What is the Scale-up label in Algeria?

It is the fourth label in the Algerian labelling framework, created by décret exécutif n° 25-311 of 1 December 2025 (Journal officiel n° 81 of 7 December 2025), which adds to décret exécutif n° 20-254 a chapitre 7 headed Conditions for granting the Scale-up label, containing articles 31 bis 2 to 31 bis 7. The same decree rewrites the title of décret 20-254 to add Scale-up alongside Start-up, Projets innovants and Incubateurs.

Do you need the Start-up label first to apply for the Scale-up label?

No. Article 31 bis 2 opens the label to any company incorporated under Algerian law meeting its three criteria, and holding another label first is not one of them. The list of documents in article 31 bis 3 asks for neither a label decision nor an incubation certificate.

What are the conditions for the Scale-up label?

Article 31 bis 2 sets three: the company's business model must be built on innovative products, services or business model; an increase in turnover at a rate of at least 20 % over the last three (3) years; and the allocation of at least 3 % of the company's revenues or capital to investment in research and development. There are no others: for this label the decree sets no age limit, no headcount cap, no capital-ownership rule and no turnover ceiling.

Is the 20 % growth annual or cumulative over three years?

The decree does not say. It writes an increase in turnover at a rate of at least 20 % over the last three (3) years, without stating whether the rate is assessed year by year or across the period. We do not decide that in the national committee's place and we publish no interpretation dressed up as a rule.

How long does the national committee take to reply?

Article 31 bis 4 provides that a reply is given within a maximum of thirty (30) days from the date the application is filed. Those are days, not working days. Any delay in supplying part of the required documents suspends that period, and the applicant then has fifteen (15) days from the notification to send them in, failing which the application is rejected. It is a reply period, not a guarantee that the label will be granted.

How long does the Scale-up label last, and can it be renewed?

Four (4) years, renewable (article 31 bis 5). The text does not write once and puts no cap on the number of renewals, unlike the Start-up label which is renewable once (article 14). Renewal is requested through the national start-up electronic portal and granted by the national committee under the conditions and procedures laid down by the decree (article 31 bis 7). For Scale-up the decree sets neither its own renewal criteria nor a list of renewal documents.

Does the Scale-up label give any tax advantage?

The decree that creates the label attaches no tax advantage to it. Chapitre 7 has no advantages article, whereas the same decree writes at its article 14 bis 2 that the Start-up label confers the benefit of State aid and support measures, and article 31 of décret 20-254 opens that right to the Incubateur label. Décret exécutif n° 21-170, which sets out the tax advantages, applies by its title to companies holding the start-up label or the incubateur label, and décret 25-311 does not amend it. So we announce no exemption under the Scale-up label.

Where is the Scale-up application filed?

Through the national start-up electronic portal, startup.dz, which article 31 bis 3 designates for the application and article 31 bis 7 for renewal. Decisions granting the Scale-up label are published there too (article 31 bis 6).

The Scale-up Label in Algeria, what décret 25-311 actually says

Décret exécutif n° 25-311 of 1 December 2025, published in the Journal officiel n° 81 of 7 December 2025, created a fourth Algerian label, the Scale-up label, alongside Start-up, Projet innovant and Incubateur. This page says only what the decree says: the three criteria of article 31 bis 2, the documents of article 31 bis 3, the thirty (30) day reply period of article 31 bis 4 and the four (4) years renewable duration of article 31 bis 5. Where the text is silent, we say so rather than borrowing the Start-up rules.

Content verified on August 16, 2026Our methodology

ByÉquipe UpGrowth, Labelling and Journal officiel specialists

Published on August 16, 2026

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What the Scale-up label is, and where it comes from

The Scale-up label was created by chapitre 7 of décret exécutif n° 20-254 of 15 September 2020, a chapter added by article 7 of décret exécutif n° 25-311 of 1 December 2025, published in the Journal officiel of the Algerian Republic n° 81 of 7 December 2025, pages 5 to 7. That chapter contains articles 31 bis 2 to 31 bis 7. The decree is signed by the Prime Minister, on a report from the minister for the knowledge economy, start-ups and micro-enterprises. The full text is on the Journal officiel site: https://www.joradp.dz/FTP/jo-francais/2025/F2025081.pdf

Article 2 of the same decree rewrites the title of décret 20-254, which now creates the national labelling committee for Start-up, Projets innovants, Incubateurs and Scale-up. The Algerian labelling framework has therefore had four labels since 7 December 2025, not three.

