Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a cross-border mobility programme which gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in other Participating Countries.

The general objective is to enhance entrepreneurship, develop the competitiveness of European SMEs and foster potential entrepreneurs and newly-established micro and small enterprises in the Participating Countries.

The purpose of this call is to select Intermediary Organisations (IOs) to implement the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme at local level. They will recruit the entrepreneurs and assist them. This call for proposals will therefore support actions of organisations enhancing and facilitating the mobility of new entrepreneurs.

The specific objectives are:

1. To provide on-the-job-training for new entrepreneurs with established host entrepreneurs in SMEs abroad in order to facilitate asuccessful start-up and development of their business ideas;
2. To foster sharing of experience and information between entrepreneurson the challenges of starting up and developing their businesses;
3. To enhance market access and identification of potential partnersfor new and established businesses in COSME Participating Countries;
4. To support networking between entrepreneursfrom different COSME Participating Countries by building on knowledge and experience from other Participating Countries.

The call will expand and strengthen the existing network of IOs operating at the local level as contact points for facilitating the interaction between new and experienced entrepreneurs, promoting the mobility of new (or potential) entrepreneurs in a participating country, with the aim to gain experience in the field and improve the chances of success of their companies.

Intermediary organizations will be selected to cooperate each other in order to implement the mobility projects of young entrepreneurs, selecting and coupling a new and experienced entrepreneur.

The activities to be implemented under this call for proposals, including the rules to be respected and procedures to follow, are detailed in the Quality Manual.

Applicants must be legal entities forming a consortium. Applying entities may for instance include:

• Public entities responsible for or active in the fields of economic affairs, enterprise, business support or related issues;
• Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of (handi)crafts or similar bodies, – Business support organisations, start-up centres, incubators, technology parks etc.;
• Business associations and business support networks;
• Public and private entities offering business support services;
• Institutes of (higher) education such as universities or institutes for vocational education and training.

This call aims at selecting consortia to implement the programme:

• Consortia must be composed of at least 6 independent legal entitiesfrom at least 4 different COSME Participating Countries and include no more than 10 partners.
• Maximum 2 partnerscan be from the same countryin one consortium.
• It is not allowedthat a partner participates in more than one proposal.

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 5.581.701,00.

EASME expects to fund 7-10 (seven to ten) proposals.The contribution can cover up to 75% of the costs incurred by the IOs for management costs (maximum of 750,000 euros per project). The reimbursement for young entrepreneurs taking part in a mobility action will cover 100% of the costs (maximum of 6,600 euros per entrepreneur).

The duration of projects is 36 months. Activities must start on 1/02/2020 and are to be completed by 31/01/2023.

More information and official documents are available here.