The decision emphasizes that "Grant support is provided to startups and facilitators of startups self-declared in the electronic registry of startups and facilitators, equipped with the respective passport, according to Article 11 of Law No. 25/2022, "On the support and development of startups", as amended. Applicant entities, startups, can apply as individuals, natural persons, or legal entities, domestic or foreign, including digital nomads."
What are the criteria?!
a) Have completed self-declaration in the electronic registry of startups and be equipped with the startup passport before the application; b) Startups selecting the current development phase specified through the application forms: the initial phase (F1); the validation phase (F2); the growth phase (F3). c) Startups in the initial phase, early (F1) may be private individuals, domestic or foreign, including digital nomads, planning to continue business operations in Albania; d) Startups in the validation phase (F2) and the growth phase (F3) must be legally registered businesses in the commercial register of the Republic of Albania and not more than 6 (six) years old at the time of application; d) Have fulfilled tax obligations at the time of application; e) An applicant may not apply more than once for the same call. Facilitators of startups that meet the following criteria are supported with grants: a) Applicants must be natural or legal persons registered in the commercial register of the Republic of Albania or in court in the case of NGOs; b) They must be owned by Albanian citizens; c) They must have carried out activities in support of startups during the last 2 (two) years in the territory of the Republic of Albania, evidenced by contracts and published reports; d) Have fulfilled tax obligations at the time of application; e) An applicant may not apply more than once for the same call. Winning projects must be implemented within the specified timeframe in the public call for support, starting from the date of signing the grant agreement between the beneficiary and Start Up Albania.
The grant disbursement for winning projects is made in 3 (three) installments after the completion of each phase of the project, upon submission of the invoices/expenses incurred and the required documentation, according to the procedures and criteria set forth in the regulation "On the implementation and monitoring of winning projects of the call for support measures." Startups and facilitators receive funding for the project in 3 (three) installments: a) The first installment: 30% (thirty percent) of the fund value immediately after signing the grant contract; b) The second installment: 40% (forty percent) of the fund value immediately after approval by Start Up Albania of the descriptive and financial report of the first phase; c) The third installment: 30% (thirty percent) of the fund value after approval by Start Up Albania of the final descriptive and financial report. The deadline for submitting applications for support measures and the call period cannot be less than 10 (ten) calendar days and no more than 30 (thirty) days. Within 15 (fifteen) calendar days after the publication of the "Call for applications for support measures," by order of the minister responsible for entrepreneurship, the Evaluation Commission and the Appeals Commission are set up, also appointing the respective chairpersons. The Evaluation Commission aims to review and evaluate applications from startups and facilitators and consists of 5 (five) members representing state administration bodies, the academic world, the national and international startup ecosystem. The Director of Start Up Albania is a member of the Evaluation Commission due to duty. The Appeals Commission consists of 3 (three) members, representing state administration bodies, the academic world, the national and international startup ecosystem. The members must also meet a set of criteria. Evaluation of the support measure request The requests are reviewed by the Evaluation Commission, where each member evaluates them based on the specified scoring criteria in the scoring forms, approved in the regulation "On the implementation and monitoring of winning projects of the call for support measures," approved by the order of the minister responsible for entrepreneurship. Winners are announced according to the ranking of points collected in relation to the total fund available.
The beneficiary subject after receiving the grant must report to Start Up Albania on the progress of implementation, based on the conditions and deadlines specified in the grant contract, the guide for periodic progress reporting, and supporting documentation for reporting, approved by the minister responsible for entrepreneurship. On the other hand, Start Up Albania will monitor the implementation of projects and report on their progress to the minister responsible for entrepreneurship.
0 comments