Self-Employment Incentives: a practical guide to eligibility criteria, target groups and types of financial support
To access the incentives under the ‘Autimpiego Centro Nord’ and ‘Resto al Sud 2.0’ schemes, in the form of partial grants or non-repayable vouchers, 1,828 applications submitted by young people aged between 18 and 34 have been approved for funding, totalling 116 million euros.
Key points
To obtain support for setting up self-employment, business and freelance ventures, 1,828 applications submitted by young people aged between 18 and 34 have been approved for funding – of which 709 took the form of partial grants and 1,119 were vouchers – totalling 116 million euros, to fund investments amounting to a total of 138 million euros.
As of 15 July 2026, a total of 4,540 applications had been submitted and over 273 million euros had been earmarked (approximately 47 per cent of the available funding) to access the incentives under the Cohesion Decree, funded by the National Programme for Young People, Women and Employment Programme (ESF+ 2021–2027) (the fund is subject to exhaustion), whilst 5,436 applications are currently being completed, according to figures from the Ministry of Labour.
70 per cent of applications come from the South
The incentives form part of the integrated self-employment plan, which comprises two measures: ‘Centro Nord’ and ‘Resto al Sud 2.0’. It is worth noting that 70 per cent of the eligible applications relate to ‘Resto al Sud 2.0’. Furthermore, 30 per cent of the vouchers approved for funding received a bonus, either because they involved investment in technological innovation, environmental sustainability or energy efficiency, or because they included specialist consultancy services provided by third-sector organisations.
The plan aims to reduce the number of young people excluded from the labour market through incentives that encourage the creation and development of new businesses across all economic sectors (with the exception of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture). Invitalia (the National Agency for Business Development) and the National Microcredit Agency (Enm) are responsible for implementing the Integrated Self-Employment Plan; optional initial training is provided for young people wishing to set up their own business. This provides key skills, facilitating access to grants. Non-repayable grants are available to set up new businesses in almost all economic sectors, with the exception of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture. Technical support mentoring to facilitate investments, during the start-up phase and when reporting expenditure, is compulsory and guaranteed for all those who receive the grant. Management mentoring to help participants better address and resolve the typical challenges of the start-up phase of new businesses is also compulsory and guaranteed for all those who receive the grant.
Self-employment incentives in Central and Northern Italy: the target group
In particular, the Centre-North Self-Employment Incentive scheme promotes the launch of new business ventures, freelance activities and self-employment in Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-South Tyrol, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria and Marche. With a budget of €219.6 million, it is funded by the National Programme for Young People, Women and Work (ESF+ 2021–2027), administered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, and is managed by Invitalia. The scheme is aimed at young people aged between 18 and 35 who are economically inactive, not in employment or unemployed, as well as those unemployed under the GOL Programme (Workers’ Employability Guarantee) and the so-called ‘working poor’.
