Start IA (Wallonia AI adoption support)

What it funds

Start IA pays a share of an eligible provider's mission that audits the company, finds where artificial intelligence genuinely helps, ranks the projects by feasibility and impact and delivers an action plan. An optional phase on data analytics, process optimization or AI agent development can follow the mandatory part. It is run by the Agence du Numérique under the Digital Wallonia strategy, and the detail is on the official call page. Each call has its own application window, and each company files a single application per call.

Requirements and what is left out

• Anyone without an economic activity in Wallonia, through a registered office or an operating site, and a business number.
• Anyone who is not a private SME under the EU definition of headcount and turnover or balance sheet.
• Anyone who already used up the de minimis ceiling: the signed declaration is part of the application.
• Anyone picking a consultant outside the program's list of eligible providers.

How to apply

1. Read the call's information document and fill it in.
2. Submit the registration form from the call page.
3. Attach the signed de minimis declaration.
4. Wait for the outcome, which the Agence du Numérique sends within the maximum number of business days set by the call.

What this budget builds

An AI action plan is worth the first use case that reaches production. I take the plan's top priority and check the data it rests on first, because that is where most projects stall; then I build the prototype and measure it on the real process. To work out where to start there is also the request for access to the AI Readiness Assessment.

This entry is informational and is not advice: I do not handle grant applications, and before committing to a purchase it is worth reading the official source above or talking to whoever files the application.