Wondering if there will be EU grants for your company in 2024? You are in the right place. In this article, I will show you examples of calls that will be conducted in 2024.
Remember that these are not all the European funds that are or will be available. It is impossible to describe all the programs, as they are divided into local, national, but also international programs. One thing is certain, there are and will be many opportunities. In addition, remember that you don't have to limit yourself to EU funds only. Subsidies for companies are also offered by entities not directly affiliated with the European Union. There will be up to several hundred industry and territorially diversified programs waiting for Polish entrepreneurs.
Especially if you run an SME (micro, small and medium-sized enterprise) company, this could be the year you finally benefit from subsidies.
Below are some examples of grants that will be available in the coming months. Keep in mind that these are not all the subsidies available to companies. There are many more, and the following is just a sample listing. There will be as many as 10 times more programs each month than you see listed below. It is impossible to list them all. Most for today are not yet known. These are the last years when Poland gets EU subsidies at such a high level. It's worth taking this chance - take advantage of the available subsidies.
Financial support will be available under the next edition of the SMART Path program, among others. This is for single SMEs, consortia of SMEs, as well as for large and medium-sized enterprises. The most important factor in evaluating applications is the quality and validity of the planned research and development (R&D) work. In previous editions, companies that dropped out during the evaluation process usually lost points precisely on the research part or more generally on the real innovation of the project.
Companies implementing innovations, should be aware that the times when, for example, a new website or a simple IT system could be considered such, are irrevocably gone. In the current calls based on scientific R&D work, what counts are deep tech solutions, with a high level of complexity and guaranteeing breakthrough innovation at least on a national scale (no similar solutions from competitors). When you're thinking about this support, it's a good idea to talk to research organizations that could provide your company with scientific personnel for the project today.
In 2024, funds from the National Reconstruction Plan are to finally be released. Many enterprises are waiting for this, especially in the HoReCa or cultural industries. As part of the first calls, funds for enterprises are to be allocated for:
- Investment in a service or manufacturing base,
- Investments related to green transformation,
- Investments in implementing renewable energy solutions,
- Investments related to the use of digital technologies,
- Improving the skills of employees,
- development services.
A green loan, despite its name, is a de facto subsidy. If you're planning a transformation of your business that will significantly reduce your existing energy consumption, this may be the financing for you. It is a subsidy because part of the loan you take out from a commercial bank, is repaid by the state (BGK). The green loan requires the applicant to develop a business energy intensity audit, which is developed by professional consulting firms. It is worth knowing about this before deciding to participate.
2024 will see the implementation of more than 100 different provincial programs - from several to a dozen programs in each province. To see if you can benefit from EU funds of this type, keep up to date with announcements in this regard. The funds will be dedicated to various projects. For example, those related to environmental protection, culture, but also promoting employment, education (including vocational education) or encouraging the opening of kindergarten facilities.
Programs on promoting Polish brands abroad will continue. The brand promotion program for innovative SMEs, which replaced the former "Go to brand," is one of the solutions in this regard. The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development is not the only place to look for information about this type of support. It is also worth following programs offered by international organizations such as the Visegrad Group or under the Norwegian Funds.
Another example of planned activities is funds for improving employee skills. Importantly, this is usually not a typical grant - entrepreneurs do not receive funds to spend. Instead, they are reimbursed for ordering training services, provided by one of the appropriately certified companies.
Successor programs to the "Development of Startups in Eastern Poland" program are also due to launch in 2024. These will be FENG funds - European Funds for Modern Economy dedicated to innovative startups. In the previous perspective, EU grants under this program were very popular.
Some of the programs planned for implementation by PARP are already known. Below is the list.
When evaluating the possibility of benefiting from European funds, it is important to take into account the location of the project. In addition to the size of the enterprise, this is the main factor that can affect the amount of support under de minimis aid, state aid or other aid.
In this regard, nothing has changed with respect to 2023. Companies located in eastern Poland are promoted. By this is meant provinces such as Warmian-Masurian, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, Lublin and Podkarpackie.
