Our goal is to help companies create innovative, functional, and visually distinctive products that stand out on the market. With our support, you have the chance to secure the funding you need to grow your business and make your products more competitive. Browse the current programs below, and we’ll advise you on which one fits you best!
Industrial design grants
Looking to fund your business growth through investment in industrial design? We can help you secure funding for industrial design.
EU funding for industrial design — European Funds supporting innovation
Industrial design plays an increasingly important role in business growth. A well-designed product can catch customers’ attention and stand out on the market. That’s why many companies want to invest in developing their design — but often lack the funds to do it. Fortunately, there are ways to secure EU funding for industrial design projects, including new product design. This kind of funding lets businesses grow and become more competitive.
It’s worth noting that securing funding means meeting specific requirements and criteria — but it’s achievable for many companies. If you’re interested in securing funding for an industrial design project, contact us and let us help.
Have questions?
We’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
How we work?
Stage 1. Before you apply
1. Initial analysis. We assess your company’s design potential — your product offering, technology, organizational structure, and market position. We also verify formal eligibility: SME status, location, and other conditions for the call.
2. Program selection. We identify the funding measure that best fits your project, along with the schedule for the upcoming call.
Project assumptions. Together, we define the design scope that will form the basis of the application — which product, what level of innovation, what implementation outcomes.
3. Expert support with the application. Our partner company prepares and submits the documentation; we handle the design-related section and price the advisory services covered by the funding.
Stage 2. Evaluation and contract
5. Application review and contract signing. The institution evaluates the project, and once approved, you sign the funding agreement. We stay in touch throughout and prepare to begin work.
Stage 3. Project delivery
7. Design audit. The first funded stage of the project. We examine the company’s design potential — its products, processes, customers, and competitors.
8. Design strategy. Based on the audit, we produce a document outlining the direction for product development and recommended design actions.
9. Design work and prototyping. We design the product according to the agreed strategy, build prototypes, and prepare the technical documentation for production.
10. Implementation and settlement. We support you through the purchase of fixed assets and intangible assets, all the way to launching the product and settling the grant.
Design grants for businesses — why they're worth pursuing
- EU funding lets you make the most of your company’s design potential — directly boosting the competitiveness of your products.
- Launching a product is the most expensive and uncertain moment for a manufacturing company. Funding shifts part of that risk off your company’s balance sheet, so the decision to move forward gets made sooner than if you financed it entirely out of your own capital.
- You gain access to expertise you don’t have in-house. Hiring a full-time product designer only pays off with a steady pipeline of new launches. A grant lets you bring in a full design team for the duration of a specific project.
- You get your product line in order. A design audit diagnoses the whole company — products, technology, processes, and customers. Many businesses only discover at this stage which items in their catalog aren’t earning their keep, and where the untapped potential lies.
- You get ahead of regulatory requirements. Grant programs award points for eco-design and for making products accessible to people with special needs. Those same requirements are gradually being written into EU law — so a company that implements them now, with funding, avoids a costly redesign a few years down the line, paid entirely out of pocket.
Which programs have provided design funding in the past?
- Operational Programme Eastern Poland. Measure 1.4 Design for Competitiveness
- Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014–2020. Sub-measure 2.3.5 Design for Entrepreneurs
- Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014–2020, financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Measure 2.1 Support for
- Investment in Enterprise R&D Infrastructure
- Smart Growth Operational Programme. Measure 2.3 Pro-innovation Services for Enterprises. Sub-measure 2.3.5 Design for Entrepreneurs
FAQ
How much funding can you get?
Funding amounts vary by two orders of magnitude between programs, so it depends on which call you're applying to. Under FEPW.01.04 — Design in SMEs, the maximum funding is PLN 3,000,000, with a minimum eligible cost threshold of PLN 200,000.
Is the grant non-repayable?
It depends on the program and the type of cost involved — and the difference can matter significantly for your company's cash flow. Under FEPW.01.04 — Design in SMEs, advisory and training support is non-repayable, while funding for the investment component takes the form of a conditional grant — meaning it's partly repayable. Under regional programs and the SME Fund, support is usually non-repayable, though with the SME Fund it comes as a reimbursement of costs already incurred, rather than an advance payment. We always verify the exact form of support against the documentation for the specific call.
Who can apply for funding?
Whether your company is eligible depends mainly on its size, location, and business profile — and each program sets its own conditions. Keep in mind that conditions can change between successive rounds of the same measure, so what governs eligibility is always the documentation for the current call, not the rules from a previous year.
In its last two rounds, FEPW.01.04 — Design in SMEs was open only to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises based in Eastern Poland that are owned or co-owned by women. Earlier rounds, in 2023 and 2024, were open to all SMEs in Eastern Poland.
Is a design audit mandatory?
It depends on the program. Under FEPW.01.04 — Design in SMEs, the audit is mandatory and forms the first funded stage of the project — followed by developing a design strategy, and then implementing it, culminating in bringing the innovation to market.