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Which Hungarian schemes can fund an MVP now: Hiventures, the DIMOP Plusz digital startup fund and NKFIH incubators, and whether they can pay an outside team.

Source: https://easifytechnologies.com/startup-funding-hungary-mvp/

Insights Articles

Startup Funding in Hungary: What Can Pay for Your MVP

20 October 2026 13 min read

Pages from the Nonstop Nanny babysitter booking site, a Budapest MVP built by Easify, including its Request a Nanny button

On 20 October 2026, the public money in Hungary that an early-stage founder can actually apply for is equity, not grants. The two live routes are the Hiventures early-stage fund under GINOP Plusz, which invests up to €300,000 per company but excludes startups that only develop software, and the DIMOP Plusz digital startup venture capital programme, which is the software route but expects technology at TRL 7 or above. We could not confirm any open Hungarian grant call that pays a startup to build an MVP: the NKFIH Startup Factory incubator call, the market-driven R&D call and the GINOP Plusz SME innovation calls we checked are all closed, and the Budapest digitalisation grant is suspended.

This page is orientation, not financial or legal advice. It goes deeper than our page on MVP development in Hungary, which covers prices, language, website rules and VAT. For other countries, start at the MVP grants and funding hub for Europe, and for EU-level programmes see EU funding for start-ups.

Scheme details checked against official sources on 20 October 2026. Schemes change; confirm with the programme before applying.

Hiring in Hungary?

Raising money in Hungary and need the MVP scoped and built?

Start a conversation ↗ MVP Development

At a glance

Scheme

Who runs it

Who is eligible

What it funds

Amount or rate

Type

How and when

Official link

Hiventures early-stage fund (GINOP Plusz-2.5.1-25)

Hiventures, part of the MFB Group

Unlisted SMEs with high growth potential doing R&D or innovation, mainly above TRL 6; not software-only startups

Prototype refinement, market validation, preparing the next round

Minimum HUF 40 million; up to €300,000 gross aid content

Equity and convertible loan

Listed as active on the national portal; investment decisions until 31 December 2029

Hiventures, programme description

Digital startup VC (DIMOP Plusz-5.1.4-26)

Fund managers chosen by public procurement; MFB as holding fund

Seed or start-up stage ICT SMEs, at least 50% ICT revenue, technology at TRL 7 or above

New digital products in named critical technologies

HUF 50 million to 900 million

Equity and quasi-equity

Listed as active on the national portal; investor selection depends on the fund managers being chosen

Call page

Startup Factory 2023 (2023-1.1.3-STARTUP)

NKFIH, through selected incubators

Startups registered at most five years, at most 20 staff, seated in Hungary or the EEA with a Hungarian branch

MVP and prototype development, validation, market entry

Set by each incubator; at most 80% aid intensity

Grant passed on by an incubator, plus incubator equity

Incubator call closed November 2023; ask each incubator whether it still accepts startups

NKFIH call page

Bay KFI voucher (2025-1.1.1-BAY_VOUCHER)

Bay Zoltán Applied Research Nonprofit

Hungarian SMEs

Services from the Bay research centre itself

Voucher of HUF 50 million to 100 million, 75% aid

Non-financial voucher

Open until 2 December 2026, 16:00

Call page

GINOP Plusz-2.1.4-25 (SME innovations to market)

NKFIH

SMEs

Bringing innovations to market

HUF 100 million to 600 million

Grant

Closed 28 May 2026

NKFIH archive

DIMOP Plusz-1.2.6/C-26 (Budapest digital transformation)

Széchenyi Terv Plusz

Budapest micro and small firms with very low digital intensity

Buying market-available digital solutions

HUF 3 million to 12 million, 90%

Grant

Suspended

Call page

Hiventures: the early-stage fund

Hiventures describes its mission as long-term, hands-on support for Hungarian startups and innovative businesses, from prototyping to market validation. Its new fund is "mainly generalist" but focuses on AI, deep tech, medtech and greentech.

What it offers. In its press release of 18 February 2026, Hiventures announced a venture capital fund of about HUF 17 billion, funded from EU sources under GINOP Plusz, for early-stage Hungarian startups with a technological or business innovation. It says investments can reach up to €300,000 per company at pre-seed and seed stage, that it plans to invest mainly alongside other investors, and that startups can receive investment in as little as three months. In a separate article, its CEO explains that when Hiventures invests alone it takes a minimal stake of about 1% and provides most of the capital as a convertible shareholder loan; when a startup already has an investor, Hiventures joins on the terms agreed with that investor.

The rules behind it. Hiventures lists the GINOP Plusz-2.5.1-25 early-stage R&D venture capital programme among its product descriptions. That document sets out:

How to apply. The press release sends founders to hiventures.hu/befektetes. When we checked on 20 October 2026, that address redirected to a job advert and the site's application link returned "page not found", so we could not confirm the current application route. Ask Hiventures directly at the address on its contact page.

DIMOP Plusz-5.1.4-26: the digital startup venture capital programme

This is the software route that the Hiventures document points to. The call sets up a HUF 16.7 billion programme, with two funds for the less developed regions and one for Budapest.

