Grants are a great way to support projects that have a positive impact on society. So, there is a simple answer to the question “what is a grant?” – it is “a financial contribution provided for these beneficial activities”. The importance of grants is truly great for many entities and for some of them, obtaining grant support is crucial to ensure their basic functioning.  

 You may be thinking that as a start-up you have no chance of getting grant support. However, the opposite is true. There are a number of interesting grant funding opportunities for you too. And we are ready to help you use them. 

 The possibilities are wide-ranging, from arts and culture to science and the environment. Grant programmes help development and prosperity in many areas and there is usually a defined list of who can apply. There is often a requirement for a company history. Most business grants require that the applicant business or sole proprietorship have a history of at least 2 years. However, there are also grant programmes that start-ups can take advantage of. These include mainly programmes announced by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TREND, THÉTA, Transport 2030, SIGMA), but also e.g. grants for photovoltaics or some grants for creative vouchers. If you are an individual, there is also financial support for the self-employed, for example for training opportunities.  

 For some grant programmes, instead of the age of the company, it is assessed whether the company has benefited from grants in the past. Thus, the TREND programme uses the designation “Newcomers” for entities that have not received grants of CZK 1 million for research projects in the last 5 years.  

Are you a start-up but have no experience? 

Another question is how to get grants if your company has been around for a while but has no experience with grants yet. There is a wide range of grant programs here that are designed for different purposes. However, the programmes also differ in their complexity and administrative intensity. It can therefore be recommended to focus on relatively simpler programmes in the first stage, such as Innovation Vouchers, photovoltaics and electromobility. It will be easier for you to prepare more complex programmes, such as Applications, Innovation or Technology 4.0, if you have some previous experience and have already been through the application process. Previous completed projects in these more complex programmes can also help you with project evaluation. 

 Whether you have previous experience in implementing an investment project with a grant or not, a good way to avoid confusion, stress and save time is to use the services of grant experts to help you through the entire process. They will provide the preparation of applications for support, selection procedures and audits of projects. 

Are you a small or large company? Easy determination of business size  

Some grants are intended for small enterprises, others for medium enterprises, for example, and sometimes you will even see the term mid caps. The size of your business is an important piece of information that determines whether or not your company can apply for a particular grant. That is why in our grant radar you can cleverly filter the calls according to these parameters. The meaning of the terms and what must be fulfilled will be explained below. 

 The basic criteria for assessing the size of an enterprise are the number of employees, the amount of annual turnover and/or the annual balance sheet total (size of assets). There are a total of 4 categories of enterprise size: 

To make sure it is not too simple, for large businesses you may also see the terms small mid-caps and mid caps. Small mid caps or “small companies with medium capitalisation” are entities that have 499 employees or less and are not small or medium-sized enterprises. Mid caps, “mid market capitalisation companies”, have no more than 3,000 employees and are neither SMEs nor small mid market capitalisation companies.  

Size is also important for partnered and connected businesses 

However, the above data are not only for the undertaking applying for the grant, but also for its related or partner companies, if such companies exist. These are companies with an ownership interest of 25% and above. A partner enterprise is a company with a linkage ratio of 25-50 % and the data for this company are added to the applicant’s data at the appropriate percentage. If the link is above 50 %, it is a linked enterprise and the data are added in full. Property ties also include those through family members and persons acting jointly. 

The average annual number of employees in full-time equivalent units is used to determine the number of employees. Most applications for grants are accompanied by an affidavit on the size of the enterprise, which includes the above-mentioned data for the last two closed accounting periods.  

In order for the grant provider to verify the size of the undertaking, it is necessary to ensure the publication of documents (balance sheet, profit and loss statement, etc.) in the Collection of Deeds on behalf of the applicant well in advance. Failure to do so result in rejection of the application.  

Still unsure about the size of your business? Please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to help you. We will find a grant title suitable for your company and your financial plan and arrange the preparation of the grant application.