Call for proposals: Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

The European Commission is currently seeking applications for its Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme with the aim to foster entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture across the EU.

The purpose of the call is to select bodies which will act as Intermediary Organisations (IOs) to implement the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme at local level. They will, in particular, recruit and assist the entrepreneurs who will benefit the programme. This call will therefore support actions for organisations enhancing and facilitating the mobility of new entrepreneurs, and is not intended for entrepreneurs willing to participate in the programme. The project duration will be two years (1/02/2018 – 31/01/2020).

By awarding grants to promote the mobility of new entrepreneurs, the Commission’s specific objectives
are:

  1. to provide on-the-job-training for new entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises elsewhere in the COSME Participating Countries in order to facilitate a successful start-up, and development of their business ideas;
  2. to foster sharing of experience and information between entrepreneurs on the obstacles and challenges of starting up and developing their businesses; 
  3. to enhance market access and identification of potential partners for new and established businesses in other EU and COSME Participating Countries; 
  4. to support networking between entrepreneurs from different Participating Countries by building on knowledge and experience from other Participating Countries; 
  5. the Intermediary Organisations will deliver high quality standards so as to deliver the following expected output for this call for proposals:
  6. further developing a network of new entrepreneurs (NEs), host entrepreneurs (HEs) and Intermediary Organisations (IOs); 
  7. enabling around 1300 new entrepreneurs to work alongside and learn from a host entrepreneur in another Participating Country under this action by early 2020. 
  8. creating new businesses, joint ventures and spin-off companies and foster cross-border business cooperation; 
  9. enhancing the international activities and innovation potential of host entrepreneurs.

Size of grants

The maximum grant amount per project will be EUR 500,000. It is estimated that 10 proposals will be funded through this call.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must be legal entities forming a consortium. Applying entities may for instance include:

  • Public entities responsible for or active in the fields of economic affairs, enterprise, business support or related issues,
  • Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of (handi)crafts or similar bodies, 
  • Business support organisations, start-up centres, incubators, technology parks etc., 
  • Business associations and business support networks, 
  • Public and private entities offering business support services, 
  • Institutes of (higher) education such as universities or institutes for vocational education and training.

Only applications from legal entities established in EU Member States and countries participating in the COSME programme pursuant to Article 6 of the COSME Regulation are eligible.

Projects must be implemented in consortia. Consortia must be composed of at least 5 independent legal entities from at least 4 different COSME Participating Countries and include no more than 10 partners.

Deadline

7 June 2017

How to apply

For further information and to apply please click here.