The NIU Programme consists of the following phases:
The project selection phase consists of three parts: REGISTRATION, SELECTION AND AWARDING, and LANDING.
"According to the applicable regulations in the Principality of Andorra, a national of a member state of the European Union and of the European Economic Area can enter Andorran territory as long as they possess a valid national identity document. Nationals from outside the European Union or the European Economic Area must have the visa requirements to enter and legally circulate through Spain or France.
A foreign tourist can stay in the Principality of Andorra for up to ninety days, counting from the date of their entry into the country, but they cannot work.
Within this period, the corresponding residence and work permit must be processed, which can be either as an employed or self-employed person. The self-employed permit is the one that must be requested within the framework of the NIU Programme.
In this regard, as a foreign national, and to be able to open a business, the applicant must first constitute an Andorran trading company, by requesting the company name beforehand, at a cost of 5.36 euros, and the foreign investment authorisation (free application).
The documentation which must be presented is the identity document or passport and a police clearance certificate from the country of origin (nationality) and the current country of residence, duly apostilled.
Once these authorisations have been obtained, in a period of approximately one month, the company’s incorporation must be notarised. The cost of notarising the company's incorporation is approximately 600 euros, plus the Government tax, of 957.77 euros if it is a limited liability company and 1394.74 euros if it is a public limited company. If the articles of association are already available, they do not need to be drafted by a lawyer.
Logically, the incorporation involves the paying up of the company’s capital in a minimum amount of 3,000 euros if it is a limited liability company, and 60,000 euros if it is a public limited company.
Once the company has been duly incorporated and registered in the Government’s Companies Registry (a process which takes approximately three days), it is necessary to register with immigration (with more than 10% of the company’s shares and an executive position within it) as well as with the Caixa Andorrana de Seguretat Social, and also obtain the company’s tax registration number (NRT in its Catalan initials).
Phase I, the incubation phase, lasts four months, during which, promotion, advise and individual mentoring is provided in the following areas
At the end of Phase I, the business model for the projects have to be presented at Demo Day 1, when the evaluation of the overall performance of the project at this point in the phase, as well as their financing needs for phase II and, if necessary, a first round of investments for phase II, for the acceleration and product development.
Phase II, the acceleration phase, lasts six months, during which individual training and mentoring is provided in the following aspects:
At the end of phase II, the business plan and product of the project must be submitted. An evaluation of the overall performance of the project, which will be presented at the Demo Day, and the business initiative will be communicated publicly. In addition, the possibility of the project going to the marketing phase will be evaluated, through resources made available through Andorra Telecom, as well as studying the financing needs to cover its consolidation in the market in a second round of investments.
There follow the rules of this call for projects and the registration form, which you must complete and send, together with the additional relevant ainformation indicated on the form.
Remember that once the documentation has been sent, no changes can be made to it.
The project team must be made up of people of legal age and, at the very least, the project leader must physically participate in the project; therefore, this person must obtain a residence and work permit in the Principality of Andorra, in accordance with the applicable regulations in force.
The NIU Programme is open to all kinds of technological projects, therefore, in principle you can still participate in the programme if your project has received prior financing, provided that this is not incompatible with the rules and regulations. For this reason, you must clearly indicate the type of financing you have received and its characteristics in your participation form.
A certain level of progress is not required when it comes to submitting the application, although the project must be viable to go on the market, at least with a first product, after ten months of being in the NIU Programme.
The projects must be an innovative offer for the technological market. Within these markets, there are areas of specific interest: e-health and wellness, leisure and sports, robotics, software defined and language, digital security and games, but initiatives do not necessarily have to fit into any of these areas of interest.
The entrepreneurial team must be composed of at least two people, one of them must be the project leader and the other, the project’s representative, will be the one who submits the application.
Ideally, all the members of the team should set up in the NIU New Business Centre in the Principality of Andorra, but if this is not possible, we require that at least the project leader sets up there and that they dedicate 100% of their working time to the programme. The other members of the project only have to attend the promotion and mentoring session, either in person or remotely and the monthly monitoring meetings in person. The lack of involvement in the project is one of the points which is evaluated in the monitoring carried out by the NIU and is one of the possible reasons for exclusion from the programme.
The project may be excluded from the NIU Programme if the contract for joining the programme or the rules are not met. If this is the case, the entrepreneurial team must repay the debts incurred in the form of loans, and any other debts which may be applicable, in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the contract.
If your company is already incorporated, but the project is still at the initial development phase, you can still apply to be a candidate in the NIU Programme. In this case, you should provide details of your situation in your registration application and give a clear explanation of the degree of development of the company / project.
In any case, all companies which participate in the NIU Programme must be based in the Principality of Andorra. Therefore, if you are selected to participate in the programme, you will have to carry out all the necessary legal procedures to comply with this requirement.