European founders can receive up to €1,200 a month for an overseas business exchange

Entrepreneurs planning to start a company, or who have operated one for less than three years, can apply for European Union financial support to work alongside an experienced business owner in another participating country.

The opportunity is available through Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, a cross-border programme financed by the European Commission and implemented through chambers of commerce, incubators, business associations and other intermediary organisations.

Despite its name, the initiative is not restricted to young people. Applicants must be over 18, but there is no upper age limit. The word “young” refers to the age of the business or the applicant’s entrepreneurial experience rather than their date of birth.

Successful candidates can spend between one and six months collaborating with the owner or manager of a small or medium-sized company in another country. The exchange can also be divided into shorter periods of at least one week, provided the entire programme is completed within 12 months.

For exchanges involving non-Single Market Programme destinations, the maximum duration is generally three months.

The scheme should not be confused with the university mobility programme carrying the Erasmus name. Participants do not enrol in an academic course and the placement is not intended to operate as an internship or salaried job.

Instead, the new and host entrepreneurs agree on a work and learning plan covering specific business activities. These can include market research, financial planning, product development, sales, marketing, international expansion and revisions to the applicant’s business plan.

The host must provide access to management experience and business processes, while the visiting entrepreneur is expected to contribute skills, market knowledge or work that supports the development of the host company.

Host businesses cannot use the programme as a source of unpaid labour. The European Commission requires the relationship to represent a genuine collaboration between two entrepreneurs, with defined objectives and benefits for both parties.

Applicants qualify as new entrepreneurs if they are preparing to start a business supported by a viable plan or have accumulated less than three years of entrepreneurial experience. The future or existing activity can operate in any economic sector.

They must also be permanent residents, under the programme’s criteria, of an EU member state or a country participating in the SME pillar of the Single Market Programme. The current list includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine alongside the 27 EU countries.

Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States currently participate as non-Single Market Programme destinations for host entrepreneurs. The present network does not include Latin American countries.

Entrepreneurs from outside the eligible European area can therefore apply as new participants only if they meet the programme’s permanent-residence requirements in an EU or associated country.

The financial support is available exclusively to the new entrepreneur. Experienced business owners receive no European payment for acting as hosts.

The grant contributes towards travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses, but it is not designed to guarantee full reimbursement. Applicants must be prepared to use their own funds if the allowance does not cover the total cost of living in the destination.

Monthly assistance varies according to the host country. The current rates range from €600 to €1,200.

Participants travelling to Albania or Ukraine can receive €600 per month, while the allowance is €650 for destinations including Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Lithuania.

The monthly contribution stands at €850 for Greece and Portugal, €900 for Spain, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and €1,000 for Italy, Austria, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.

Ireland and the United Kingdom carry an allowance of €1,100, while Singapore provides €1,150. The highest standard amount, €1,200 per month, applies to Denmark, Liechtenstein, Norway and the United States. Canada carries a monthly rate of €1,050.

Participants travelling from or to EU outermost regions and overseas countries and territories can receive €1,200 per month. The same amount is available to entrepreneurs with disabilities, regardless of destination.

The grant is paid by the intermediary organisation selected by the new entrepreneur. Its final value, schedule and conditions are established in a financial agreement signed before departure.

Payments can be divided into instalments and only cover the approved period actually spent abroad with the host company. Registration alone does not entitle an applicant to receive funding.

Applications are accepted throughout the year and have no general closing date. Participation and registration are free, and the programme states that no organisation is authorised to charge an application fee.

Candidates must personally submit their information through the official platform. Applications prepared or filed by unauthorised external parties may be rejected.

The process begins with the selection of a local contact point in the applicant’s country or region of residence. That organisation reviews the application, assists with the matching process, oversees the exchange and distributes the financial support.

A new entrepreneur must provide a curriculum vitae, a motivation statement and a business plan explaining the proposed company, market, product or service, financial assumptions and objectives.

Experienced entrepreneurs can also register as hosts. They must be owner-managers of an SME, or directly involved in entrepreneurship at board level, and have more than three years of experience running a company.

Once approved, both categories of participants gain access to the programme’s catalogue, where they can search for potential counterparts. The matching is not automatic: the two entrepreneurs must agree to work together, and the responsible intermediary organisations must validate the proposed relationship.

Before the exchange begins, the entrepreneur, host and their respective contact points sign a Commitment to Quality setting out the dates, objectives, tasks, expected results and responsibilities. The new entrepreneur also signs the separate financial agreement governing the grant.

At the end of the exchange, participants must complete an evaluation. Payment can depend on compliance with the approved plan, the delivery of agreed outputs and acceptance of the final activity report.

The programme website currently records more than 15,600 completed business exchanges involving 45 countries, together with almost 29,000 applications from new entrepreneurs and more than 16,500 from potential hosts.

European Commission data indicate that 98% of new entrepreneurs would recommend the programme and 92% of participants remain in contact after completing their collaboration. Around 20% of host entrepreneurs have reported plans to create a joint venture with the visiting founder.

Those figures illustrate the programme’s broader economic purpose. The exchange is intended to help founders test business assumptions, understand foreign markets and build commercial relationships before committing capital to international expansion.

In February 2026, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency launched a separate €20 million call to select the organisations that will implement the next cycle of the programme. That institutional call closed on 21 April and was directed at business-support organisations, not individual entrepreneurs.

Registration for entrepreneurs remains open on a rolling basis.

For applicants, the main limitation is financial. The monthly payment is a contribution rather than a salary, and its adequacy varies considerably between destinations. Accommodation and transport in higher-cost cities may require significant additional resources.

Selection also requires more than a general intention to start a company. Candidates must present a developed business plan and demonstrate how the proposed relationship will contribute to both their project and the host company.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs therefore functions less as a conventional grant and more as a partially funded route into another business environment. Its value will depend on the quality of the host, the agreed work programme and whether the relationship produces knowledge, customers, suppliers or partnerships that continue after the exchange.