Start-Up Nation 2024, all the details and explanations of the program. Grants are offered especially to young people from counties other than Bucharest and Ilfov – Blog

• From the draft of the emergency ordinance that will regulate the Start-Up Nation 2024 program, it appears that a large part of the 446 million euros of funding would be offered to projects submitted by entrepreneurs under 30 years old from regions other than Bucharest and Ilfov.
• Start-Up Nation 2024 was divided into two sub-programmes, one addressed exclusively to young people under 30 years of age. The second is aimed at people between 30 and 35 years of age or unemployed people with or without unemployment benefits, but are looking for a job or have been out of work for a longer time.
• The value of a grant is up to a maximum of 50,000 euros (250,000 lei), and the beneficiary must provide at least 10% of the funding requested.
• For applicants from the Bucharest-Ilfov region, the budget value is 29.75 million euros, and the grants are awarded only to young people under 30 years of age.
• Start-Up Nation 2024 aims to lead to the creation of more than 7,200 small and medium-sized enterprises and more than 15,500 jobs.

The Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEAT) debated on Tuesday, April 23, the draft emergency ordinance of the Start-Up Nation, a document that will allow the granting of grants after it is approved in a government meeting. Start-Up Nation is a program addressed to young entrepreneurs in Romania. For Start-Up Nation Diaspora, it will return in the coming days with a separate version of the emergency ordinance.

The legislative route provides that after the project is debated, the initiative will be adopted in a future government meeting, and after publication in the Official Gazette, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism will adopt the application procedure for applicants (applicant’s guide).

As first presented by Termene.ro, Start-Up Nation will have two registration stages this year. Registrations will be made first, by June at the latest, for the mandatory entrepreneurship courses. After completing these courses, applicants will be able to register, probably from September, with the project for which they are applying for a grant.

For the Start-Up Nation 2024 edition, the grant program has been divided into two sub-programs or pillars.

Pillar I – is exclusively addressed to young people under 30 years of age

“Pillar I – Activating the entrepreneurial potential of young people” is the name of the most substantial financing scheme of Start-Up Nation 2024.

The total budget of this subprogram is 295.75 million euros, of which 238 million euros represent the contribution of the European Union, and the rest comes from the national budget.

• To benefit from financing from this fund, beneficiaries must be under 30 years old at the time they submit their applications to the program.

According to the draft GEO, the beneficiaries of this pillar of Start-Up Nation 2024 are “tiners under 30 years old”, “regardless of the status on the labor market”, “including the person returned to the country dabroad”.

But there is also a difference here, the young people from the less developed regions have a budget almost 9 times higher than those from the developed areas of Romania.

The 295.75 million euros of Pillar I of Start-Up Nation 2024 are divided as follows:

For young people under 30 years of age from less developed regions, funding of 266 million euros is offered, of which 226.1 million euros represents the contribution of the European Union.

• The less developed regions – North East, South East, South Muntenia, South West Oltenia, West, North West, Center regions.

For young people under 30 years of age from the more developed regions, funding of 29.75 million euros is offered, of which 11.9 million euros represents the contribution of the European Union.

• The most developed region – Bucharest Ilfov Region.

Pillar I of Start-Up Nation 2024 aims to:

• ensuring access to training courses in order to acquire entrepreneurial skills for an estimated number of 25,000 eligible natural persons;
• at least 10% of the natural persons supported to participate in training courses in order to acquire entrepreneurial skills will be persons belonging to the Roma minority;
• to finance an estimated number of 5,250 start-ups;
• the financed enterprises will create an estimated number of 10,500 jobs through the program.

It should also be specified that “the beneficiary of the de minimis aid has the obligation to maintain the activity and occupied the jobs assumed through the financing form for a period of at least 24 months after the completion of the implementation period”, as stated in the project.

Pillar II – is addressed exclusively to young people between 30-35 years old, the unemployed and people inactive on the labor market

“Pillar II Support for the development of entrepreneurship among people from the target group” is the name of the second subprogram in Start-Up Nation 2024 proposed by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEAT).

The total budget for “Pillar II Support for the development of entrepreneurship among people from the target group” is 150.4 million euros, of which 127.8 million euros represents the contribution of the European Union.

The budget of this pillar is granted exclusively to less developed regions: The North East, South East, South Muntenia, South West Oltenia, West, North West, Center regions.

Eligible persons from less developed regions who are part of the Pillar II target group and who can obtain funding must be in one of the following categories:

• Young people aged between 30 and up to 35 years old at the time of registration in the electronic application, regardless of their status on the labor market, including the person returned to the country dabroad in the last 12 months.
• People looking for a job, including the person returned to the country from abroad, but who is registered with the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) or with another accredited employment service provider, to be supported in finding a job for work.
• Unemployed, including a person returned to the country from abroad, who is over 16 years old, but has not reached retirement, and who is registered with ANOFM as unemployed and receives unemployment allowance.
• Long-term unemployed, including the person returned to the country from abroad. In other words, people who no longer benefit from unemployment benefits.
• Inactive persons “who are not part of the labor force or who are neither employed nor unemployed, including the person returned to the country from abroad”.
• People from disadvantaged groups on the labor market, “people with a low level of education (last completed schooling level ISCED 2), people with disabilities, people from communities at risk of social exclusion, people from areas disadvantaged”.

Pillar I of Start-Up Nation 2024 aims to:

• ensuring access to training courses in order to acquire entrepreneurial skills for an estimated number of 4,600 eligible natural persons;
• to finance an estimated number of 2,500 established businesses;
• to create an estimated number of 5,000 jobs;

Moreover, “the beneficiary of the de minimis aid has the obligation to keep occupied the jobs assumed through the financing form for a period of at least 24 months after the completion of the implementation period”, the draft states. In addition, the beneficiary of the de minimis aid “does not have the right to alienate the shares/shares during the the implementation or sustainability of the business, under the penalty of not granting or recovering the de minimis aid granted”.

The OUG Start-Up Nation 2024 project can be consulted here.