New entrepreneurs may apply for a startup grant awarded by the municipality. The discretionary support is intended to secure the entrepreneur’s personal livelihood and is not bound to any specific types of companies or branches. Startup grants are awarded for six months at a time for up to two six-month periods. Startup grants are awarded for full-time and continual business activities that have been assessed as profitable by a Finnish enterprise agency, for example.
How to apply?
Startup grants for entrepreneurs are awarded by Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) or for customers of municipal employment experiment in Helsinki by City of Helsinki. You must apply for a startup grant before you establish your business. The grant cannot be awarded if the full-time business activities have already started before the decision on the grant is made. Company funding and any business premises must be organised before the application is submitted.
You will need a business plan and financial, profitability and sales calculations for the application. In addition to this, you will also need to attach your CV, a tax debt certificate, an agreement on your business premises (possibly preliminary) and proof of business financing. If you have any questions or need help preparing your start-up grant application, please contact starttiraha@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program).
If you do not have access to Job Market Finland’s E-services, please download and fill in the paper form: printable form for customers (doc)(Link leads to external service).
Eligibility criteria
In order to qualify for a start-up grant, you must possess adequate skills for the intended business and entrepreneurship, have secured funding for your company and have sought out business premises, etc. You may not, however, be eligible for the grant if you have other income or you have bad credit, for example.
You can find more detailed information on the terms and conditions governing start-up grants on the Job Market Finland website(Link leads to external service).
The start-up grant is paid once a month in arrears on the basis of an application for payment submitted by the beneficiary. The payment application (start-up grant for 2024) must be submitted to the Development and Administration centre for ELY Centres (KEHA Centre) (page in Finnish)(Link leads to external service) no later than two months after the end of the period.