Deadline Date: June 17, 2026
The Pre-Seed Support Platform grant programme is inviting applications to support early-stage startups in Armenia by providing flexible pre-seed funding and structured assistance to help them move from proof of concept to Minimum Viable Product and market validation.
The programme focuses on establishing and operationalising a structured pre-seed support mechanism that provides rapid, flexible, and milestone-based support to startups transitioning from Proof of Concept to Minimum Viable Product through non-repayable grants, increasing the number and quality of investment-ready startups by enabling validation of technical feasibility, market demand, and business assumptions, reducing early-stage financial and execution risks to strengthen the startup pipeline and improve the effectiveness of ecosystem actors, supporting MVP development and validation, improving startup readiness for investment and ecosystem engagement, ensuring transparent and merit-based selection processes with strong financial management and monitoring frameworks, laying the foundation for a sustainable and scalable pre-seed funding model to enhance long-term competitiveness and resilience of Armenia’s innovation ecosystem, and ensuring a clear separation between EU-funded grant resources and other financial instruments.
The programme is implemented through a grant awarded by Expertise France and is designed to address a critical funding gap in emerging innovation ecosystems. Early-stage startups often face challenges in accessing timely financial support needed to build and validate a Minimum Viable Product, which is essential for demonstrating traction and attracting further investment.
This initiative directly responds to the structural bottleneck where startups require funding to validate their ideas, yet validation is often a prerequisite for securing that funding. By providing early-stage, flexible financial support, the programme enables founders to move forward in their development journey without being constrained by traditional financing requirements.
The grant supports the creation and operation of a platform that delivers Financial Support to Third Parties in the form of non-repayable grants. These funds are intended to help startups develop functional MVPs, test their solutions with potential customers, and validate key assumptions necessary for growth and investment readiness.
The maximum grant amount available under this programme is €330,000, which will be used to establish and manage the support platform and deliver funding to eligible startups.
To be eligible, the lead applicant must be a legal entity registered in Armenia with prior experience in startup financing. The applicant must take direct responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the proposed project, whether independently or as part of a consortium, and must not act as an intermediary. Experience in delivering startup support and funding programmes in Armenia, particularly over a period exceeding three years, is considered an advantage, along with experience working on EU-funded or donor-funded initiatives.
Through this programme, the aim is to build a stronger and more resilient startup ecosystem in Armenia by enabling early-stage ventures to validate their ideas, reduce risks, and become investment-ready, while also supporting the long-term sustainability of pre-seed funding mechanisms.
For more information, visit Expertise France.
