European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards (2025)

The European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards, organized under the auspices of the European Commission since 2006, is a prestigious competition that aims to reward projects that promote the development of entrepreneurship with the support of public institutions and organizations and that most effectively support and encourage businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Europe. In this context, it is aimed to highlight the best policies and practices implemented to promote entrepreneurship, to raise awareness about the added value that entrepreneurship provides to society and to encourage potential entrepreneurs.

The European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards are open to participation from European Union (EU) member states and partner countries of the SME leg of the Single Market Programme. Institutions and organizations that develop and implement models and programs to support entrepreneurship at national, regional or local levels can participate in the competition.

The competition is organized in the following subcategories:
1. Development of the Business Environment and Entrepreneurial Spirit: Projects that support the formation of an entrepreneurial mindset are evaluated in this category. Local projects that promote awareness campaigns aimed at young people and women in particular can be cited as examples. For example, studies that aim to increase women's entrepreneurship or young people's participation in the business world are included in this category.

2. Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills: In this category, projects that aim to develop professional skills for entrepreneurs and employees, provide managerial competencies or increase the use of technology are evaluated. For example, training programs that aim to provide technology skills for SMEs can be given as examples of this category.

3. Supporting Digital Transformation: Policies and projects that enable businesses to benefit from digital technologies are included in this category. Projects that support the dissemination of digital tools or initiatives that aim to train digital transformation experts can apply.

4. Supporting the Internationalization of Businesses: Projects that aim to reach local businesses beyond national borders are evaluated in this category. For example, policies to increase export capacity or programs that provide support for businesses to participate in international fairs are included in this category.

5. Supporting Sustainable Transition: Projects that increase energy efficiency, promote circular economy or adopt climate neutrality policies are evaluated in this category.
For example, regional programs that aim to increase the use of renewable energy resources can be given as examples in this context.

6. Responsible and Inclusive Entrepreneurship: Projects that support disadvantaged groups (e.g. disabled, immigrants, individuals who have been unemployed for a long time), increase women's employment or social responsibility initiatives are in this category. Special financing programs that support women's entrepreneurship can be given as examples in this category.

In Türkiye, the task of announcing the award program and evaluating the applications and determining two candidates was given to KOSGEB. The following can apply to the competition:

• Local, regional and national public institutions and organizations,
• Public-private partnerships,
• Universities,
• SMEs (only in the "Responsible and Inclusive Entrepreneurship" category). In addition, projects that will participate must have a history of at least 15 months in order to be evaluated.
The competition has a two-stage evaluation process. In the first stage, after the preliminary selection at the national level, the 2 winning projects are sent to be evaluated at the European level. The winners of the competition will receive their awards at the European Entrepreneurship Incentive Awards Ceremony to be held on 10-12 November 2025. In addition to the category winners, the jury will award the most inspiring project from all categories with the “Grand Jury Prize”.

We believe that this competition, which will facilitate the announcement of innovative and effective work carried out by public institutions and organizations in the field of entrepreneurship to wider stakeholders, will contribute to our country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. A success achieved at the European level can be an important source of prestige for Turkey, as well as shed light on and inspire similar initiatives in the future. We are open to all kinds of cooperation in order to support your projects that reflect Turkey’s entrepreneurial potential. Candidates who wish to apply for the competition must send the form they have completed via https://airtable.com/app0TSdBDi5wh3WKU/pagrR7reIm65J7eIp/form to the KOSGEB Presidency address with a wet signature by 13 June 2025 at the latest.