EEA & Norway Grants – official launch in Romania, EUR 45 million for SMEs and Large enterprises. Increased funding, new topics.
EUR 45 million will be available to SMEs and Large enterprises via the SME Growth Programme, to be operated by Innovation Norway. According to latest official update from Innovation Norway, the call will be opened in April – May 2018, with better funding conditions and more eligible topics.
SMEs and Large enterprises can get individual grants of up to EUR 2 million, with funding intensities going up to 70%, via 3 funding streams. Romanian NGOs will also be eligible under the smaller funding streams available. Bilateral partnerships are strongly encouraged – Donor State partners (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) can comprise: enterprises, NGOs, universities, public institutions.
This update brings an extension of the programme areas with a small funding stream for “Boost to Romanian business sector”, a new support tool opened by Innovation Norway, aiming to support start-ups and soft measures.
The call is expected to stay open from May 2018 until September 2018. Full calendar and competition information (presented by Innovation Norway as tentative):
| Tentatively planned calls | Indicative budget (EUR) | Tentative opening month | Deadline for project/ request submission | Grant level | Eligible applicants | Eligible partners |
| Fund for Bilateral Relations – Call for Travel support |
50,000 | May 2018 | Until the budget is exhausted | Lump sum of EUR 1,200/ 1,500/ 1,000 per entity | SMEs and Large enterprises with more than 75% private ownership and NGOs, established as a legal person in Romania. All types of entities, legally established in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein | |
| Individual Project Scheme – Call for project proposals for Green Industry Innovation, ICT and Blue Growth | 33,550,000 | May 2018 | September 2018 | EUR 200,000 – EUR 2,000,000 Per awarded project | SMEs and Large enterprises with more than 75% private ownership established as a legal person in Romania | All types of entities, legally established in Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein: 1. Enterprises 2. NGOs 3. Universities 4. Public institutions |
| Small Grants Scheme – Call for project proposals for Green Industry Innovation, ICT and Blue Growth | 6,000,000 | May 2018 | September 2018 | EUR 50,000 – EUR 200,000 Per awarded project |
Green Industry Innovation: SMEs and NGOs, established as a legal person in Romania.
ICT and Blue Growth: SMEs established as a legal person in Romania.
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| Small Grants Scheme – Call for project proposals for Boost to Romanian business sector | 2,000,000 | April 2019 | June 2019 | EUR 20,000 – EUR 200,000 Per awarded project |
SMEs and NGOs established as a legal person in Romania (including clusters and business organisations) |
Winnovart’s comments:
- The new SME Growth programme is a clear continuation of the “Green Industry Innovation” programme in 2013-2014, which has proven to be a very successful one across the Beneficiary States;
- The new programme, will support, despite its name, Large Enterprises, too. Probably one of the very few funding options available for Large Enterprises in this new funding cycle;
- The funding conditions have been slightly improved, with a max grant of EUR 2 million (an increase from the previous max threshold of EUR 1.5 million);
- The update confirms the approach presented in the Blue Book over 1 year ago, of continuing the support for adopting mature innovations across industrial sectors, while extending it in this new cycle to start-ups and early stage innovation projects, too;
- The announcement is a relevant indication for the way this programme will look like across the beneficiary countries where Innovation Norway will act as Fund Operator.
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For a complete overview of the EEA & Norway Grants 2014 – 2021, you may have a look at the Blue Book – the document outlining the strategy of this mechanism until 2021.