Does this mean that other companies have no chance for subsidies? Of course they have. On the other hand, in some competitions they will be at a disadvantage (financially) compared to entrepreneurs from the East. In the case of provincial programs, location does not matter much. At the same time, it should be noted that sometimes a given measure is addressed only to specific counties - for example, those with the highest level of unemployment or the lowest level of industrialization. The level of funding is always specified in the documentation of a given program, most often in the regulations.
EU subsidies are one of many solutions for financing a company. In addition, you have at your disposal at least bank loans (including preferential loans) or private financing from investors. Remember that you can also base your company's development on other financing solutions. Sometimes they give you much more freedom.
When you are interested in non-refundable funding, specifically grants, remember that the funds offered by the European Union are not the only solution either. Company development is sometimes also possible based on funds from the Ministry, international organizations or private entities. An entrepreneur should have a full overview of the available opportunities in order to choose the best one for himself at the time. When thinking about the development of a company, it is worthwhile to consult a financing expert who looks at things more broadly than just through the prism of wanting to sell the drafting of an application under a program on which he happens to be familiar - hence the promotion of a particular solution.
In order to provide entrepreneurs with increased access to knowledge about current support programs, we have launched an informative guide called Available Grants. It can be consulted at https://dostepnedotacje.pl ; Its purpose is to provide companies with current and complete knowledge of open and scheduled calls. In this way, the chance of professionally drafting an application on time increases, and thus the chances of obtaining a grant are maximized.
Manufacturing companies thinking about grants should focus on elements such as innovation or environmental protection in their planned projects. There will certainly be programs in which eligible expenses will include the possibility of financing, for example, a new production line. Formal requirements, however, may relate to the aforementioned criteria or, more broadly, to the implementation of solutions broadly referred to collectively as Industry 4.0.
Subsidies simply for the purchase of land, building property or machinery, without additional formal requirements will either be very difficult to obtain or there will not even be such programs. Unless additional requirements are met. For example, those indicated above, or the purchase will be related to the revitalization of a declining property. Grant programs are usually written in such a way that the purchase of machinery or real estate is to be carried out somewhat "by the way", and not as the main objective of the program itself.
Remember to check the catalog of eligible costs when assessing whether it is worth applying for the funds. There you will check whether you are entitled to support, for example, for fixed assets or only for intangibles or other expenses that are not your priority.
The most important stage, contrary to appearances, is not at all to develop a proposal, but to find a matching program. This is where 99% companies fall off. Therefore, focus first and foremost on finding out what EU grants you have a chance for, when the call starts and what conditions you must meet.
When you find the right program, you can apply to one of the hundreds of companies that deal with subsidies in Poland - including us. Applications are usually so complicated that you are advised against drafting them on your own. Concepts such as performance indicators, horizontal policies or the competitiveness base usually sound completely foreign to the average business owner. And their familiarity is usually necessary in order to properly fill out an application.
Once the grant is awarded, the work doesn't end. You still have to implement the project and account for it. Implementation of the plans written in the application many months in advance is often complicated and demanding in practice. Therefore, it is worthwhile to support yourself with the support of specialists, especially if you have no experience in this. In terms of procedures, there will be no fundamental changes this year.
An enterprise that is interested in taking advantage of subsidies will have many different options. In this article, I have presented a few sample programs. In total, however, there will be more than 100 of them. For this reason, the best idea is to monitor the opportunities on an ongoing basis. For example, with the help of DostepneDotacje.co.uk ;
The amount of subsidy depends on the criteria of the program. Each EU grant has its own rules and regulations, which describe the most important criteria, including the level of funding both in percentage and amount.
The key words are R&D, energy transformation, competitiveness, oze, support for digitization, any company transformation activities based on hard innovation. In short, it is best to plan company development projects based on research, innovation, green energy. Then we have the best chance that our established plans can be financed with external support from grants. Does this mean that if we don't plan for innovation we have no chance for a grant? Absolutely not so. There will be many programs and they will be diverse. However, not every company will find something for itself and it is worth being aware of this.
