EU funding in Bulgaria for an online store: grants, loans, rules

In short: there is currently no open EU grant call in Bulgaria that funds an online store. The last one, "Digitalisation of enterprises" under the PCIE programme, closed on 26 September 2025. It paid BGN 5,000 to 50,000 (€2,556 to €25,565) at 70% of the cost, and an online store had a fixed value of BGN 9,840 (€5,031). The 2026 work programme has no similar measure.

This guide is written by the team behind CloudCart, the Bulgarian ecommerce platform, for foreign founders, expats and foreign-owned companies that sell in Bulgaria or from Bulgaria across the EU. The programmes, amounts and conditions come from the official documents of Bulgaria's Ministry of Innovation and Growth (MIG) and the Fund of Funds (FMFIB). The Conditions for Application of each call, published in Bulgarian, decide what applies to your company.

Is there an open EU grant for an online store in Bulgaria?

No. Two calls funded online stores in Bulgaria: one under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in 2022 and one under the Programme "Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises" 2021-2027 (PCIE) in 2025. Both are closed.

The Indicative Annual Work Programme (IAWP) is the document in which the managing authority announces the calls it plans to open during the year. The amended PCIE work programme for 2026 (in Bulgarian) lists five calls, and none of them is for ICT solutions or online stores.

Programme or instrument	What it is for	Status
PCIE, "Digitalisation of enterprises" (BG16RFPR001-1.012)	Online store, ERP, CRM, POS, cybersecurity for micro and small companies	Closed. Applications ran from 30 June to 26 September 2025
RRP, "ICT and cybersecurity solutions in SMEs" (BG-RRP-3.005)	Online store, company website, social media marketing, trademark and more	Closed. Deadline 19 December 2022
PCIE, "New production models in SMEs"	Investment in machinery and intangible assets for production	2026 plan: BGN 188,368,368 (€96.3 million); window January to April 2026
PCIE, "Innovation in SMEs in Local Action Group areas"	Innovation in rural areas covered by local action groups	2026 plan: BGN 55,967,762 (€28.6 million); window April to October 2026
PCIE, "Green technologies in SMEs"	Green technologies and the circular economy	2026 plan: BGN 162,324,653 (€83.0 million); window May to August 2026
PCIE, "Clean and resource-efficient technologies of strategic importance" (STEP)	Clean technologies for SMEs and large companies	2026 plan: BGN 58,674,900 (€30.0 million); window September to December 2026
PCIE, "Industrial capacity for defence capabilities"	Production of defence and dual-use products	2026 plan: BGN 138,162,661 (€70.6 million); window January to April 2026
FMFIB, "Portfolio guarantee with a loss cap for digitalisation"	Loans and leasing on favourable terms for Industry 4.0 technologies	Market consultations still to come, banks do not offer it yet

Important: before it is adopted, the work programme for the next year is published as a draft for public consultation. Watch the PCIE page on the MIG website and the public consultation section of ISUN in November and December, when drafts for the coming year usually appear.

What the "Digitalisation of enterprises" call paid for

"Digitalisation of enterprises" gave micro and small companies a grant of BGN 5,000 to 50,000 (€2,556 to €25,565) for ready-made ICT solutions from a fixed list. The budget was BGN 80 million (€40.9 million), and the grant covered up to 70% of the value. The company paid the other 30%. The aid was given under the de minimis rule. The parameters are in the methodology and selection criteria of the call (in Bulgarian).

A company could apply for one or more of these solutions:

• creating an online store;
• enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM);
• supply chain, warehouse (WMS), production and retail sales (POS) management;
• business intelligence (BI) and a remote training platform for staff;
• information security under ISO/IEC 27001, local network protection, backup, storage and sharing of information.

Applications closed on 26 September 2025. On 9 December 2025 the ministry announced more than 1,600 approved companies with BGN 58 million (in Bulgarian), about €29.7 million, and 1,013 of them are outside the South-West region around Sofia. Demand is high: under the earlier RRP measure in 2022, 4,904 projects stayed on a reserve list for lack of funds.

Which costs are funded: online store, software and subscription

The last call funded only solutions from the list, each with a fixed unit cost. A unit cost is a value calculated in advance for one solution with a defined minimum scope. The values come from the PCIE unit cost methodology (in Bulgarian). The value for an online store is the average price of 304 completed RRP contracts, indexed with Bulgaria's 2024 inflation (2.1%).

