“There must be a grant for that.” We hear this often when the budget comes up, and it is often true: all three Regions have schemes to help SMEs go digital. But 2026 was a year of cuts. Several schemes were suspended mid-year, others ran out of budget, and much of what you find online describes grants that no longer accept applications. Here is what was actually open in early November 2026, checked on the administrations’ own websites, and the rule that costs the most grants.
Brussels: the Digitalisation grant remains open
That is the good news of the autumn. While Brussels Economy and Employment suspended several grants from 12 August 2026, the Digitalisation grant, formerly the web grant, is among those that remain. It funds an external consultancy assignment in three areas:
- Digitalising the company’s internal processes, its means of production or its products and services
- IT security for the company
- Developing or technically improving its website
The grant covers 25% of expenses excluding VAT, and can rise to 70% with the increases provided for young companies and for environmental or social exemplarity. It is capped at €10,000 per beneficiary per calendar year, with at most two assignments a year and a minimum of €500 per application. The business must be an SME with at least one operating site in the Brussels Region, in an eligible sector. The assignment must last six months at most and meet a one-off need: the administration specifies that it is not meant to fund permanent subcontracting. Monthly maintenance or a software subscription are therefore, in all likelihood, not covered.
Two details matter. The provider must have the relevant consultancy as its main activity, have practised it for at least two years and be independent of the business receiving the grant: check this with them before signing. And the grant counts as taxable income for the business: a €10,000 grant does not mean €10,000 net.
The trap: starting too early
This is the most common reason a grant is lost. In Brussels, the application must be submitted via the MonBEE platform no later than the day before the assignment starts, and the assignment can only begin from the following day. An assignment already under way can no longer be funded. The decision arrives within four months of a complete file, and the assignment must start no later than three months after approval. In Wallonia, the logic is the same: approval comes before the work.
A grant is prepared before the quote is signed, not after the first invoice.
What is suspended in Brussels
Since 12 August 2026, the Consultancy, Training, Recruitment and Coworking grants have been temporarily suspended for the 2026 budget year; applications submitted before that date are still processed. Innoviris, which funds research and innovation in Brussels, announced in March that no new calls would be launched in 2026 and that all its programmes were suspended this year. For 2027, nothing is set yet: it will be worth checking again in January.
Wallonia: vouchers in the middle of a reform
Walloon business vouchers are aimed at SMEs and self-employed people whose main operating site is in Wallonia. The “digital maturity” voucher, which funded a diagnosis, an implementation plan and specifications, has been suspended since July 2026: digital schemes are to be grouped and restructured, with a stated priority for AI. The cybersecurity voucher, however, is maintained: it covers 75% of an audit and then of implementing the recommended measures, up to €50,000 excluding VAT over three years.
One constraint changes everything: the provider must be labelled by the Region, and the Region has not accepted new labelling applications since 17 July 2025. The voucher reform, approved by the Walloon government in May 2026, is to create a single platform and new labelling rules, with no official start date so far. The Digital Agency’s AI calls, Tremplin IA and Start IA, are closed for 2026.
Flanders and federal level, briefly
In Flanders, VLAIO announced that the SME wallet budget had been used up since mid-October and that the scheme would end on 1 January 2027; cybersecurity improvement programmes remain supported in 2026. At federal level, the investment deduction provides an increase for digital fixed assets, reserved since the law of 18 December 2025 for companies considered small. Whether it applies to custom-built software depends on your situation: that is a question for your accountant.
Common rules to keep in mind
- Apply before starting, always, and keep proof of the date
- Check the provider: seniority conditions in Brussels, a mandatory label in Wallonia
- Count excluding VAT: grants are calculated on amounts before tax, VAT remains yours to pay
- Respect the de minimis ceiling: €300,000 of this kind of aid per company over a rolling three years, under the EU regulation in force since 2024
- Check the source again: schemes change often, and a blog post, this one included, does not replace the official page
A grant does not replace a good scope
A €10,000 grant covers a targeted assignment: a rebuilt website, an automated process, a security audit. It does not fund a complete business application, and that is a good thing: it pushes you to cut the project into a useful first step, which we recommend anyway when scoping an MVP. For a sense of real costs, our article on the price of a mobile app gives the benchmarks.
A useful clarification: Liminal does not prepare grant applications and does not act as a provider under these schemes. If your website, app or business software project goes beyond a one-off assignment, or you would rather move forward without waiting months for a decision, let’s talk: we deliver it through product engineering and interface design.