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Check whether applications are open, whether your project is eligible and when costs can start before spending against an expected grant.
Start-up Grant: check the current status
At our review, EIS marked the Start-up Grant closed, with applications stopped on 14 August 2026. Its published maximum grant was EUR 20,000 with 20% self-financing. These figures do not establish your eligibility or imply that funding is currently available.
The programme page says applications may resume if resources become available and identifies a regional development-centre pre-consultation step. Use that page to confirm any change before planning an application.
Sources: EIS: Start-up Grant
Match the work to the support
EIS also publishes an Innovation grant and an applied-research small-projects programme. These are separate measures with their own eligible work, applicants and conditions. Use the linked pages to decide whether the actual project fits; a startup label alone is not enough.
Mentoring, incubation and a grant are different forms of support. Tehnopol is another place to research programmes and business-development opportunities. Verify the current intake, commercial terms and expected participation directly with the provider.
Sources: EIS: Innovation grant; EIS: applied research, small projects; Tehnopol
Build an eligibility checklist
Before writing a long narrative, collect the rules that could make the application ineligible. Ask the programme contact about any ambiguous condition and keep the written answer. Do not assume that eligibility for one measure carries over to another.
- Is the application window open and is funding still available?
- Do company age, ownership, location and activity meet the rules?
- Which work and suppliers are eligible?
- Are there restrictions on starting work or signing contracts?
- What own contribution and evidence are required?
- Could earlier support affect the amount available?
- What outcomes, records and reports must be delivered?
Plan the cash timing
The grant amount and the timing of cash receipts are different questions. Find out whether support is advanced, reimbursed or paid against milestones, and how long you must finance costs yourself. Check treatment of taxes and ineligible costs with the programme provider and your accountant.
Illustrative planning example: a project costing EUR 25,000 with a hypothetical 80% contribution would still require EUR 5,000 of own funding, before considering timing or excluded costs. This arithmetic is not a promise that a particular project will receive that rate.
Prepare a coherent project
Explain the problem, work packages, deliverables, responsible people and intended business result. Every budget item should connect to a task, and every task should connect to a result you can evidence.
For an illustrative prototype-validation project, describe what will be tested, by whom and what result would allow the business to proceed. Avoid applying for a collection of unrelated purchases just because a budget line appears eligible. Gather quotations and approvals according to the actual programme rules.
Treat reporting as part of delivery
Assign an owner for records, invoices, time evidence and programme correspondence. Keep a versioned budget and check the approval process before changing scope. Funding can carry ongoing obligations; understand them before accepting an award.
Our community can help you frame questions and discuss project readiness, but we do not determine EIS eligibility or award public grants. For legal, tax or binding programme interpretations, use the relevant provider or a qualified professional.
Sources and review
Official sources checked on 16 September 2026. Programme terms and schedules can change. Check the provider's website before acting. Worked examples are illustrative, not client results.
