The Northwest Regional Development Agency, as the Management Authority for the Northwest Regional Program 2021-2027 (NORTH-VEST REGION), publishes today, December 18, 2023, Applicant's Guide 132.B.1 – Supporting the development of business incubators.

The call for projects is competitive, with submission deadline, and funding applications can be submitted through the MySMIS 2021/2021+ computer system during:  February 1, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – July 30, 2024, 10:00 a.m.

Download – Applicant's Guide 132.B.1 – Supporting the development of business incubators.

ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES UNDER THIS CALL FOR PROJECTS

A. Landscaping necessary for the development of business incubators.

Within this category of activities (financed by regional state aid) activities related to:

1. landscaping;
2. landscaping for environmental protection;

B. Ensuring the utilities necessary for the objective.

Within this category of activities will be eligible the activities related to: water supply, sewage, natural gas supply, heat agent, electricity, telecommunications that are carried out on the delimited site, from a legal point of view, as belonging to the investment objective, as well as the expenses related to the connection to utility networks, other utilities.

C. Building business incubators

Within this category of activities, the activities related to: constructions and installations - activities to build business incubators will be eligible.

D. Equipping business incubators

Within this category of activities, activities related to the purchase and provision of machinery, technological and functional equipment with and without assembly, activities of purchasing machinery and technological equipment, as well as those included in functional installations, activities of assembling machinery will be eligible technological equipment and equipment included in the functional installations, including the related networks necessary for their operation: the purchase of technological equipment, machinery, work installations, furniture, computer equipment, office automation, of the nature of fixed assets, respectively which can be found in subgroup 2.1. "Technological equipment (machines, machines and work installations)", subgroup 2.2. "Measurement, control and regulation devices and installations", or group 3 "Furniture, office equipment, systems for protecting human and material values and other tangible assets" listed in the annex of Government Decision no. 2.139/2004 for the approval of the Catalog regarding the classification and normal operating durations of fixed assets, with subsequent amendments.

The related endowments are eligible:

• common spaces (conference rooms, spaces for organizing workshops, protocol locations, common production halls, etc.),
• spaces rented to resident companies - the incubator administrator provides properly equipped spaces that will meet specific requirements of the residents.

E. Activities with the purchase of specific installations/equipment in order to achieve energy savings, as well as systems using renewable/alternative energy sources for the efficiency of the activities for which funding was requested, for own use.

F. Acquisition of Intangible Assets: activities related to the purchase of patents, licenses, trademarks, computer programs, other rights and similar assets, the purchase of electronic signatures; expenses related to the creation of online marketing tools for the applicant's own services.

G. Development and development of services necessary for the development of incubation cycles/acceleration programs and activities related to the provision of services specific to incubators. In this category, of activities financed by aid de minimis, will include activities related to:

• organization of events (cycle/program launch type, organization of thematic work sessions, demo day[1], meetings with investors),
• training and education of the incubator's own staff, involved in the development of the incubation cycle/acceleration program/offering services to residents,
• promotion and marketing activities incubation cycle/acceleration program,
• development/running within the incubation cycle/acceleration program of some thematic work sessions: managerial advice and ensuring constant cooperation of resident companies with mentors and business development/planning and formation/establishment of a company; access to vocational training services for current and future market needs; purchase of market studies; internationalization consultancy and export support: markets and search for partners, providing help with commercial, national and international contacts, support in identifying partners; IT and e-business support; consultancy – development of new products and services; consultancy – obtaining financing; grants and capital, contacts with Business Angels, venture capital funds.

It is mandatory to carry out the activities presented in letter G aimed at "Developing and running services necessary for the running of incubation cycles/acceleration programs and activities related to the provision of services specific to incubators". The expenses corresponding to these activities will be financed by de minimis aid.

CAREFUL!

If the project includes as non-refundable costs specific purchased services (other than those performed with its own staff), the applicant/partners undertake not to collect commissions/costs from the legal entities to which they provide the respective services by any means type of contractual relationship during the duration of the project.

CAREFUL!

It is mandatory to carry out the information and publicity activities related to the project in accordance with the Visual Identity Guide developed by MIPE and with the contractual provisions.

NOTE:

The development of business incubators will be done considering interventions aimed at maximizing the surfaces of green spaces, and these will be made strictly with autochthonous species, from the local flora.

Eligible activities and their related eligible expenses provided for in letter A, B, C, D and E will be funded by regional state aid for investments.

Eligible activities and eligible expenses under letter F and G will be funded through help de minimis.

 

CAREFUL!

The activity provided for in letter G is mandatory to be carried out by all applicants who submit a request for funding under this call. In the case of beneficiaries who requested regional state aid for the construction of a business incubator, they undertake to start the incubation cycle/acceleration program within a maximum of 18 months from the date of signing the financing contract, which must be proposed within the projects submitted for this appeal (the related activities provided for in letter G).

[1] "Demo day" is essentially a presentation day where start-ups that have completed an incubation/acceleration process/cycle/program are invited to present their project/product/service to investors and make a pitch presentation.

The North-West Regional Program 2021-2027 proposes interventions for the development of research, development, innovation and digitization capacity, increasing the energy performance of the existing public and residential building fund, capitalizing on degraded spaces at the city level, sustainable urban mobility, investments in the network of county roads and in the educational infrastructure, as well as actions to capitalize on the cultural, touristic and spa potential.

In the financial year 2021-2027, public authorities and institutions, the business environment, the academic and research environment and NGOs can obtain funding.

The Northwest Regional Program benefits from a total allocation of 1,437,252,471 euros.

• Priority 1: A competitive region through innovation, digitization and dynamic enterprises - total value: 327,904,956 euros
• Priority 2: A region with smart localities - total value: 60,332,872 euros
• Priority 3: A region with environmentally friendly localities - total value: 210,666,112 euros
• Priority 4: A region with sustainable multimodal urban mobility – total value: 305,155,751 euros
• Priority 5: An accessible region - total value: 184,978,708 euros
• Priority 6: An educated region - total value: 77,386,100 euros
• Priority 7: An attractive region - total value: 210,363,134 euros
• Technical assistance – total value: 60,464,838 euros

More information about the Northwest Regional Program for 2021-2027 is available here, and the program can be consulted here.