Quick guide to funding

Depending on their needs, small and medium-sized enterprises may be eligible for EU indirect funding via financial intermediaries in their home country or for direct grant funding from the European Commission.

Indirect funding - Financing for regular business investments | EU funds are allocated to:

• financial intermediaries to help SMEs find seed money, start up, expand and transfer their business using equity financing and guarantees;
• national/regional authorities via the Structural Funds

To access indirect funding:

• Locate banks, venture capital funds, etc. that provide funding using the financial instruments in your country through the Access2Finance website;

• Locate national/regional managing authorities who can inform you about obtaining financing in your country or region via the EU Structural Funds

Direct funding - grants - Co-financing for projects in policy fields defined by the Commission | The Union provides grants aimed at specific policy objectives like research or education, mostly by funding cooperative projects. Some of these can be relevant for small businesses. All grants are accessed through calls for proposals at specified times. 

• EU-funded programmes for SMEs (all EU languages)
• The European Union's grants website