Funding your AI project: Innovation Tax Credit and support explained
An AI project can be partly funded by public schemes, provided you know which ones and how to use them. Innovation Tax Credit, Bpifrance, France Num: a tour of what can lighten your bill.
Published on 28 May 2026 · 8 min read
Many SMEs give up on an AI project thinking they will have to fund it all alone. That is a shame, because several schemes can cover a significant share. You just need to know them and activate them at the right time. Here are the main ones, explained simply.
The Innovation Tax Credit (CII)
This is the most interesting scheme for an SME developing a new product or tool. The French Innovation Tax Credit refunds up to 20% of eligible spend, within an annual cap. Developing custom software, creating a prototype, designing an innovative solution: many AI projects fall within scope.
The CII takes the form of a tax reduction, or a refund if you are not taxable. In concrete terms, on an eligible project, a significant share comes back into your cash flow.
Bpifrance support
Bpifrance supports SMEs in their digital transformation and their security work. Among the useful schemes: funding of up to 50% of a cybersecurity assessment, often needed before deploying AI, as well as various loans and grants depending on your project and sector.
France Num and regional support
The France Num programme supports the digitisation of very small and small businesses, with resources, assessments and sometimes financial aid. On top of that come schemes specific to your region: digital vouchers, innovation grants, sector support. They vary from one territory to another, hence the value of asking locally.
How to use these schemes well
Three reflexes clearly increase your chances:
- Anticipate: some schemes must be applied for before the project starts, not after.
- Document: describe precisely the novelty and value of your project.
- Get support: a provider used to these schemes saves you time and avoids filing errors.
What it changes in practice
Well combined, these schemes can transform the maths of an AI project. An investment that seemed heavy becomes accessible once the tax credit and grants are deducted. That is the difference between postponing a project indefinitely and launching it this year.
At Helix, everything starts with a free audit: we cost the project, identify its value, and look together at which schemes could apply to your situation. Funding is part of the thinking from the start, not an afterthought.
Key takeaways
- The Innovation Tax Credit refunds up to 20% of an SME's eligible spend.
- Bpifrance funds up to 50% of a cybersecurity assessment, useful before AI.
- France Num and regional support complete the picture, with local variations.
- Anticipate: some schemes must be applied for BEFORE the project starts.
- Well combined, these schemes make an apparently out-of-budget project accessible.
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