A typical MVP budget is far below the HUF 50 million minimum. This programme fits a company that already has a working product at TRL 7 or above and is raising a real round.

NKFIH Startup Factory: incubator-based grants

The Startup Factory model does not let a startup apply to NKFIH directly. NKFIH funds technology incubators, and each incubator runs its own call (a Címzetti Felhívás) and passes the grant on to the startups it selects.

Status. The 2023-1.1.3-STARTUP call was for incubators, and applications closed on 6 November 2023. NKFIH decided on 7 December 2023 to fund 11 incubators with HUF 5.2 billion, and later one more with HUF 500 million. The incubators listed include, in Budapest, Lunar Program, White Unicorn, Nesprit Ventures, Virgo Ventures, STRT Invest and OXO Labs. Incubator projects run 24 to 30 months (36 to 42 for some categories), and the call requires each incubator to place all the funds no later than six months before its project ends. We found no newer Startup Factory call on the NKFIH site, so whether any incubator still has money to place is a question for the incubator.

Who qualifies. Under the call, the startup must have legal personality, be registered for at most five years, employ at most 20 people on average, be seated in Hungary or in the EEA with a Hungarian branch, keep double-entry books, be unlisted, not have distributed profit, and have an innovative main activity in the Oslo Manual sense.

What it pays for. The incubator handbook names "MVP és prototípusfejlesztés, technológiai és piaci validáció" (MVP and prototype development, technical and market validation) as a supported task, with "52. Igénybe vett szolgáltatások" (services used, that is, bought-in services) among its eligible costs, alongside staff costs and materials. Aid intensity for the startup support is at most 80%, and the incubator must add private capital of at least 25% of the grant passed on (20% for new incubators). The FAQ says there is no cap on how much can go into one startup.

Other calls we checked

Can this money pay an outside development team, or one in another country?

This is the question most Hungarian guides skip. Here is what the official rules say, scheme by scheme.

Hiventures (GINOP Plusz-2.5.1-25). The programme description says the money may only finance costs that are eligible under the national eligibility guide, the Elszámolási útmutató for 2021 to 2027. It excludes purchases from the company's own owners, executives, their relatives and related or partner companies. It also states that de minimis aid cannot be granted if it is made conditional on using domestic services instead of imported ones. It does not mention where a supplier may be based. What it does require is that the project is carried out in Budapest (or in the regions, for the other component) at your seat, site or branch. Whether a build contracted to a supplier abroad meets that requirement, the official guidance does not say; ask Hiventures before you commit.

DIMOP Plusz-5.1.4-26. The call has the same structure: only costs eligible under the eligibility guide, a ban on purchases from related parties, and money used in Hungary at your seat, site or branch. On supplier location, the official guidance does not say; ask the fund manager, or the portal's customer service until one is named.

The eligibility guide itself. The Elszámolási útmutató 2021 to 2027 (the version we could open is 5.0, September 2024) says the cost of services ordered from a third party and directly linked to the supported activity can be claimed (chapter I, point 3.4.1). Its invoice checklist in chapter II also covers foreign invoices: the beneficiary attaches a signed Hungarian translation of the invoice's main details (point 2.10.2), a Hungarian translation of the contract documents must be available for a foreign or foreign-currency invoice (point 2.2.2), and foreign-currency invoices are converted at the MNB rate on the performance date (point 2.11.1). We found no rule in it that excludes a non-EU supplier. The call's own rules still come first.

Startup Factory. Bought-in services are an eligible cost for MVP and prototype development. The NKFI general applicant guide attached to the call says purchases must be at market prices between independent parties, and that every bought-in service needs a quote. It expects some quotes to come from abroad: a quote not in forints is converted at the MNB rate, and a quote not in Hungarian needs a Hungarian translation, which need not be official. The guide also excludes, among market-access costs, "termékoldal webfejlesztése", web development of a product page. It says nothing about supplier location. Ask the incubator and NKFIH (nkfialap@nkfih.gov.hu, +36 1 795 9500) before you commit; each incubator's own call can add conditions.

Bay KFI voucher. No. The voucher buys the Bay research centre's own services, so no outside team, Hungarian or foreign, is paid with it.

Easify is based in Budapest, but our invoices come in euros from our registered entity in India. For Hungarian programmes, that means a foreign, foreign-currency invoice from outside the EU, needing translations and an MNB conversion at the very least. More importantly, programmes that require the money to be used in Hungary at your own site may not accept a build contracted abroad, and the rules do not settle it either way. Get the programme's answer in writing before you count our invoices as eligible costs. If the answer is no, a Hungarian or EU supplier is the safer choice for that budget line.

