Inclusive Incubation and Finance for More Entrepreneurs

You can use the “Partner search announcements” on the webpage of the Call.

The concept of network implies a relationship between different members. The documents by which applicants may want to prove this relationship is left to their assessment.

Yes, webinars can be eligible activities.

The mere fact that an entity has activities in several countries is not sufficient to qualify as a network. The concept of network implies a relationship between different members.

Indeed, Albania is not an eligible country for this Call.

The Call stipulates that the consortium (comprising the lead applicant and co-applicants collectively) must have a formal presence in at least 14 eligible countries. This presence may be either direct (through the applicants themselves) or indirect (via their national members or affiliates).

The term “established” means that the consortium must demonstrate a permanent and operational structure in each claimed country. Simply conducting activities in a country without a stable local footprint does not fulfil this criterion.

If an applicant organisation operates branches in several countries, those countries will only count toward the 14-country minimum if the branches constitute real, stable establishments (as defined above), and the branches will be actively involved in delivering the project.

Yes, it is also applicable to affiliated entities that have just a legal link with the Participant. You do not need to provide more documents than mandatory requested at the stage of application. You may be asked at a later stage for further documents (for legal entity validation, financial capacity check, bank account validation, etc). You can also find more information under the document (referred to in the Call document) named “Rule for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity AssessmentPDF”.

You do not need to provide more documents than mandatory requested at the stage of application. You may be asked at a later stage for further documents (for legal entity validation, financial capacity check, bank account validation, etc).

Any consortium must at least entail one network of finance providers (either microfinance or finance for social enterprises). So if the consortium entails a network of finance of social enterprises, at network of microfinance providers is not mandatory.

As stated in the Call document: “Any consortium must at least entail one network of incubators and one network of finance providers (either microfinance or finance for social enterprises). Besides this, consortia may include other relevant entities such as social economy organisations, employment services, managing entities of local innovation ecosystems or research institutes”. No maximum.

The lead applicant must be a network (of incubators or of microfinance providers or of providers of finance for social enterprises). As stated in the Call document, “the consortium (lead applicant and co-applicants jointly) must be established (directly or via their national members) in at least 14 eligible countries.”

• The Call does not prescribe how funding has to be distributed between members of the consortium. The Call mentions that “any consortium must at least entail one network of incubators and one network of finance providers”. Whatever be the distribution of the funding, both mandatory elements of the consortium must have a genuine activity in the project. In other words, their involvement in the project cannot be anecdotical.
• A network having national members established in more than 20 EU countries satisfies the 14 eligible countries requirement. The national members do not have to be each formal members of the consortium if the network is member of the consortium.
• There is no formal definition of a “network” under this Call. However, the mere fact that an entity has activities in several countries is not sufficient to qualify as a network. The concept of network implies a relationship between different members.

• A UK/Kenya-based organisation can be a subcontractor of an EU based lead beneficiary awarded under this Call. The lead beneficiary will have to prove that hiring a UK/Kenya subcontractor is the most cost-effective option compared to EU-based entities and will also have to choose its subcontractor in line with applicable rules of the Grant agreement. A UK/Kenya-based organisation can be an associated partner for this Call. Associated partners are participating in the action but without the right to get grant money. They participate without funding and are not signatories of the grant agreement. UK/Kenya-based organisation can be a third party giving in-kind contribution for this Call. Associated partners and third parties giving in-kind contributions should bear their own costs (They participate without funding and are not signatories of the grant agreement). A UK/Kenya-based organisation cannot be an affiliated entity for this Call as it is not eligible (cfr. section 6 of the Call).
• A UK/Kenya-based organisation can contribute under the roles mentioned in our first answer above. The present Call does not impose specific restrictions on the types of tasks that may be subcontracted, except for project management and coordination roles. However, please note that subcontracting going beyond 30% of the total eligible costs must be clearly justified in the proposal.
• Proposals must relate to activities taking place in the eligible countries as per Section 6 of the Call Text, there is no exception.

1. A UK-based non-profit organisation can be a subcontractor of an EU based lead beneficiary awarded under this Call. The lead beneficiary will have to prove that hiring a UK subcontractor is the most cost-effective option compared to EU-based entities. He will also have to choose its subcontractor in line with applicable rules of the Grant agreement.

2. The lead applicant (beneficiary) must clearly demonstrate why a third country (UK) subcontractor is necessary, for example, due to specialised expertise, knowledge, or capacity that is not available within the EU. This must be explicitly justified in the proposal to avoid concerns about circumvention of eligibility rules. All activities carried out by the UK subcontractor should take place in eligible countries.

3. Experts should not be named in the proposal, because subcontractors are not known at the time of submission but are chosen in line with dedicated procurement procedure described in the grant Agreement.

4. The present Call does not impose specific restrictions on the types of tasks that may be subcontracted, except project management and coordination roles. As regards scale of subcontracting, please note that subcontracting going beyond 30% of the total eligible costs must be clearly justified in the proposal.

5. A UK-based non-profit organisation can be an associated partner for this Call. Associated partners are participating in the action but without the right to get grant money. They participate without funding and are not signatories of the grant agreement.

6. Entities from non-eligible countries (not listed in the call text) are exceptionally eligible if the granting authority considers their participation essential for the implementation of the action and their expertise is demonstrably unavailable and cannot be sourced within the eligible countries.

The members of the network who contribute in the implementation of core activities, e.g. peer-learning activities, delivering piloting actions, providing direct implementation support in their regions/countries, they should generally be included in the consortium structure as beneficiaries, or as affiliated entities, if the eligibility conditions for affiliated entities are fulfilled.

Their costs cannot normally be budgeted under “Other goods, works and services” simply because they are members of the network and provide support for these activities.

The budget line “Other goods, works and services” is generally intended for external providers delivering services under normal purchasing/subcontracting arrangements, not for organisations that are effectively carrying out parts of the main activities of the project.

As stated in the Call document, “in-kind contributions for free are allowed, but cost-neutral, i.e. they cannot be declared as cost”.

For co-financing requirements, please refer to pages 17-18 of the Call for Proposals, under ‘Form of grant, funding rate and maximum grant amount’. The funding rate for this call is 80%, meaning that beneficiaries must provide the remaining 20% through co-financing.

Furthermore, in accordance with Article 193 of the Financial RegulationPDF, co-financing may be provided through the beneficiary’s own resources, income generated by the action, or financial and in-kind contributions from third parties. In-kind contributions from third parties in the form of volunteers’ work may be considered eligible under the conditions set out in Article 193(2) of the Financial Regulation.

The Call document mentions that "the consortium (lead applicant and co-applicants jointly) must be established (directly or via their national members) in at least 14 eligible countries". As such, there is no formal requirement that the activities of the project must be implemented in 14 countries minimum. However, the number of countries into which activities of the project will take place is an element that will be considered for the evaluation of the proposals. Please also refer to the reply provided to previous question n°96193 ("With a multinational organization with autonomous local branches or national members operating across various eligible countries, how is their geographic presence counted?", published on 09/07/2026).

Yes, it is applicable.