N. Papathanasis: €70 million from the NSRF to support new graduates under the “Start-up Business” programme

Funding from the NSRF “Competitiveness” NSRF 2021- 2027″ programme has been secured for the “Start-up Entrepreneurship” action, with a total public expenditure of 70,000,000 euros, by decision of the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis.

The Action is open to higher education graduates, either as individual entrepreneurs/entrepreneurs (sole proprietorships) or by setting up small and micro enterprises, in which they participate as partners/beneficiaries. Beneficiaries must have obtained their first degree from a higher education institution (HEI/TEI) after 1 January 2016.

The Action is implemented on a simplified cost method, without requiring the submission and certification of corresponding invoices and proof of payment of costs.

Specifically, business plan applications with a subsidised budget of €13,000 for a sole proprietorship (lump sum) for the 18-month operation of a new business and €21,000 for a partnership/multi-stakeholder scheme (lump sum) are supported. The wage costs for the creation of new employment position(s) with a dependent employment relationship are also subsidised at EUR 15,000 (unit cost).

The rate of public funding is 100% of the total (subsidised) budget for each business plan. The evaluation of funding applications will be comparative.

In the context of the implementation of the Action, the important aspect is that it incorporates, in an explicit and measurable way, geographical and social equity in the selection mechanism of the business plans so that declining and economically lagging regional units will be given increased priority for funding. In addition, a premium criterion is foreseen in case of certified disability (regardless of the percentage).

The Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance said, “With the “Start-up Entrepreneurship”, this new initiative funded by NSRF resources, the government is coming to actively support entrepreneurship and young people, this time as many as have a higher education degree. In addition to the fact that public funding amounts to 100% of the total subsidised budget, I also emphasise the specific social and geographical criteria, so that, in addition to entrepreneurship, social cohesion and regional development will be enhanced. We are accelerating interventions to create even more jobs, to increase incomes, for an even stronger, competitive and productive economy, which, in turn, will continue to return the dividend of growth to society.”

The detailed call for proposals of the Action describes the conditions of participation, the required supporting documents, the way of submitting funding applications, the procedure for their examination and evaluation, their approval for funding, the eligible costs, the way of submitting funding applications, the procedure for controlling and monitoring the implementation, the obligation of the beneficiaries in relation to increasing productivity and other obligations and conditions of the Action.

The starting date for the eligibility of expenditure is defined as the date of the start of the business at the AADE. The duration of the implementation of the financed investments is 12 or 18 months from the date of the start of activity (i.e. at least 2 semesters of verified operation from the date of the enterprise’s start of activity at the AADE).

The start date for online submission of funding applications to the Integrated State Aid Information System (ISIS) is 6/5/2026 at 15:00 with a closing date of 30/6/2026 at 15:00. Applications that are not submitted electronically will not be eligible for funding. No funding application will be accepted after the deadline for electronic submission of funding applications.

The call for proposals has been published in the programme DIAYΓEIA and is available on the websites of the EEAS of the Competitiveness Programme http://www.antagonistikotita.gr, the NSRF https://www.espa.gr and the EFEPAE http://www.efepae.gr. The action is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF+).

Detailed information and updates are provided by the Information Office of the EID “Competitiveness” Programme at the telephone number 801 11 36 300, at the contact email: [email protected], and by EFEPAE at the telephone number 210 6985210, at the contact email: [email protected], as well as by the partners of EFEPAE.