Inclusive Incubation and Finance for More Entrepreneurs

Topic description

Expected Outcome: Actions funded under this Call are expected to contribute to: Increased participation of under-represented groups in entrepreneurial activities; Improved access to tailored incubation services and financing opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs facing structural barriers; Enhanced entrepreneurial skills, business readiness and sustainability of supported enterprises; Strengthened cooperation between incubation providers, financial actors and employment or social inclusion stakeholders; Development of innovative, evidence-based approaches, as a possible source of inspiration for other initiatives; Improved knowledge and policy learning regarding effective inclusive entrepreneurship support mechanisms. In the longer term, the Call is expected to contribute to more inclusive labour markets, job creation, strengthened social economy ecosystems and reduced inequalities in access to entrepreneurship opportunities within the European Union. Scope: General Objective The general objective of this Call for proposals is to promote inclusive entrepreneurship across the European Union by supporting incubation models and financing solutions that enable new and aspiring entrepreneurs from under-represented groups in entrepreneurship to start, sustain and scale viable business activities. Under this Call, incubation services include acceleration services. Specific Objectives The Call aims in particular to: Develop and test incubation approaches adapted to the specific needs of under-represented entrepreneurs. Improve access to finance by linking incubation services with financing organisations such as microfinance providers or social investment vehicles. Strengthen entrepreneurial capacities, skills development and business readiness among target groups facing barriers to entrepreneurship. Foster cooperation among incubation actors, financial intermediaries, social economy organisations, and possibly as well with employment services, managing entities of local innovation ecosystems or research institutes. Generate transferable knowledge, tools and practices that can be replicated or scaled across Member States.

Conditions and documents

Conditions 1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in the call document. Applications must be submitted before the call deadline and electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOT possible. Applications (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System. Applications must be complete and contain: Application Form (Part A) Application Form (Part B) Annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded as PDF files). At proposal submission, the lead applicant will have to confirm that it has the mandate to act for all applicants; that the information in the application is correct and complete and that the participants comply with the conditions for receiving EU funding (especially eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, etc.) Before signing the grant, each beneficiary and affiliated entity will have to confirm this again by signing a declaration of honour (DoH). Applications must be readable, accessible and printable, not exceeding [70] pages. 2. Eligible countries See details in the call Document . EU Member States (and their overseas countries and territories); EEA countries, in accordance with the EEA Agreement; EU acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries, in line with the agreements concluded with them. Third countries having signed an agreement to participate in the strand or a third country listed in the EaSI work programme if necessary for the achievement of the objectives of an action. Do note that for certain calls only EU Member States and EEA countries are eligible. 3. Other eligibility conditions See in the call document for full explication per topics. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion See details in the call Document. 5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes See details in the call Document. 5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds See details in the call Document. The award criteria for this call are as follows: Relevance: Quality: Impact: 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement See details in the call Document. To be completed on a call-by-call basis. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Call document and annexes: Call document: for the call "Inclusive Incubation and Finance for More Entrepreneurs" Application form templates Standard application form (ESF and SOCPL) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Model Grant Agreements (MGA) ESF and SOCPL MGA Additional documents: ESF+ Annual Work Programme ESF+ Regulation 2021/1057 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Budget overview

{
  "budgetTopicActionMap": {
    "114481": [
      {
        "action": "ESF-2026-SE-INCUBATION - ESF-PJG ESF Project Grants",
        "budgetYearMap": {
          "2026": "1500000"
        },
        "deadlineDates": [
          "2026-09-02"
        ],
        "deadlineModel": "single-stage",
        "expectedGrants": 0,
        "maxContribution": 0,
        "minContribution": 0,
        "plannedOpeningDate": "2026-05-28"
      }
    ]
  },
  "budgetYearsColumns": [
    "2026"
  ]
}