Six organisations in the Republic of Moldova have received more than €1 million in EU grants to develop programmes supporting startups and entrepreneurs across different stages of business growth — from ideation and incubation to acceleration, investment readiness and international expansion.
Grants were awarded under the EU4Innovation East project at the ‘Empowering Moldova’s Startup Ecosystem through EU Funding’ event, held on 11 September in Chisinau. The event brought together representatives of the Government of Moldova, the European Union, France and the country’s entrepreneurial community.
The six organisations were selected through a competitive evaluation process. Their programmes address different needs across Moldova’s startup pipeline, creating new opportunities for founders to develop ideas, validate products, access investment and reach international markets.
ATIC (National Association of ICT Companies) – ASCEND
The ASCEND programme will train young people and IT specialists to develop at least 20 prototypes and attract €100,000 in investment.
Dreamups – Dreamups Startup Growth Pipeline
The programme will offer founders an end-to-end pathway from idea development to scaling, combining incubation, acceleration and product management training.
Startup Moldova – IGNITE
IGNITE will support startups in accessing EU markets, provide expansion grants and develop the startup.md platform, which aims to centralise information on more than 300 ecosystem stakeholders.
Technovator – Moldova Deep Innovation Pathway
The programme will focus on DeepTech solutions through activities including the 2026 edition of GigaHack, microgrants and pre-acceleration support in Bucharest.
XY Partners – MISSION 5: HealthTech
The programme will support healthcare innovation through clinical validation, at least five pilot projects in medical institutions and access to investments of up to €200,000.
YEP! Moldova – Startup101 Academy
The 12-month programme will engage more than 1,000 young people, support the development of 50 Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and connect participants with experts from the Moldovan diaspora.
Together, the programmes will be rolled out in the coming period and will provide founders with access to training, mentoring, incubation and acceleration, hackathons, microgrants, pilot opportunities, investment-readiness support and connections to international markets, investors and the diaspora community.
EU4Innovation East is a regional project funded by the European Union, co-funded by the Government of France and implemented by Expertise France. The project supports startup ecosystems and innovation-driven entrepreneurship across Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, helping entrepreneurs access skills, funding, markets and international opportunities.
