Important Information for Potential Participants in Ukrainian Red Cross Programmes: REDpreneur.UA and “Reboot: Expanding Employment Opportunities”
The Ukrainian Red Cross actively supports vulnerable populations seeking to start or restore their own businesses. Currently, there are two entrepreneurship support programmes: REDpreneur.UA and “Reboot: Expanding Employment Opportunities”. Both programmes offer financial support, but each has its own specific features.
- The REDpreneur.UA Programme
REDpreneur.UA is an international franchise for entrepreneurship development, launched in 2024 by the Ukrainian Red Cross in collaboration with the Austrian Red Cross and the Neighbour in Need Foundation (Austria). It forms part of a global initiative to support socially responsible entrepreneurship and enhance vulnerable groups’ economic resilience.
The programme is being implemented in Ukraine from September 2024 to December 2025. It provides financial grants, coaching, and mentoring support tailored to the specific needs of Ukraine. The programme offers a unique learning experience based on business schools and business incubators.
REDpreneur.UA targets internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, women facing challenging life circumstances, the unemployed, and other vulnerable groups. The programme’s primary goal is to serve as a business incubation centre for social entrepreneurship in Ukraine, helping to create financially sustainable business models to support the local economy and ensure long-term sustainability.
- The “Reboot: Expanding Employment Opportunities” Programme
Participants in the “Reboot: Expanding Employment Opportunities” programme can submit a business plan to apply for a microgrant to restore a lost business or start a new one.
The project is being implemented in the Vinnytsia and Cherkasy regions with the support of the Spanish Red Cross, in the Ternopil and Kirovohrad regions with the support of the Swiss Red Cross, and in the Mykolaiv region with the support of the Danish Red Cross.
Vulnerable groups eligible for grant support include internally displaced persons, veterans and their families, registered individual entrepreneurs, and those planning to start their own businesses.
The main goal is to help people who have lost almost everything to restore their financial stability and rebuild businesses in their local regions.
Both programmes are designed to support entrepreneurs and help restore economic stability and development in Ukraine. The “Reboot: Expanding Employment Opportunities” project also offers a training programme for vulnerable populations. This programme is open to participants who have not applied for grant support under either of the two abovementioned programmes.
Please note: You cannot apply for both programmes simultaneously. Each project has its own requirements, so we encourage participants to choose the programme that best suits their needs. More information about the programmes is available on the URCS website.