Zsófia Nagy-Vargha: Start-up program supports the start-up of 20 more businesses

The start-up programme of the National Talent Centre and Design Terminal supports the implementation of another 20 young people’s innovative businesses, the Deputy State Secretary for Youth of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) announced on Thursday in Budapest.

Zsófia Nagy-Vargha said at the opening event of the second round of the programme that more than twice as many people applied for the programme compared to the first call last spring, and a large number of Hungarians from across the border also applied for the programme.
The aim of the scholarship is to make businesses successful and thus to benefit from the knowledge of talents at the level of the national economy. The success of young people can therefore also be Hungary’s success, the Deputy State Secretary highlighted.
Zsófia Nagy-Vargha also spoke about the fact that talent management is an area behind which there is a clear social consensus. That is why the National Talent Programme was established 14 years ago, under which almost 19,000 projects worth HUF 33 billion have been implemented since then, i.e. 300,000-350,000 talented young people are supported every year.
The social consensus is also evidenced by the fact that the National Talent Programme is implemented with the help of the Hungarian people, as, in addition to the budgetary resources, the programme is also supported by one percent tax donations, he added.
Dóra Sándor-Kovács, managing director of the National Talent Centre, said that the specialty of the Start-Programme is that, in addition to financial support, they also provide complex professional assistance to young people who ‘wink’ their ideas towards the business world.
During the second call for proposals, ideas could be submitted on three topics: in the health-social field, in the green field and in the field of community support, he explained, adding that most of the proposals came from the community field.
László Jónás, professional manager and managing director of Design Terminal, said that, according to surveys, the proportion of young people who want to start a business is low. In his opinion, this may be because there is no supportive professional community to help new entrepreneurs, to answer their questions, to dispel their doubts. Therefore, they also want to build a community during professional trainings, so that young people can get support from each other and from experienced leaders, discuss their experiences and ask questions if they get stuck, said László Jónás.
According to the previous information about the program, young people between the ages of 18 and 35 can apply for the program, the owners of the selected ideas will receive a start-up capital of HUF 3 million each, and they can participate in the enterprise training organized jointly with Design Terminal. Afterwards, each participant will have the chance to receive an additional HUF 5 million in support, bringing them even closer to their ‘dream business’. At the end of the training, the additional 5-5 million HUF can be won by two competitors.