The decree does not present the Scale-up label as a next step or a promotion from the Start-up label. It opens a separate chapter, with its own criteria, its own file, its own deadline and its own duration.

Who can apply for the Scale-up label

Article 31 bis 2 opens the label to any company incorporated under Algerian law that meets the three criteria it lists, and that is the only condition of form the text imposes. The list below is therefore a list of what the decree does NOT require: the Start-up label criteria are well known and circulate widely, and not one of them was carried over into chapitre 7.

The decree does not require you to already hold the Start-up label, the Projet innovant label, or an incubation certificate.
The decree sets no age limit for the company. The eight (8) year limit is a Start-up label criterion (article 11) and does not appear in chapitre 7.
The decree sets no headcount cap. The 250 employee limit also belongs to article 11 and to the Start-up label alone.
The decree imposes no capital-ownership rule for the Scale-up label.
The decree sets no turnover ceiling for the Scale-up label.
The decree reserves the label to no particular sector and requires no prior sector approval.

The three criteria of article 31 bis 2

Article 31 bis 2 lists three criteria, and only three. We restate them in the decree's own terms. The text establishes no weighting between them and contains no scoring grid, so we publish none.

Criterion (décret 20-254, art. 31 bis 2)	What the text says	What the text leaves open
Innovative character	The company's business model must be built on innovative products, services or business model	The decree does not define innovation and requires no intellectual property title at this stage
Turnover growth	An increase in turnover at a rate of at least 20 % over the last three (3) years	The decree does not say whether that 20 % is measured cumulatively over the three years or year by year
Research and development	Allocation of at least 3 % of the company's revenues or capital to investment in research and development	The decree writes revenues OR capital, leaves both bases open, and sets no measurement period

The two points the decree does not settle

Two of the three criteria carry a figure without carrying a definition. We do not interpret them, because an interpretation presented as a rule is exactly the sort of thing that gets a file refused.

The 20 % rate: the decree writes an increase in turnover at a rate of at least 20 % over the last three (3) years, without saying whether the rate is assessed year by year or across the three years combined.
The 3 % rate: the decree writes revenues or capital, not turnover. Both bases stay open, it does not say who chooses, and it sets no measurement period.
The reading that counts is the national committee's. We would advise against settling it on your own inside the file without spelling out the base and the period you used.
No implementing text specific to the Scale-up label was published in the French edition of the Journal officiel between 7 December 2025 and issue n° 57 of 5 August 2026, the last issue we have read. This page will be updated the day such a text appears.

The application file, article 31 bis 3

A company seeking the Scale-up label must file an application through the national start-up electronic portal (https://startup.dz). Article 31 bis 3 lists the documents that go with it.

A copy of the company's trade register and of its tax identification number.
A copy of the articles of association.
A detailed presentation of the product or service and of its innovative aspects.
The founders' curriculum vitae.
A detailed video presentation of the company's growth, 3 minutes long.
Where applicable, any intellectual property document, any distinction or award received, and any evidence of international expansion, in particular export operations or the opening of subsidiaries.

The reply period, article 31 bis 4

A reply is given to every application for the Scale-up label within a maximum of thirty (30) days from the date the application is filed.
Those are days. The decree does not write working days.
Any delay in supplying part of the required documents suspends that period.
The applicant must then send the missing documents within fifteen (15) days from the notification issued by the national committee, failing which the application is rejected.

Those thirty days are a REPLY period, not a promise that the label will be granted and not an evaluation window. The decree commits the national committee to answering; it says nothing about what the answer will be. We never promise an administration's decision, nor its timing.

Where the application is refused, article 31 bis 5

The national committee must give reasons for the refusal and notify the applicant electronically.
That decision may be re-examined by the national committee, on a reasoned request from the applicant.
A final reply is notified to the applicant electronically, within a period not exceeding thirty (30) days from the date his request is filed. The decree writes sa demande and does not say which request it means, so neither do we.

The decree sets the applicant no deadline for making that request for re-examination. The written reasons for the refusal are the raw material of the re-examination: they are what points at the exact thing to fix.