How to plan your MVP budget around it

  1. Do not spend before the money is agreed. The eligibility guide says invoices and performance dates may not be earlier than the implementation start in the support contract (chapter II, point 2.3.1). The GINOP Plusz-2.5.1-25 description excludes financing an investment already physically completed or fully implemented on the date of the investment decision. Sign the development contract after the decision, or be ready to pay for that work yourself.
  2. Match the scheme to your stage. Hiventures and DIMOP Plusz invest in companies, not in a document. Their minimums, HUF 40 million and HUF 50 million, are far above a typical MVP. Many founders fund the first build from savings, angels or an accelerator and approach these funds with the MVP live.
  3. Prepare a quote that survives scrutiny. The NKFI guide asks for a quote under 90 days old with the detailed tasks, the deliverables handed over, and the effort per task and per person. A written scope lets two suppliers quote the same thing.
  4. Write the scope down. Our MVP Scoping Sprint, €900 and about two weeks, produces a written scope and a fixed price for the build, credited in full against the build if you build with us. As general advice, a document like that helps with any application or investor that asks for a project plan or quotes; no Hungarian programme requires or endorses ours specifically.
  5. Budget for currency and translation. Our prices are in euros; a company keeping its books in forints carries the exchange-rate movement, and a foreign invoice under these rules needs Hungarian translations.

Where Easify fits, and where it may not

We typically build MVPs for €4,000 to €25,000 over four to twelve weeks. The people you talk to are in Budapest and work in English or Hungarian; engineering is in India, and invoices come in euros from our registered entity in India. We deploy client products to EU data-centre regions, but that does not mean data never leaves the EU, since our engineers work from India.

That makes us a sensible fit when the first build is paid from your own money, an angel or an accelerator, or from a programme that has confirmed in writing that it accepts a supplier like us. It makes us a poor fit where a programme expects the work done at your Hungarian site, or where you need a Hungarian or EU supplier to be safe. We do not write funding applications.

Already have a prototype? The €99 Prototype Check gives you a short written read on its top risks. For price benchmarks, see how much an MVP costs in Europe, and for comparing suppliers, how to choose an MVP development agency. Founding in a neighbouring country instead? See start-up funding in Austria, start-up funding in Poland or start-up grants in Germany.

If you know which route you are taking, send us what you want to test, who it is for and when the money lands, or book the Scoping Sprint, and we reply within one business day.

From Budapest, for teams in Hungary

Raising money in Hungary and need the MVP scoped and built?

We are based in Budapest and build MVPs for founders across Europe, typically €4,000 to €25,000 over four to twelve weeks, with invoices in euros from our registered entity in India. We do not write funding applications, and Hungarian programmes expect the money to be used in Hungary, so check your scheme's rules first. Send us what you want to test, who it is for and your funding timeline, or ask for the €900 MVP Scoping Sprint, and we reply within one business day.

Start a conversation ↗ MVP Development

Recent builds

On this page

Frequently asked

Is there a Hungarian grant I can apply for today to build an MVP?

We could not confirm one. On 20 October 2026 the national calls portal and the NKFIH list of current calls showed no open grant call for an early-stage startup to fund a product build. The Hungarian money that is open now is equity: the Hiventures early-stage fund under GINOP Plusz and the DIMOP Plusz digital startup venture capital programme. The innovation grants that come closest, such as GINOP Plusz-2.1.4-25, are closed.

How much does Hiventures invest in an early-stage startup?

Hiventures says its new fund invests up to €300,000 per company, at pre-seed and seed stage, mainly alongside other investors. The programme description it publishes sets a minimum of HUF 40 million, with the gross aid content capped at €300,000 under the de minimis rules. When it invests alone, its CEO says it takes a stake of about 1% and provides most of the money as a convertible shareholder loan.

Will Hiventures fund a software-only startup?

Not from the GINOP Plusz-2.5.1-25 programme. Its description says startups that develop only intangible assets, for example software, are not eligible, and points to the DIMOP Plusz venture capital programme for purely software-focused investments. That programme, DIMOP Plusz-5.1.4-26, targets ICT companies at seed or start-up stage with technology at TRL 7 or above.

Can I still get Startup Factory money from an incubator?

Possibly, but check with each incubator. NKFIH selected the incubators in December 2023, and their projects run 24 to 30 months, with all funds to be placed no later than six months before each project ends. Some incubators may have finished placing their Startup Factory money. The startup must be registered for at most five years, have at most 20 staff and be seated in Hungary or in the EEA with a Hungarian branch.

Can Hungarian public money pay a development agency outside Hungary?

The rules we found do not forbid it outright. The 2021 to 2027 eligibility guide treats services bought from third parties as eligible and sets out how foreign and foreign-currency invoices are handled. But the venture capital programmes require the money to be used in Hungary at your seat, site or branch, so ask the fund manager, the incubator or NKFIH in writing before you sign with a supplier abroad.

Can the Bay Research Centre voucher pay for an outside developer?

No. The 2025-1.1.1-BAY_VOUCHER call is a non-financial voucher: the Bay Zoltán research centre provides the research, prototype or development services itself. It covers 75% of a voucher worth HUF 50 million to 100 million, and applications close on 2 December 2026 at 16:00 unless the call is suspended earlier.

Does Easify write grant or investment applications?

No. We do not write funding applications and cannot tell you whether a programme will pay for your build. We can give you a written scope and a fixed price through the €900 MVP Scoping Sprint, which is the kind of document an investor or a grant body usually asks to see.

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