Romania's Digitalisation Grants in 2026: EU Money for Websites, Online Shops and Automation for Small Firms

Yes, in 2025 and 2026 there is EU money for digitalising small firms in Romania. The national PNRR grants of up to EUR 100,000 are already contracted and closed to new applications. What is live now, for example in the Centru Region, is the Regional Programme Centru 2021-2027, Action 2.2, with grants of EUR 15,000 to 200,000 for SMEs in Brașov, Sibiu, Alba, Covasna, Harghita and Mureș counties. Check adrcentru.ro and mfe.gov.ro.

I am writing this in early July 2026, so the figures below are current as of that date. EU funds move in waves: one call closes, another relaunches a few months later. The point to remember is simple. There is no longer a single national website grant that anyone can tap. There are regional and national programmes, each with its own rules, and most of them reward a real digital transformation, not just a brochure site.

What counts as eligible digitalisation spend

Serious digitalisation programmes do not fund a nice website as an end in itself. They fund systems that change how a firm works: how it sells, takes orders, invoices, and keeps track of customers. A website or online shop qualifies, but usually as part of a larger package integrated with the rest of the digital tools. The typical eligible categories, especially under Action 2.2 in the Centru Region, look like this:

• Website and online shop (e-commerce), integrated with order and delivery flows
• Management systems: ERP, CRM, PLM, RPA for process automation
• Electronic invoicing (e-Factura) and digital order circuits with suppliers and clients
• Artificial intelligence: chatbots, predictive systems, automations
• IoT, virtual or augmented reality, data collection and analysis
• Software licences, including subscription-based, and a digital maturity audit
• Staff training on the digital tools and implementation consultancy

Here is a part many consultants skip. If all you need is a five-page brochure site, a regional grant may not be worth the effort. You carry a minimum 10% own contribution, the paperwork, an audit at the end, and often a consultancy fee. Added up, these can exceed the cost of a simple site paid for directly. Grants show their value when you build a real system: an online shop with automations, a CRM, integrated invoicing, a chatbot that handles enquiries. That is where EU money genuinely makes a difference.

The programmes live in 2026

Here is what was relevant in early July 2026 for a small firm. Check each one at the official source before you make plans, because deadlines and amounts change from one call to the next.

• PNRR, Digitalisation of SMEs (Component C9, Investment I3): grants up to EUR 100,000. The call ran in 2023 and is closed to new applications; contracted projects are in implementation, with deadlines extended into 2026. Details at mfe.gov.ro.
• Regional Programme Centru 2021-2027, Action 2.2, Digital Enterprises for an Advanced Economy (Call 2, 2026 relaunch): EUR 15,000 to 200,000 per project, minimum 10% own contribution, total budget around EUR 14.1 million. For micro-enterprises and SMEs in the six counties of the Centru Region: Alba, Brașov, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș, Sibiu. The applicant guide was in public consultation until 20 May 2026, and submission on MySMIS2021 was estimated for summer 2026. Details at adrcentru.ro.
• Start-Up Nation 2026: up to around EUR 50,000 (RON 250,000) for newly founded firms, funded through the Education and Employment Programme 2021-2027. Digitalisation and an online shop are eligible costs. The first session closed on 29 May 2026; further sessions may follow. Details at imm.gov.ro.
• Other regions: if your firm is not in the Centru Region, every regional development agency runs its own regional programme 2021-2027 with similar digitalisation actions. Look up your region's programme on oportunitati-ue.gov.ro.

I will repeat it because it matters: these figures and deadlines are current as of early July 2026. A regional call can be relaunched, extended, or amended along the way. The sources you can check yourself are mfe.gov.ro for PNRR, adrcentru.ro and regiocentru.ro for the Centru Region, imm.gov.ro for Start-Up Nation, and fonduri-structurale.ro for an overview. Do not rely on press articles, including this one; open the applicant guide.

How applying actually works

The process is more bureaucratic than in South Tyrol, where I work for tourism clients, but the logic is the same. You prepare, you submit, you wait for approval, then you spend and claim the reimbursement. The steps, in short:

1. Check the firm's eligibility: type (micro-enterprise or SME), age, turnover, activity code (CAEN), and county. Each call has its own thresholds.
2. Read the applicant guide for the active call, not press summaries. That is where the eligible costs and the scoring criteria are set out exactly.
3. Build the digitalisation plan: which systems you will implement, which deliverables you will get, and a budget broken down by eligible category.
4. Submit the project on the correct platform, MySMIS2021 for regional programmes or proiecte.pnrr.gov.ro for PNRR, within the announced submission window.
5. Wait for the evaluation and sign the financing contract before you start any costs that need to be reimbursed.
6. Implement, invoice, document everything, and file the reimbursement claims with clear invoices and proof.

How I fit in

I am not a funding consultancy and I do not write your application file. I build the digital part the grant pays for: website and online shop, CRM and invoicing integration, automations, a chatbot that handles customer enquiries. That is exactly the kind of system a serious digitalisation call wants to see, not a plain brochure site. I give you an itemised offer that maps onto the eligible cost categories, plus correct invoices and the technical documentation you need at reimbursement.

I am a native Romanian speaker, so we talk directly, no translation and no misunderstandings, even though I work from Morter in South Tyrol. I already build for clients in Brașov, among them nearyou.ro and electricianbv.ro, so I know what a small Romanian firm looks like and what genuinely helps it online. If you also need help with the application file, I work alongside your accredited consultant or can recommend one.

A grant does not pay for a pretty website. It pays for a digital transformation that brings in orders. The difference between getting the money and missing it is a file that describes a real system, not a wish list.