ICT solution	Unit cost	In euro
Creating an online store	BGN 9,840	€5,031
Retail sales management (POS)	BGN 14,398	€7,362
Warehouse management (WMS)	BGN 16,336	€8,352
Business intelligence (BI)	BGN 16,320	€8,344
Customer relationship management (CRM)	BGN 18,119	€9,264
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)	BGN 18,558	€9,489

The unit cost includes both the grant and your own share. In the managing authority's published answers to applicants' questions, an online store of BGN 9,840 splits into BGN 6,888 of grant (70%, about €3,522) and BGN 2,952 of own contribution (30%, about €1,509). If you cannot recover VAT, it is included in the same amount.

Can a platform subscription (SaaS) be funded?

Yes, under the last call a cloud solution with a monthly fee was eligible. SaaS (Software as a Service) is software that runs in the provider's cloud and is used in the browser for a subscription. The methodology names three eligible forms: a ready-made solution, a customised solution and SaaS. In its answers the managing authority confirmed that a cloud solution paid monthly is eligible and does not have to be booked as a long-term intangible asset.

Three conditions from the same answers affect an online store directly:

• New stores only. Upgrades, redesigns, updates or new features for an existing online store were not funded.
• The domain belongs to the company. The store's domain under the project must be owned by the beneficiary. An old domain could be used if the company renewed it.
• Minimum scope. The store must have the features described in the annex to the Conditions for Application (Annex 16 in the last call).

What is no longer funded

A company website, social media marketing with PPC advertising and trademark registration were funded under the RRP in 2022, and the PCIE methodology explicitly excludes them. If you plan advertising, count it as your own cost in the business plan. The full cost structure is in the guide to a business plan for an online store.

Who can apply for a digitalisation grant

Under the last call, only micro and small companies with at least two years of history could apply. A newly registered company building its first online store did not qualify. There were five eligibility requirements:

1. A trader. A company under the Bulgarian Commercial Act or the Cooperatives Act, or a law firm.
2. Registered by 31 December 2023. Companies registered later could not apply.
3. A micro or small enterprise. As defined by the Bulgarian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Act and the EU SME Recommendation.
4. Minimum revenue. Net sales for 2023 and 2024 combined at least equal to the minimum set in the Conditions for Application.
5. At least 2 employees. An average headcount of at least 2 people for 2024.

Can a foreign-owned company apply?

The five requirements are about the company, and none of them mentions the nationality or residence of the owner. A Bulgarian EOOD (single-member limited liability company) owned by a foreigner or by a foreign company is a trader under the Commercial Act, so it met the first requirement like any other Bulgarian company. A foreign company without a Bulgarian entity was not an eligible applicant under the digitalisation call.

Some of the calls in the 2026 work programme are wider: for the green technology, STEP, defence and production calls the eligible applicants include equivalent entities under the law of a member state of the European Economic Area. If you have not set up the company yet, read the guide to company registration in Bulgaria for an online store.

Projects were ranked by points, so meeting the conditions did not guarantee approval. Profitability carried the most weight.

Assessment criterion	Points
Weighted EBITDA profitability ratio for 2023 and 2024	20
Tax expenses relative to revenue for 2023 and 2024	5
Place of implementation (priority for less developed regions)	5
Priorities of the National SME Strategy 2021-2027	5
Total	35

The next call may use other years, thresholds and points. Compare with the Conditions of the new call when it is announced.

What de minimis aid is and how it affects funding

De minimis aid is small-scale state aid for which EU rules set a common ceiling per company. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 the ceiling is €300,000 over three years. The selection criteria of the last call apply it directly: the grant you request is added to all other de minimis aid the company received over the previous three years.

For an online store of BGN 9,840 the ceiling is rarely a problem, but it can become one if the company already has other projects. Before you apply, check with your accountant how much de minimis aid the company has received over the last three years, from all sources. If the total is close to the ceiling, the project may be ineligible.

How a CloudCart subscription is documented in a project

The solution under the project is proven with documents that show it is in place and in use. The unit cost methodology lists the minimum documents the managing authority checks at payment:

• a contract with the contractor (if applicable) and an acceptance protocol signed by both sides;
• screenshots of the provider, version or licence, login, home page, main functions and records entered;
• a document from the provider showing that the features match the eligible ones (licence, protocol, user guide);
• documents for the staff training on the solution.

For a store, the on-site check looks for a working site with products, orders and payment on the company's domain.

