whole territory, the SMEs of each community operate within an ecosystem of grants that is worth knowing in order to combine the different routes effectively. In the two areas where I work, Castilla y León and Canarias, the pattern is similar but with its own nuances.

In Castilla y León, a region with a fabric widely spread among small industrial, agri-food and service companies, the Kit Consulting fits especially well with medium-sized companies that already have a technological base and need to make the leap to data analytics, process automation or cybersecurity. The Institute for Business Competitiveness (ICE) maintains schemes such as DigitalICE that can complement the national advice, so that a company in Valladolid, Burgos or León can use the Kit Consulting to diagnose and then finance part of the implementation through the regional route or the Kit Digital.

In Canarias, its status as an outermost region adds its own tax and incentive framework, and many SMEs in the tourism, retail and service sectors face digitalisation with specific needs around online sales and customer-experience management. Here prior advice is especially valuable, because it helps prioritise investments when resources are limited and seasonality sets the pace of the business. In both cases, the value of a local consultant lies in knowing both the national programme and the regional calls, so that the company does not apply separately for grants that could be chained together far more efficiently.

Work with me on your digitalisation strategy

Understanding the Kit Consulting is easy; fitting it well together with the Kit Digital and with your community's regional grants, without losing money along the way, requires an overall vision. As an independent consultant with offices in Castilla y León and Canarias, I help SMEs define their digital roadmap and choose, in each case, the grant that fits best.

Need help with this?

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Author: Ángel Ortega Castro, independent consultant in strategy, quality and digitalisation for SMEs.

Authorship: Ángel Ortega Castro · independent consultant in strategy, quality and digitalization for SMEs.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is the Kit Consulting?

It is a grant programme of the Government of Spain, managed by Red.es and financed with European Next Generation funds, which subsidises specialised digital advisory services for SMEs of between 10 and fewer than 250 employees. It grants a voucher of up to €24,000 to hire strategic consultancy from a catalogue of 10 categories, as opposed to the Kit Digital, which funds the implementation of technology.

How does the Kit Consulting differ from the Kit Digital?

The Kit Digital funds the implementation of technological solutions (website, e-commerce, CRM, ERP, cybersecurity) and reaches as far as the self-employed without staff. The Kit Consulting funds the prior strategic advice and is aimed only at SMEs of 10 to fewer than 250 employees. In short: the Kit Digital provides the technology and the Kit Consulting provides the strategy.

How much money does the Kit Consulting give?

It depends on the size of the company. Segment A (10 to fewer than 50 employees) receives up to €12,000; Segment B (50 to fewer than 100) up to €18,000; and Segment C (100 to fewer than 250) up to €24,000. Each advisory service is worth €6,000 and covers a minimum of 40 hours over at least 3 months.

What types of advice does it cover?

The catalogue has 10 categories: artificial intelligence, basic data analysis, advanced data analysis, digital sales, business or production processes, business strategy and performance, basic cybersecurity, advanced cybersecurity, preparation for cybersecurity certification, and digital transformation 360.

Who can apply for the Kit Consulting?

SMEs of between 10 and fewer than 250 employees with a tax domicile in Spain, a minimum of 6 months' standing, that are not a company in difficulty and are up to date with the Tax Agency and Social Security. The self-employed and micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 workers are excluded, as their natural programme is the Kit Digital.

Is the Kit Consulting call open?

No. The application period closed on 31 March 2025 after several extensions. However, Order TDF/38/2026 amended the rules so that the programme applies until the total exhaustion of the funds and allows surpluses to be reinvested, which leaves the door open to new calls, although as of today there is none active nor any new deadlines published.

What can I do if the call is closed?

You have alternatives: keep an eye on possible new windows of leftover funds on acelerapyme.gob.es, turn to the Kit Digital for the technology side, take advantage of regional digitalisation grants (such as DigitalICE in Castilla y León) or plan the advice now so you can apply swiftly when it reopens.

Who manages the Kit Consulting programme?

It is managed by Red.es, a public entity attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, within the España Digital Agenda and financed with European Next Generation funds (Component 13, Investment 3 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan).

Brain marketing is more predictable than opinion marketing. — Ángel Ortega Castro