Deadline: 30-January-2026
The Standards and Awards for SMEs Grant Scheme is inviting grant applications to support SMEs with funding for advisory services to achieve recognised standards and enhance business performance.
The scheme funds advisory services that assist SMEs in preparing for and successfully achieving recognised standards or awards, enhancing competitiveness and credibility through internationally recognised certifications or national excellence awards, strengthening alignment with industry standards and best practices, promoting quality, efficiency, sustainability and innovation within business operations, facilitating entry into new markets and encouraging continuous improvement and excellence in operations, supporting improvements to internal management frameworks and operational structures rather than regulatory or product‑specific certifications, and advancing the SFC2021 Programme 2021–2027’s Policy Objective to promote entrepreneurship and innovative economic transformation and Specific Objective to enhance sustainable growth, competitiveness of SMEs and job creation, with the scheme operational until 31st December 2026 and managed under a total budget of €500,000, providing maximum grants of €15,000 or up to €20,000 when pursuing more than two standards or awards through the same service provider in a single application.
The Standards & Awards for SMEs Grant Scheme is designed to help eligible enterprises strengthen their business operations by accessing external consultancy services that prepare them to achieve recognised quality, sustainability, governance or other management system standards and awards.
Funding under this initiative contributes to improvements in internal management practices, operational structures and overall competitiveness without covering regulatory compliance or product‑specific certification costs.
Eligible applicants include micro, small and medium‑sized enterprises engaged in economic activity that have been actively trading for at least one year by the application date, and undertakings without legal personality must be registered under the applicable law, such as under the Second Schedule of the Civil Code.
For more information, visit FONDI.eu.