Duration and renewal, articles 31 bis 5 and 31 bis 7

The Scale-up label is granted to the company for four (4) years, renewable. Article 31 bis 5 does not write once and puts no cap on the number of renewals. The table further down puts the four labels side by side, because the drafter set a cap where a cap was intended.

Renewal is requested through the national start-up electronic portal (article 31 bis 7).
It is granted by the national committee under the conditions and procedures laid down by the decree.
Unlike the Start-up label (articles 14 bis and 14 bis 1) and the Incubateur label (articles 31 bis and 31 bis 1), the decree lays down for the Scale-up label neither its own renewal criteria nor a list of renewal documents. We do not fill that silence.
Nor does the decree set a filing deadline for the renewal request ahead of the label's expiry.

Label	Duration	Renewal	Article of décret 20-254
Start-up	4 years	Renewable once	art. 14, as worded by décret 25-311
Projet innovant	2 years	Renewable twice	art. 19, unchanged
Incubateur	5 years	Renewable, no written cap	art. 27, as worded by décret 25-311
Scale-up	4 years	Renewable, no written cap	art. 31 bis 5

What the decree does, and does not, attach to the Scale-up label

Chapitre 7 contains no advantages article. That silence deserves to be taken seriously, because the same decree writes the opposite sentence elsewhere: its article 14 bis 2 provides that the Start-up label confers the benefit of State aid and support measures, and article 31 of décret 20-254 opens the same right to the Incubateur label. That sentence was not written for the Scale-up label.

Décret exécutif n° 21-170 of 28 April 2021, which sets the conditions and procedures for granting tax advantages, applies by its own title to companies holding the start-up label or the incubateur label. Décret 25-311 cites it in its recitals but does not amend it.

So we announce no tax exemption, no rate and no customs advantage under the Scale-up label. If a text ever establishes one, this page will cite it with its reference.

Chapitre 7 also provides for no suspension and no withdrawal of the Scale-up label. The regular monitoring in article 29 and the withdrawal in article 30 of décret 20-254 bear on the article 25 commitments, which are the incubator's.

The only other text that mentions the label so far

Décret présidentiel n° 26-86 of 19 January 2026, published in the Journal officiel n° 06 of 22 January 2026, creates the President of the Republic's prize for the best start-up. Its article 2 sets up a best Scale-up category, defined as the company holding the Scale-up label that has recorded strong growth in its turnover over the last three (3) years. Full text: https://www.joradp.dz/FTP/jo-francais/2026/F2026006.pdf

Article 3 sets the financial award for that category at three million dinars (3,000,000 DA), against two million dinars for the best Start-up and one million dinars for the best Projet innovant. Article 17 restricts entry to label holders, and article 16 provides for submission through a digital platform created for the purpose.

This is a prize, not a right attached to the label. It is awarded by an independent jury (article 4), and article 14 allows that jury not to award the prize in a category where the required level is not reached. That decree also cites décret 20-254 under its new title, the one that includes Scale-up.

Who decides, and where the decision is published

The national labelling committee is the body that grants the Scale-up label. Article 8 of décret 20-254, as worded by décret 25-311, adds to its deliberations the granting of the Scale-up label and the review of applications submitted after a refusal to grant the Start-up, Projet innovant, Incubateur and Scale-up labels.
The national committee meets at least twice (2) a month (article 6). Décret 25-311 only added that an extraordinary session may also be convened at the request of half its members.
Article 9, in its new wording, deems present any member taking part in the committee's meetings by videoconference or by any other means of telecommunication allowing them to be identified.
Decisions granting the Scale-up label are published on the national start-up electronic portal (article 31 bis 6).

The sources behind this page

Décret exécutif n° 25-311 of 10 Joumada Ethania 1447 corresponding to 1 December 2025, Journal officiel n° 81 of 7 December 2025, pages 5 to 7: https://www.joradp.dz/FTP/jo-francais/2025/F2025081.pdf

Décret exécutif n° 20-254 of 27 Moharram 1442 corresponding to 15 September 2020, Journal officiel n° 55, as amended and supplemented, for articles 11, 19, 25, 27, 29, 30 and 31 cited above.

Décret présidentiel n° 26-86 of 30 Rajab 1447 corresponding to 19 January 2026, Journal officiel n° 06 of 22 January 2026: https://www.joradp.dz/FTP/jo-francais/2026/F2026006.pdf

National start-up electronic portal: https://startup.dz

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