If your store runs on CloudCart, part of these documents comes from the admin. You get an invoice for every payment to CloudCart, and the payment history and PDF invoices are in the admin. The details printed on the invoice (company, UIC, address) are entered in your profile, under the invoice details. You connect the company domain in Settings → Domains. For the SSL certificate and account security, see the guide to the domain, SSL and two-factor protection.

Plan	Billed annually, per month	Billed annually, total	Billed monthly
Baby Pack	€14	€168	€19
Starter Pack	€33	€390	€39
CC Pro	€83	€990	€99
CC Master	€249	€2,990	€299

Prices exclude VAT, as on the CloudCart pricing page. You pay monthly or annually with a card saved in the admin, and the subscription renews automatically at the end of the period.

Important: the documents of the calls we reviewed contain no list of approved platforms. The solution that is put in place is what gets checked. Whether a given plan covers the minimum scope of a future call is compared against that call's annex listing the solutions. For CloudCart documents for a project, write to support@cloudcart.com.

How to apply when a new call opens

Applications are filed online in ISUN 2020, Bulgaria's information system for EU funds, within the call's deadline. The system and documents are in Bulgarian, so plan for an accountant or a Bulgarian-speaking colleague to help. The last call was open for three months. Prepare like this:

1. Watch the work programme. Check the PCIE work programme page on the MIG website and the public consultation section in ISUN. Calls are published for consultation before they open, which gives you a few weeks' head start.
2. Check eligibility. Year of registration, company size, revenue and headcount from the annual financial statements the call asks for.
3. Work out the points. From the annual statements, calculate EBITDA profitability and tax expenses. They gave 25 of 35 points last time.
4. Check de minimis aid. Collect all de minimis aid the company received over the last three years.
5. Choose the solutions. An online store often goes with ERP or CRM. Choose only what you will use, because the on-site check looks for a working solution.
6. Register the domain to the company. If the domain belongs to a private person or another company, transfer it before the project.
7. Select the contractor by the rules. Contractors are selected under Chapter Four of the Bulgarian Act on the Management of EU Funds under Shared Management, unless the company is a contracting authority under the Public Procurement Act. The unit cost does not replace these rules.
8. Keep the documents. Protocols, screenshots, invoices and training lists are what get the project paid.

Projects are assessed after the deadline. In the last call the deadline was 26 September 2025 and the approved companies were announced on 9 December 2025, about 10 weeks later.

Loans and guarantees from the Fund of Funds

Besides grants, EU money also reaches companies as loans on favourable terms through banks and non-bank intermediaries. These are managed by the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria (FMFIB, the Fund of Funds), and the company applies with the intermediary, not in ISUN.

• Digitalisation guarantee under PCIE. The portfolio guarantee with a loss cap for digitalisation (in Bulgarian) has an indicative budget of €47.81 million. It will cover part of the banks' risk on loans and leasing for digital and Industry 4.0 technologies. On the FMFIB page its stage is "upcoming market consultations", so the instrument is not offered yet.
• Microcredits with shared risk. An investment or working capital loan of up to €25,000, with a term of up to 10 years and a grace period of up to 2 years, for companies and self-employed people registered no more than 5 years ago. The money comes from the Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2014-2020 and is in a reinvestment period until 2031. The intermediaries are listed on the instrument's page on the FMFIB website.

Of the instruments in this guide, only the microcredit is open to companies younger than 5 years. A loan is repaid, so first work out what the store will cost for a year and when it will start bringing orders. The full start-up calculation is in the guide on how to create an online store step by step.

What to do while no call is open

If you need the store now, waiting for a call rarely pays off. The last one was open from 30 June to 26 September 2025, approval came in December, and the 2026 work programme has no new digitalisation measure. A store that sells now builds the revenue and history the last call counted for eligibility and points.

One rule makes the order important: the last call did not fund upgrades of an existing store. If you plan a project, check in the new Conditions whether the store you already use makes you ineligible.

If you already work with warehouse software or an ERP, the online store can connect to it without a new system: see the connections with ERP, warehouse and POS. Before the first sale, register the store with the NRA (Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency) under Ordinance N-18, Bulgaria's sales-reporting rules for online stores. The steps are in the guide to Ordinance N-18 for an online store. Invoices and sales documents are issued from the orders, as described on the page about invoices in CloudCart. Questions about the setup: support@cloudcart.com.

Frequently asked questions