Enterprises and their consortiums

1. Domestic funds – support funds sourced directly from the state budget, local government units and state-operated special purpose funds. The characteristic of domestic funds is that they are obliged to carry out their activities only in accordance with national legislation

• National Centre for Research and Development – an executive agency of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. The NCRD is a vital centre for supporting and creating innovative technological and social solutions and it builds an ecosystem of knowledge and information about them. It initiates and implements projects that contribute to the civilisational development of the country.
  
  

Competitions organised by the NCRD – the programmes support R&D work in research and industrial consortia and projects pursued by early-stage researchers (e.g. Leader, NEON).

• National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management - it is the principal conduit of the Polish system of financing environmental protection and water management, as an entity with the largest financial resources. The National Fund is an important tool for implementing the environmental policy in Poland.
  
  

Competitions organised by the NFEP&WM – the National Fund offers loans, grants and other forms of co-financing for projects implemented by, among others, local governments, businesses, public entities, social organisations and individuals (e.g. Development of Hydrogen Economy)

• Ministry of Climate and Environment
  
  

Competitions organised by the Ministry of Climate and Environment – support of environmental business acceleration projects for SMEs.

• Industrial Development Agency - a joint-stock company supervised by the Prime Minister wholly-owned by the State Treasury. It combines public and commercial business functions.
  
  

Financing provided by the IDA – repayable financing in the form of preferential loans for entrepreneurs.

2. European Structural Funds – funds that improve the competitiveness of economies of EU Member States. The funds are earmarked only for a specific region/state, and the operator is the relevant Member State. The rules for the use of the funds are defined by a relevant legal act, which defines the rules for the implementation of programmes under the cohesion policy, in short referred to as the Implementation Act.

• National Centre for Research and Development - an executive agency of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. The NCRD is a vital centre for supporting and creating innovative technological and social solutions and it builds an ecosystem of knowledge and information about them. It initiates and implements projects that contribute to the civilisational development of the country.
  
  

Competitions organised by the NCRD – programmes of cross-sectoral support of projects related to the development of new technologies for large companies and consortia (SMART path).

• Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) - the Agency’s goal is to implement programmes supporting the development of the economy, innovation and research activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), regional development, export growth, human resource development and the use of new technologies in business.
  
  

Competitions organised by the PARP – programmes of cross-sectoral support of projects related to the development of new technologies for SMEs (SMART path).

• Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego – the state-owned Polish Development Bank. BGK’s mission is to support sustainable socio-economic development of Poland. The role of the Bank in building a strong and stable economy is to develop cooperation between and activation of the private and public sectors, so as to increase the potential of socio-economic development.
  
  

Competitions organised by BGK – support related to technology loan for SMEs showing sufficient creditworthiness.

• Regional Operational Programmes in provinces – a group of structural funds at the disposal of individual regions and designed to support the development of a given province.
  
  

Competitions organised by individual cross-sectoral programmes to support research and investment works for entrepreneurs and local government units.

• European Funds for Eastern Poland - a group of structural funds whose purpose is to provide support to provinces with lower economic indicators in the eastern part of the country. The funds are intended for the Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Mazowieckie (excluding Warsaw and its surrounding counties) provinces.
  
  

Competitions – cross-sectoral programmes to support research and investment works for entrepreneurs.

• Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) - a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit institution whose mission is to support science. It constitutes Poland’s largest non-budget source of science financing.
  
  

Competitions organised by the FNP – programmes supporting research projects pursued by researchers at various stages of their research career, research units, consortia including international entities and entrepreneurs (e.g. TEAM-NET, PRIME, International Research Agencies).

3. European Commission’s funding – funds to the benefit of, directly or indirectly, all citizens of the European Union as well as many people living in other parts of the world. Depending on the competition, any EU citizen can become a beneficiary of the programmes. The operators are the EU’s central authorities. When using the funds, both national and Community laws must be observed.

• Horizon Europe programme - n the largest research and innovation programme in the history of the Union. Over 7 years (2021–2027), a total of EUR 95.5 billion will be allocated to innovative research and solutions.
  
  

HE competitions – support for research, investment and infrastructure projects promoting Europe’s technological progress and environmental protection (e.g. ERC grants, thematic partnerships, research missions). Projects are intended primarily for researchers and international consortia of research and industrial entities.

• InvestEU - an EU investment instrument which is a successor of the Investment Plan for Europe.
  
  

Financing under InvestEU – investment loans with guarantees for entrepreneurs.

4. International funds – funds of other countries or groups of countries, the beneficiary of which may be a Polish entity.

• Visegrad Grants4
  
  

Competitions as part of VG4 – support for research and development projects for consortia of research and industrial entities from V4 countries.

• National Centre for Research and Development – the operator of research and development projects for thematic paths for researchers, consortia and entrepreneurs.

• Google
  
  

Google’s competitions – annual thematic challenges promoting social and economic development.