Romania's Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft decision to establish the TechUp Romania financing scheme, a support programme for frontier technology projects that would fund both research and development and the follow-on build-out of production capacity. The programme would run from 2026 to 2032 with an annual budget of about RON 759 million and a total estimated allocation of up to RON 5.3 billion. The ministry describes it as the first Romanian programme to finance the full technology pathway from advanced research to production, addressing the gap between laboratory-stage work and market deployment. The scheme would cover projects with investment values between RON 5 million and RON 50 million through two components. The first would combine state-budget grants for research and development with a 200 percent tax deduction for R&D expenditure. The second would provide grants for initial investments in production capacity using tangible and intangible assets. Eligible areas are digital technologies including advanced computing, artificial intelligence and microelectronics, life sciences including biotechnology, agri-tech and precision health, energy including green energy, storage and climate technologies, mobility and space, and Industry 4.0 including advanced materials and modern industrial production. The programme forms part of Romania's economic recovery package and is designed under European Union state aid rules that do not require notification to the European Commission. That would allow project submissions to start once the implementing guidelines are published.

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