Diaspora ReSTART: 60 people receive funding for entrepreneurial activity in Romania

Romanians from Diaspora are increasingly interested in carrying out entrepreneurial activities in the country, and as many as 149 people have entered the race for obtaining funding within the "Diaspora ReSTART" project, who, after having completed entrepreneurial training courses, have also drawn up and submitted their business plans, of which 60 received a grant of up to 40,000 euro, according to a press release of the National Council of Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises (CNIPMMR). 

Thus, the analysis of the 60 winning business plans reveals the following: most applicants are from the United Kingdom (33.3 percent) and Spain (28.3 percent), followed by Italy (11.67 percent), France (6.67 percent), The Netherlands (5 percent), Germany, but also Australia or the United States (1.67 percent). Most businesses will be set up in the following fields: 6312 - Web portal activities (10 percent); 4520 - Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (8.33 percent); 5610 - Restaurants (8.33 percent); 7112 - Engineering activities and related technical consultancy (8.33 percent); 6201 - custom software activities (5 percent). 

Next, the 60 new companies will take part in a 3-month mentoring session where they will consolidate their business by providing information on creating a marketing strategy, identifying a customer network, stabilizing the relationship with suppliers and customers, maintaining relations with state institutions in order to report the activity according to the legislation or establishing and following a short, medium and long term development strategy. 

"Diaspora ReSTART" is a project implemented by the SME's Council of Romania, as a beneficiary, between September 2017 and September 2020 and has as main objective the encouragement of entrepreneurship and self-employment by supporting the setting up of non-agricultural enterprises in the urban area of the less developed regions of Romania by the Romanians living in the Diaspora by providing funding of up to 40,000 euro for start-ups set up by project.