Co-financing in digitalization projects: what your company pays

The percentage in the guide applies to eligible costs, not to the total cost of the project. Round figures: a EUR 500,000 project with EUR 400,000 eligible and 90% intensity on the eligible part means EUR 40,000 of own contribution plus EUR 100,000 of ineligible costs — EUR 140,000 out of the company's pocket. The impression of paying only a tenth disappears in the gap between total cost and eligible cost. Ineligible items cost points as well: above 15% of the eligible costs requested, the budget criterion scores zero.

The second trap is cash flow. Even with fast reimbursement, the company often pays invoices in full and recovers the funded share afterwards. Without a liquidity reserve, the project stalls halfway.

The minimum 10% own contribution still quoted as a general rule belongs to a call that no longer accepts applications. On the schemes receiving applications now there is no single percentage: it is read per type of aid, per company size and per region. SME Eco-Tech shows the opposite pole — the grant stops at 40% of eligible costs, capped at RON 267,240, and the bank loan must cover at least 60%, meaning at least RON 400,860 on a project starting at RON 668,100. There the question is not how much you hold in the account but whether the bank will lend.

Where the guide has not been published, the percentage is not knowable: Start-Up Nation session 2 had no submission date in any of its three governing documents at 30 July 2026, and any figure circulating before that is guesswork. VAT follows its own rule rather than the co-financing rule — under article 64(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 it is not eligible for grants, except for operations with a total cost below EUR 5,000,000 including VAT and for larger operations where the VAT is not recoverable. So VAT can be eligible while proof of co-financing is still presented net of VAT.