EU Funding

Innotech Student: the POCU call for student entrepreneurship, archived

EUR 150 million for student businesses, channelled through universities, NGOs and chambers of commerce — a call closed since September 2020, with lessons that still hold.

Programme fact sheet

Programme: POCU/829/6/13 — «Innotech Student»
Programme family: POCU
Managing authority: MIPE — AM POCU
Status: ClosedChecked on 30 July 2026
Submission deadline: 30 September 2020
Funding value: per the official applicant guide

The programme's official applicant guide

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.

Students with business ideas had their own call in 2020 under POCU, Romania’s 2014-2020 human capital operational programme: Innotech Student, code POCU/829/6/13, dedicated to student entrepreneurship. The final submission window ran from 15 July to 30 September 2020, set after two successive postponements, and the call's total budget was EUR 150 million. As in every POCU entrepreneurship scheme, students did not apply directly to the ministry: projects were submitted by grant administrators — NGOs, universities and chambers of commerce — each with a ceiling of EUR 2 million per administrator. They then ran the entrepreneurship training and the business-plan competitions that produced grants for student businesses, many of them with a tech or digital profile; the amounts per business were those established per the call's official guide. The call is closed today, along with the whole POCU 2014-2020 programme. A student or graduate looking to finance a first company now looks at Start-Up Nation and at the funding lines for IT start-ups — and Northdan Soft can accompany them exactly as it would any founder: as the software vendor building the MVP, not as a funding consultant.

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How we help

The correct record of a much-searched call

The code POCU/829/6/13, the final window of 15 July – 30 September 2020, the EUR 150 million budget and the administrator mechanism — verified facts, without inflated figures.

The mechanism, translated for founders

We explain why students did not submit directly and what role universities, NGOs and chambers of commerce played — a model that repeats in today's entrepreneurship schemes.

The routes open to student founders today

We point you to the active alternatives: Start-Up Nation through PEO and the funding lines relevant to IT start-ups, each with its own status page.

From business plan to a working MVP

As a software vendor, we turn the idea in the business plan into an MVP delivered quickly, with a clear budget — our Start-Up Digital package is built for companies at the beginning.

How Innotech Student worked

The POCU/829/6/13 call was launched by the POCU managing authority for student entrepreneurship, with submissions in the final window of 15 July – 30 September 2020 — a calendar that resulted from two postponements. Total budget: EUR 150 million.

The applicants were grant administrators — NGOs, universities, chambers of commerce — with projects capped at EUR 2 million per administrator. They ran the entrepreneurship training and the business-plan competitions, and the winners received grants to set up their businesses, in the amounts established by the call's official guide.

What the call left behind

The profile of the businesses was notable: many of the funded plans had a tech or digital component — applications, platforms, online services — because those matched the skills of the student target group naturally. We do not summarise the scheme's final results here: we found no consolidated official reporting to cite, and at launch there were targets rather than outcomes.

The practical lesson for any young founder: in schemes of this type the quality of the grant administrator matters almost as much as your idea — they set the competition calendar, the mentoring and the payment flow. Vetting that partner remains a compulsory step in today's programmes too.

The current alternative for student entrepreneurs

Innotech Student is not being relaunched — the POCU programme has ended. A student or recent graduate looking for funding for a first company has two directions documented on this site: Start-Up Nation, now run under PEO, the 2021-2027 education and employment programme, and the funding lines relevant to IT start-ups, both with status kept current and links to the official guides.

Northdan Soft enters such projects on the technical side: we develop the MVP from the business plan, with a technical offer and a budget by cost category for the file, then deliver in short stages. We do not write grant applications — we are your company's software vendor, and the administrative side stays with the consultant.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still apply to Innotech Student?

No — submissions closed on 30 September 2020 and the POCU 2014-2020 programme is entirely closed. For a start-up launched today, the alternatives documented on this site are Start-Up Nation through PEO and the funding lines for IT start-ups.

How much did a student business receive through Innotech Student?

The grant amounts per business were those established by the official guide of call POCU/829/6/13 — we do not reproduce them from secondary sources. What is certain is the ceiling of EUR 2 million per grant administrator and the total budget of EUR 150 million.

Who submitted the projects: the students or the universities?

The grant administrators — NGOs, universities and chambers of commerce — were the applicants; students then took part in the training and the business-plan competitions those administrators organised, and the winners received the set-up grants.

Can Northdan Soft build the product of a start-up financed from EU funds?

Yes — that is precisely our role: the software vendor developing the MVP or the application from the business plan, with a technical offer and a budget for the file, and delivery in stages. The funding itself you manage with a specialist consultant, with whom we coordinate on the technical side.