EU Funding

Subsidies for company digitalization: correct terminology, real programmes

Many entrepreneurs search for digitalization subsidies, but Romanian programmes use different words. We translate the vocabulary and show the schemes behind it.

Northdan Soft is a software supplier, not a funding consultancy, and is not affiliated with any managing authority or development agency. Programme information is indicative — always check the conditions in the programme's official applicant guide.

In everyday speech the word subsidy covers any money received from the state, yet in the world of digitalization funding it barely appears in official documents at all. The guides speak of grants, non-repayable financing, state aid or de minimis schemes and, in one interesting case, of non-financial state aid. That last case is the EDIH network of European digital innovation hubs, and it works differently from what most articles claim: a company never applies to the POCIDIF call that finances the network — the hub is the eligible applicant — and what the company receives is non-financial state aid granted under a contract with the hub: technology testing, advice and training, with no money landing in its bank account. The rest of the support circulates as grants that require a funding dossier: verified on 30 July 2026, active submissions exist for Action 2.1 of POCIDIF, the operational programme for smart growth, digitalisation and financial instruments — reserved for small and medium-sized companies whose registered CAEN activity code places them in ICT, with a minimum non-repayable value of 200,000 euro per project — and for the Swiss SME Eco-Tech scheme, open until 24 September 2026. Why do the nuances matter? Because the wrong term takes you to old pages and dead schemes. Northdan Soft builds the technical part of your project whatever the instrument is called: specifications, budget by eligible cost, implementation and acceptance paperwork.

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How we help

Guidance through the official terminology

We translate the jargon of the guides — grant, de minimis, intensity, reimbursement — so you understand exactly what you sign and which obligations you take on.

A filter against expired information

We check the real status of the schemes before any project discussion, so you do not build a plan on a programme that closed years ago.

The same technical quality, whatever the instrument

Whether the money comes from a grant, a guaranteed loan or your own budget, the software solution gets the same development and documentation standards.

A short dictionary: what subsidies are actually called

Grant or non-repayable financing: money you do not pay back, received on the basis of an evaluated funding application. Active examples: POCIDIF Action 2.1 and SME Eco-Tech.

De minimis aid: the legal regime under which most small and medium grants are awarded, capped by Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 at 300,000 euro per single undertaking over any three-year period. Non-financial state aid: the EDIH model — a benefit in kind granted under contract, not in cash, and applied for by the hub rather than by the company. Guaranteed loan: a bank loan carrying a state guarantee — repayable in full, so not non-repayable funding at all. The digitalisation instrument of this kind under POCIDIF is managed by FNGCIMM, the national SME credit guarantee fund; at the 30 July 2026 check its partner-bank page still listed no lender, so the route could not be contracted.

Where the wrong searches take you

Searching for digitalization subsidies, the search engine often serves up articles about closed calls — the pandemic working capital grants, the POC of the previous financial exercise or calls under PNRR, Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, that have ended. The result: companies making plans around money that does not exist.

The 20,000–100,000 euro band still presented as a current digitalization grant belongs to the PNRR C9 I3.1 call: submissions closed in 2023, implementation expired in the summer of 2026, and only the payment window remains, running to 30 October 2026 under Order MIPE 963/2026. The antidote is simple: start from the verified status of the schemes and from the profile of your own company, including the case where no funding fits and the software gets built in stages.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Romanian state give direct subsidies for company digitalization?

Not in the form of permanent subsidies resembling a monthly allowance. Support arrives through specific schemes — grants with submission sessions, such as POCIDIF Action 2.1, or national programmes such as the forthcoming Start-Up Nation session — each with its own guide and calendar.

What is the practical difference between a subsidy and a grant?

In official Romanian documents, support for digitalization is called a grant or non-repayable financing and is obtained competitively, on the basis of a project scored against an evaluation grid. The closest thing to a subsidy is the non-financial state aid delivered through EDIH hubs, where the state covers part of the cost of a service under a contract instead of transferring money to you.

Can Northdan tell me which scheme my company qualifies for?

No, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise: we are the software vendor, not a funding consultant. What we can show you is what we have verified and dated — which calls are still receiving applications, what their entry thresholds are and where the approved guide sits. The eligibility ruling belongs to the applicant and, if they choose one, to their funding consultant. Our part is the software: specifications, the budget by eligible cost, development and the technical documents the settlement requires.