Factorial launches a €10M fund to accelerate AI adoption in European SMEs
The initiative is aimed at SMEs with between 20 and 1,000 employees to break down the barriers to entry into digitalization.
BarcelonaFactorial, the platform dedicated to AI-powered business operations, announced on Tuesday the launch of the AI Acceleration Fund, a €10 million fund to boost the adoption of these technologies and the digitalization of business operations in European companies. According to CEO Jordi Romero, "the goal is to lower the barrier to entry for AI adoption for SMEs" and facilitate companies' transition from pilot programs to real-world deployments of automation and data usage in areas such as human resources, finance, technology, and operations throughout the entire employee lifecycle: performance, workforce analytics, and planning. The program, operational from Tuesday and with applications open until April 30, has a budget of €10 million structured in two equivalent components. The first tranche, worth €5 million, is allocated as direct cost reductions applied immediately upon signing the contract, without impacting the commitment to the platform. The second tranche, also worth €5 million, is offered as AI credits within the Factorial platform itself, so that companies have additional resources as their transformation program matures. Furthermore, participating companies will have access to a transformation support program that includes training and development webinars, access to events, and thought leadership reports.
"We announced Factorial One—Factorial's agentive technology program—in October 2025, and since then we've seen incredible demand. We have a waiting list to adopt the solution, but we've also noticed that many companies aren't considering adopting AI, or perhaps because of the Acceleration Fund. Our goal is to break down these barriers," Romero explained to ARA.
Impact of AI on SMEs
Factorial's AI Acceleration Fund is open to companies with 20 to 1,000 employees that sign a one-year contract with Factorial for the first time, using the company's People Bundle or PRO Bundle packages. "It's in SMEs with between 20 and 1,000 employees where these AI tools have the greatest impact, but where companies have fewer resources. In this segment of companies, we see a huge impact on all management costs. Companies can't afford the workload of business processes; they need to be able to automate processes so they can focus on innovation." "What we want is for companies that weren't considering this to have this financial support. We aspire to reach many hundreds of companies," says the CEO.
According to a study by the consulting firm McKinsey, generative AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion in annual productivity gains to the global economy. However, effective adoption remains uneven: according to the Boston Consulting Group, only about 5% of companies globally are deriving significant value from AI, while 60% are not seeing material value despite investing in the technology. (Thomson Reuters report) AI adoption reality check, 2025It also points out that companies with an AI strategy are twice as likely to maximize productivity per employee and impact their bottom line.