EU Funding

How you obtain digitalization funding, step by step and without illusions

The road from idea to grant in the bank has six distinct stages and two different partners. Here it is described as it actually happens, not as in brochures.

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.

Getting grant money for digitalization is often told as a lottery or, at the other extreme, a formality — both versions are false. In reality you walk through six stages. One: check what is open and whether you qualify; as of 30 July 2026, only POCIDIF Action 2.1 (ICT CAEN codes, 30 June to 30 September 2026) and SME Eco-Tech (until 24 September 2026, and only inside a project of at least 668,100 lei backed by a bank investment loan of at least 400,860 lei) had active submissions. Two: define your project — processes, software solution, budget. Three: a funding consultant drafts the financing application, while a supplier such as Northdan produces the technical offer and the eligible-cost budget; these are different trades and the guide itself penalises offers coming from whoever wrote the file. Four: submit and wait for evaluation — a POCIDIF 2.1 project is approved only above 70 points, with 92 as the excellence threshold. Five: after contracting, the supplier develops and delivers within the committed term. Six: the settlement claims — invoices, acceptance reports, proof of operation — bring your money back. Northdan covers the technical stages end to end: from the specifications in the file to the documents that support reimbursement.

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How we help

Clear roles, no conflicts of interest

We stay strictly on the software-supplier side and work with your funding consultant, each answering for their own part of the file.

A project defined before the funding application

We clarify the processes and the solution before anyone writes an application, so the file describes a real project, not a paper construction.

Support until the last settlement claim

We do not vanish after delivery: we provide the acceptance documents and the technical clarifications the authority requests, until the project's financial closure.

Stages 1-3: from qualification check to submitted file

The qualification check takes a day and saves months: SME status, CAEN code, field of activity and region decide from the start which schemes you can access. Only then does defining the project make sense — we recommend starting from the operational problems, not from the amount available.

At the file, the division of labour goes like this: the consultant answers for the funding application, the business plan and the legal framing; the software supplier answers for the solution description, the budget and the technical offer. The POCIDIF 2.1 guide requires at least two dated, signed price offers per eligible cost, and its scoring grid rules ineligible any cost where the offer is suspected of being formal, including offers issued by whoever prepared the submission documentation.

Stages 4-6: evaluation, implementation, settlement

Evaluation is competitive and nobody honest can guarantee the outcome. What you can control is the file's quality: a coherent project, a justified budget, an identifiable and credible supplier. On POCIDIF 2.1 the arithmetic is public — approval needs 70 points, the excellence threshold is 92, and a hardware share above 20% of total eligible value scores zero on the budget criterion for software-result projects.

After the financing contract is signed comes the part where most money is lost: implementation with firm deadlines — up to 24 months on POCIDIF 2.1, and no later than 31 December 2029. The guide also forbids fully outsourcing technical activity: at least 20% of the non-repayable aid allocated to the core activity must go to the beneficiary's own staff.

Frequently asked questions

Do I absolutely need a consultant to obtain digitalization funding?

Legally you can apply on your own; practically, a good consultant earns their fee on any scheme with heavy documentation. What the consultant cannot do for you: choose a realistic software solution and a supplier who actually delivers — that is where our analysis comes in.

How long does the whole process take, from idea to money received?

Realistically: a few weeks for defining the project and the file, months for evaluation and contracting, then the implementation period from the guide and the reimbursement terms. A total horizon beyond a year is the norm, not the exception — plan your liquidity accordingly.

Which mistake most often ruins the chance of digitalization funding?

The project invented for the money: the company starts from the grant amount and then looks for something to write in the file. Evaluators sense it immediately, and if it slips through anyway, implementing an artificial project becomes an ordeal. Start from a real operational need and the numbers align themselves.