Globalization and the transition of economies and societies towards a system based on knowledge and
information have intensified competition and interdependence among countries. We present an impact
evaluation of funding programs, designed to promote innovation activities in the Colombian service
sector. The incorporation of two novel panel data at firm level allows to control for unobserved
heterogeneity. Results indicate that there may be a significant impact in terms of labour productivity
for small companies and KIBS and of gross margins for large companies. This is especially true for
projects of short (one year or less) duration.