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You don't need to hire PHD at all. Engineers are fine, and not even mandatory. You can do a lot of tasks on tax credits, even graphic design or testing.

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From the CIR (The structure in charge of this tax credit), you can only do: applied science, pure research and experimental development. Sounds more PHD tasks than regular designer or regular engineer tasks.

Nope, it's totally ok. Tested for 4 years with a control from a government agent lately with 2 engineers and a 3D artist without any engineering degree. CIR is way broader than what people think, and it has been made even broader this year (you can now include tasks from pilot programs). This is really super undervalued, CIR and other grants is totally a game changer in assessing if France is a good country to start a tech business.

Totally agree, I've been leading our R&D program for 4 years. No PhD at all, a product owner, 4 engineers (some with an engineering degree, some without) and a UX designer. Design and testing are eligible as far as it is related to R&D operations. Some of the support costs, such as accounting, technology watch or hardware requirements, are eligible.

We also obtain the JEI status that allows huge tax discounts.

The fact you can't innovate in France is a myth.

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