EXIST in particular targets universities, though, so not every founder is eligible.

Correct, that was meant as an example. There's also "Existenzgründungszuschuss" for the unemployed and various other EU funds for craftsmen and others:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/running-business/start...

Do you know any equivalent for the Netherlands by any chance? Everything I see is tiny amounts.

There is the SeedCapital route: https://english.rvo.nl/subsidies-financing/seed-capital

Thanks!

Isnt this just a private loan?

Idk about the Netherlands, but in France you can take your unemployment benefits for 3 years upfront as a capital investment in a new business. And there are various grants and aid you can apply for.

Can you get unemployment if you quit?

Annoyingly, in 20 years of working I've never been fired or laid off.

I think recently there's been a change which says that you can if you start a new company right away. But do check with an accountant for the inevitable pitfalls.

In CAC40 company, It is possible to take unpaid leave with the possibility of returning to the company to set up a new business. The idea is that if the project fails, the original company recovers an employee who has learned a lot (free MBA).

If you're already unemployed, it's possible to keep your allowance longer for a business start-up or takeover.

It's also possible to sign a “rupture conventionée”, which entitles you to unemployment benefits.

But no, if the employee resigns, he or she is not entitled to unemployment benefits, nor to business start-up assistance.

the French system is generous, but not as generous.

I see this misconception a lot for resigning France.

First, there are some "protected classes" of resigning that allow you to be eligible for unemployment right after you resign, for example: moving to follow your spouse, resigning less than 3 months after having been laid off, going back to study or... creating a company!![1] :).

Second, you are entitled to unemployment benefits even if you resign without "a good reason". The issue is that you can only request your benefits 4 months after having resigned. This leads to many people believing that you just do not get anything if you resign; because who wants to eat the 4 months of no income?

This 4 months waiting period is not advertised at all, and my complotist self believes it might be on purpose; if you don't know about it and don't request it, that's less money for the government to spend :^).

[1] Conditions apply (having worked uninterrupted for the last 5 years)

It's more complicated than that [0]. The fact that you have the right to claim unemployment benefit does not mean that it will be accepted, that it will be accepted quickly or that the benefit will correspond to what you would have had if you had been laid off.

[0] https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34991/...

This is true; I can only speak from my experience and that of my peers but the hardest part every time was the "accepted quickly" section of your comment. I am also thinking the process is cryptic and uncertain on purpose to discourage people from even trying. Even though I have not personally seen requests get outright rejected, just drawn out to months.

> In CAC40 company, It is possible to take unpaid leave with the possibility of returning to the company to set up a new business

It's not only CAC40, it's part of some collective bargaining agreements which apply to whole sectors (e.g. SYNTEC which applies to all consulting and most IT companies).

Your sentence is not true as you present it. There are _a lot_ of constraints. Time wise, topic wise, biased wise. No typicality start-up will ever get the EXIST "gift".

"The grant covers personal living, material, and coaching expenses over 12 months, allowing founders to focus on developing their founding idea. While graduates receive personal funding of 2.500€, students can receive 1.000€ a month, additionally up to 30.000€ material and 5.000€ coaching budget that can be used to develop the founding project further."

So, 30k EUR (gross) with a maximum funding period of one year? Laughable. Also probably a little bit tragicomic.

Early seed rounds are usually measured in couple of USD millions. I wonder how these brilliant minds in the EU think they will attract the industry talent to leave their ~5x salary (outside FAANG) for such a pocket money.

EXIST is very narrowly tailored to technology start-ups founded by graduates based on their research.

Out of curiosity I was spot-checking the the founders of the latest YC 24 Winter batch at https://www.ycombinator.com/companies?batch=W24 , and the requirements would exclude at least 90% of them from EXIST if they lived in Germany.

Great that the German government makes some of the most start up unfriendly employment laws and funds these doomed start ups at the same time.

This is really ridiculously and needs to stop.