EU Funding

Start-Up Nation 2018-2019 — the edition with the record RON 2 billion budget

The second Start-Up Nation edition, with the largest allocation in the programme's history, ended long ago — but the lesson of accurate cost breakdowns remains its most valuable legacy.

Programme fact sheet

Programme: Start-Up Nation — ediția a 2-a (2018-2019)
Programme family: Start-Up Nation
Managing authority: MMACA / AIPPIMM
Status: ClosedChecked on 30 July 2026
Funding value: up to 200,000 RON
Eligible beneficiaries: SMEs

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.

Two billion lei — no Start-Up Nation edition before or since has had an allocation that large. The second edition of the programme opened enrolment in December 2018, in a 30-day window, and drew roughly 33,500 applications. Results were communicated starting 3 June 2019, with a 5-day appeal period: 11,576 business plans were admitted, within budget and on the reserve list, and 8,645 applicants were initially called to sign contracts. The grant remained capped at RON 200,000 per firm. Beyond the numbers, the edition left a lesson we repeat to every client: many files had their amounts reduced because costs were placed in the wrong categories — hence the value of an accurate cost breakdown, drawn up by a supplier who knows the eligible categories. Northdan Soft, as a software supplier, delivers exactly that for the active editions: a technical offer and budget for a website, online store or management software, with every cost in the right category.

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How we help

The truth about a long-closed session

We confirm in black and white that the 2018-2019 edition accepts no more applications, so you direct your energy at edition 4, the only relevant one now.

The trimmed-amounts lesson, applicable today

You see why files with approximate budgets lost money and how to avoid the same result: costs placed correctly by category, with real offers from a supplier.

The digital benchmarks of that procedure

The historical ceilings for the web page, software and e-commerce give you a useful intuition of how the authorities think about the digital component in any edition.

A supplier's budget for the current edition

For today's file, Northdan Soft provides a technical offer and a detailed eligible-cost budget — the documents that in 2019 made the difference between the amount requested and the amount received.

Record budget, record competition

The RON 2 billion allocation made the second edition the largest Start-Up Nation round until then and since. The 30-day enrolment window, opened in December 2018, gathered around 33,500 applications — a wave that tested the entire evaluation machinery.

The outcome arrived in the summer of 2019: results began to be communicated on 3 June, appeals could be lodged within 5 days, 11,576 plans were declared admitted within budget and on the reserve list, and the first 8,645 applicants were invited to sign funding contracts of up to RON 200,000.

The digital component in the 2018-2019 procedure

The second edition kept the digital costs but recalibrated the ceilings: the presentation web page was eligible up to roughly RON 4,000, software needed for the activity had a ceiling of about RON 60,000 — of which the e-commerce component could reach roughly RON 20,000 — plus IT equipment, the domain name and online promotion.

It was precisely in these categories that most cuts occurred: costs described vaguely or placed in the wrong category were declared ineligible at evaluation or reimbursement, and firms received less than they had requested. A budget drawn up by the supplier, with every functionality and every price in its place, was — and remains — the simplest insurance against that scenario.

What opened after the second edition

The programme returned in 2022 with the third edition, and today edition 4 runs through the Education and Employment Programme, with session 2 announced by MEDAT — up-to-date conditions are on our live Start-Up Nation page.

The ceilings above belong to the 2018-2019 procedure and do not transfer automatically to any later edition. For a current file we provide a technical offer and a budget by cost category, drawn against the categories of the procedure actually in force.

Frequently asked questions

Is there any way left to apply to the Start-Up Nation 2018-2019 edition?

There is not: the enrolment window stayed open for 30 days from December 2018, and the contracts were signed and implemented long ago. Today applications go exclusively to the programme's edition 4.

Why did some firms receive less than the amount requested in 2019?

Because at evaluation and reimbursement part of the costs were declared ineligible — vague descriptions or wrong category placement. That is exactly why we recommend the software part of any file come with a detailed budget from the supplier.

How much software could be reimbursed in the second edition?

The procedure of the time allowed software needed for the activity up to a ceiling of about RON 60,000, of which the e-commerce component roughly RON 20,000, plus a presentation web page of up to roughly RON 4,000, domain and online promotion.

Has Start-Up Nation ever had a budget that large again?

No — the RON 2 billion allocation of the 2018-2019 edition remains the largest in the programme's history. Later editions worked with smaller budgets, which makes today's competition all the more serious.