Start-up grant

The start-up grant is discretionary support for a new entrepreneur. Its purpose is to secure an entrepreneur’s livelihood at the starting phase of new full-time entrepreneurship when the income generated by the company is still low.

The start-up grant is granted for six months from the time you start as a full-time entrepreneur or expand your part-time business to full time. You may receive an extension to the start-up grant so that the total duration is no more than 12 months.

The start-up grant is equal in amount to a basic unemployment allowance. The start-up grant is paid for five days per calendar week.

To whom and on what terms

In order to receive a start-up grant, you must live in Finland and establish your business in Finland. You cannot receive the grant if you have started full-time business operations or expanded your part-time business into full-time operations before the grant application has been received by the employment authority. However, you can apply for an extension included in the maximum duration of the start-up grant.

You can receive a start-up grant to support your entrepreneurship if

• you are an unemployed jobseeker,
• you are not unemployed, but start as a full-time entrepreneur after doing paid work, studying or household work or
• you are a part-time entrepreneur and you expand your business into a full-time business.

The employment authority assesses whether you have sufficient capabilities for running a business and whether the operations meet the prerequisites for a profitable business. You may also be granted other necessary conditions for receiving a start-up grant.

Do the following

When planning business operations and applying for a start-up grant, contact the employment authority in your area. Submit your grant application before starting full-time business operations or expanding your part-time business into full-time activity. You can apply for the payment of the start-up grant after receiving a decision. If you need support after the time covered by the first decision, you can submit an extension application for the start-up grant. Submit the extension application to the employment authority in your area during the valid start-up grant period.

How to apply for a start-up grant and its payment

Apply for a start-up grant and its payment primarily using an electronic form in the e-service. If you cannot use the e-service, use the printable form and submit the form to your employment authority. If you have applied for a start-up grant using a printable form instead of an e-service, use the printable form also to apply for payment.

Log into the e-service with your personal banking IDs, a mobile certificate or a certificate card. Complete the application and attach the required documents. The service’s internal instructions will help you fill in the application. In the e-service, you can submit an application, respond to requests for supplementary information concerning the application, supplement your application and receive decisions concerning your case.

The start-up grant is paid monthly and retrospectively. Apply for the payment of the start-up grant from the employment authority within two months of the end of the payment period.

You can get advice on starting a company and using the E-service from the Enterprise Finland Advisory Service.