From 14 September 2026, eligible new businesses in the Metropolitan City of Florence can apply to the reopened Chamber of Commerce scheme, following an additional allocation of €150,000. The grant covers 50% of eligible expenditure, up to €5,000, and the official list expressly includes website development, e-commerce and domain registration.
For a newly established company, the amount is only part of the story. The scheme applies to projects already completed, supported by invoices and proof of payment. The Chamber also states that it will verify whether funded websites are actually operational during the assessment process.
That distinction matters. This is not presented as a grant for a future idea or for a website that exists only as a quotation. The digital project has to exist, have been paid for, and be usable.
The primary reference is the official Florence Chamber of Commerce page, which contains the current rules and application documents.
Who can apply
The scheme is aimed at micro, small and medium-sized enterprises registered with the Florence Chamber of Commerce from 1 January 2025 onwards.
The company structure must include at least one young person who will be no older than 35 during 2026, which means someone born on or after 1 January 1991. The company must also have its registered office or a local unit within the Florence Chamber's territorial area and meet the other requirements set out in the official rules.
There is an important exclusion: businesses that already received the Chamber's 2025 grant for newly established companies cannot apply for the 2026 measure.
The Chamber also checks administrative conditions, including the requirements described in the rules and, where applicable, social security compliance. Eligibility should therefore never be inferred from the age of the company or the presence of an under-35 shareholder alone.
How much the grant covers
The grant covers 50% of eligible expenditure. The minimum eligible spend is €2,000 excluding VAT, while the standard maximum grant is €5,000.
Benefit Corporations can receive an additional €500 premium within the limits stated in the scheme.
| Total eligible expenditure | Theoretical 50% grant |
|---|---|
| €2,000 | €1,000 |
| €4,000 | €2,000 |
| €6,000 | €3,000 |
| €10,000 | €5,000 |
| more than €10,000 | standard maximum €5,000 |
The table only explains the arithmetic. The amount actually awarded depends on which expenses the Chamber accepts and on compliance with all application requirements.
Which digital expenses are included
For businesses building their online presence, the official list is unusually clear. Promotional expenditure can include:
- company logo development
- website development
- e-commerce development
- domain registration
Digitalisation expenditure can also include management software, hardware, wireless technologies, software licences and cloud software services.
Communication expenditure is covered too, with examples including social media, third-party website banners and Google Ads.
That does not mean every service loosely connected to digital activity is automatically eligible. The scheme identifies specific categories and the Chamber assesses the evidence submitted with the application. A single quotation that mixes website development, recurring maintenance, consulting, advertising and unrelated services can make it harder to understand which part belongs to which eligible category.
The digitalisation section expressly excludes maintenance. If a project includes both initial development and an ongoing maintenance contract, separating the two components in commercial documents is sensible, while the final eligibility assessment should always be checked against the Chamber's rules.
The scheme covers expenditure already incurred
This is the easiest part of the measure to misunderstand.
The Chamber describes the intervention as a single-stage scheme for projects already carried out. Applications must include invoices and the related proof of payment. Eligible costs must have been invoiced and paid from 1 January 2025 onwards.
In other words, the published structure is not based only on obtaining a quotation for future work.
A new company considering a website now therefore has to manage two timelines: the technical delivery of the project and the administrative window of the grant. Rushing a website purely to submit an application can still result in a poor investment, even if part of the cost is later reimbursed.
Applications remain open until 4:00 pm on 31 December 2026, but the scheme may close earlier if the available funds are exhausted. Any business planning expenditure on the assumption that it will receive the grant should first check the current status of the official measure.
Why the operational website check matters
One sentence in the official rules has practical consequences: during the assessment, the Chamber will verify the actual operation of the websites.
From a technical perspective, registering a domain and publishing a temporary page is therefore a weak interpretation of the measure's purpose. A funded website should look and behave like a real business asset.
For a standard company website, that normally means thinking about:
- a page structure that reflects the real services or products
- complete published content
- working navigation on desktop and mobile
- usable contact forms and contact channels
- HTTPS and correct technical configuration
- the legal pages required for the specific business
- deliberate handling of search engine indexation
An e-commerce project has a wider operational perimeter. Product catalogue, cart, payments, shipping, transactional email, order management and customer information need to work as parts of one system.
These are not technical requirements listed by the Chamber in this exact form. They are, however, what separates an operational site from a domain with unfinished content.
A website grant is not an SEO guarantee
Two ideas should remain separate.
Website development is expressly listed as an eligible cost. That does not mean the scheme guarantees Google visibility, nor does it mean every standalone SEO service is automatically eligible.
Technical SEO still belongs in the design process of a website that is intended to last. URL structure, titles, canonicals, sitemaps, structured data, performance, rendering and indexation are easier to design correctly during development than to repair later.
For a new local business in Florence, Empoli, Scandicci or Sesto Fiorentino, there is another strategic question: which searches should lead a potential customer to the website?
A site built only around the company name can be fully operational while attracting almost exclusively people who already know the brand. If the commercial goal is customer acquisition, the information architecture should represent real services, locations and search intent without creating artificial pages for every nearby town.
This is why our web development work treats technical structure and information architecture as the same project rather than adding SEO after launch.
Make the project easy to document
If a website is part of the expenditure a company wants to submit, the quotation and invoice should describe what is actually being delivered.
A generic line such as "website creation" provides little information for either the client or anyone reviewing the expenditure months later. A clearer document can distinguish, where relevant, information architecture, development, CMS, e-commerce functionality, integrations, domain configuration, deployment and additional services.
Clarity also helps separate one-off investment from recurring costs.
Domain renewals, hosting, SaaS licences, maintenance, advertising campaigns and initial development operate on different cycles. Even where several costs fall within the scope of the scheme, they still need to make economic sense after the grant ends.
An e-commerce site that depends on expensive recurring services does not become sustainable simply because part of its initial cost was reimbursed. A cheap website that is difficult to update can generate more cost in its second year than it saved in the first.
What to check before submitting
Applications must be submitted through the ReStart platform with a digital signature. The documents listed by the Chamber include the application form, invoices for eligible costs, proof of payment and the other documentation required by the scheme.
Eligible invoices must be for amounts above €150 excluding VAT.
The practical principle is straightforward: the digital project and the grant application should describe the same expenditure. Deliverables, amounts and payments should be easy to reconstruct rather than hidden behind vague wording.
For administrative requirements and the interpretation of individual cost items, only the official Chamber documentation is authoritative. Perseo does not manage the grant application and cannot guarantee that a specific expense will be accepted.
A useful incentive when the project already makes business sense
The most sensible way to use this measure is to start from the company's actual need, not from the subsidy.
If a newly established Florence business already needs a professional website, an online store or digital tools, the grant can materially reduce the effective cost of an investment that had a clear business purpose. If the project exists only because funding is available, there is a greater risk of paying for features that have no useful role after the application is completed.
The key question is what the website needs to achieve: generate enquiries, support a sales network, sell online, collect bookings, explain a product or make a local business discoverable.
Once that is clear, the technical scope and the commercial documentation become much easier to define. If you are launching a company in the Florence area and want to assess the web side of the project, you can contact Perseo. For eligibility and application requirements, refer directly to the Florence Chamber of Commerce.