3.9 Start-up funding for young entrepreneurs
On this page
On this page
Access to information
Young people primarily access information about start-up financing opportunities through online platforms. The Fund for Innovation and Technology Development (FITD) actively promotes its funding programs via its official website and through promotional events. Since the launch of the "Start-up" and "Spin-off" co-financed grants program in October 2018, FITD has periodically opened new calls, including in late 2019, April 2021, and the first half of 2022.
As of June 2024, FITD has introduced a new public call for "Co-financed Grants for the Commercialization of Innovations," allocating €8 million to support businesses developing innovative products, services, or processes. Eligible companies could apply for funding covering up to 70% of their project costs, with a maximum grant of 20 million Macedonian denars (approximately €325,000).
In addition to online resources, unemployed young people registered as active job seekers with the Employment Service Agency (ESA) receive job notifications via phone messages when relevant opportunities match their profiles. Furthermore, job seekers can access information on active employment measures at any of ESA’s 30 Employment Centers across the country.
A number of organizations promote start-up opportunities and resource information through their websites and activities. As an example, Startup Macedonia is an organization that supports innovation, development, and networking between startups and all the local stakeholders which are part of the ecosystem in order to build a better startup community.
Another opportunity for promotion is the Startup Europe Week. In 2016 for the first time Startup Europe Week was held in North Macedonia and since then every year there is a weekly event in Macedonia.
Access to capital
In the Operational Plan for Active Programs and Measures for Employment and Services in the Labor Market for 2024 , one of the first measures envisaged is the support for self-employment (entrepreneurship). The purpose of this measure is to support the unemployed to start their own business. The beneficiaries of this measure are unemployed young people under 29 years of age, people with disabilities, unemployed marginalized women and other unemployed persons registered with the Employment Agency. In order to realize this measure, ESA in accordance with the Operational Plan has foreseen to cover 1.995 unemployed people. The total budget for the support for self-employment for 2024 is 815.179.873 MKD which is higher, in comparison with the previous 2023 year (709.088.086 MKD).
The Fund for Innovation and Technology Development encourages and supports innovation activities in micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) in order to achieve more dynamic technological development based on knowledge transfer, development research and on innovations that contribute to job creation, and to economic growth and development, while simultaneously improving the business environment for the development of competitive capabilities of companies. The Fund provides funding opportunities for increasing the capacity of already commenced startups.
Crowdfunding is also a funding opportunity for young people who want to start their own business. Macedonian citizens are usually using this opportunity for humanitarian reasons, and usually they do not have the custom to use these funding opportunities for startups. There are several platforms that provide such service, such as eCrowd and MladiPretpriemaci.mk.