If your Budapest company still runs on Excel, paper, and a handful of disconnected programs, you can apply for HUF 3-12 million in non-repayable funding under DIMOP Plusz 1.2.6/C-26 for a multi-step digital upgrade. The grant covers up to 90% of eligible costs, with no loan attached. Under the current schedule, submission opened on 1 September 2026 and was due to close on 27 October. Check below for the exact, current status.
This is a new round. The earlier 1.2.6 phase, which had a 30 June deadline, is now closed.
Update (3 September 2026): submission under the C-26 call has since been suspended. The requested funding far exceeded the 130% suspension threshold set out in the call, so new applications can't be submitted for now. The official deadline is still formally 27 October 2026, and the suspension could be lifted, so it's worth reviewing the conditions and preparation below to be ready if that happens. Always check the current status on palyazat.gov.hu .
I'm Gábor Glázer. I implement Odoo, and for the past 8 years I've worked on EU-funded digitalisation projects for Hungarian SMEs. Below I'll walk through whether you might be eligible, what the grant will and won't fund, and when to start getting ready.
Main conditions of the DIMOP Plusz call
DIMOP Plusz 1.2.6/C-26 targets small Budapest companies with low digital intensity. Here are the main parameters according to the fifth amendment of the official call (the latest version as I write this: calls can be amended along the way, so before you submit, always check the current version on the portal):
- Form: a straight non-repayable grant, with no loan element to repay.
- Amount: HUF 3-12 million.
- Grant intensity: up to 90% of eligible costs. You'll need to contribute at least 10% from your own funds, and some costs may not be eligible.
- Who: for-profit micro and small enterprises operating in Budapest.
- Submission: 1 September - 27 October 2026.
Say every cost in a HUF 5 million project is eligible and it gets the maximum 90% grant: you'd still need at least HUF 500,000 of your own funds. Your actual contribution may be higher because you may also incur ineligible costs. Payment comes in arrears, though you can request an advance of up to 25% of the awarded grant, which means you still have to pre-finance part of the project. And the grant only stays non-repayable if you achieve the results you committed to and the maintenance conditions.
Who it's for, and who it isn't
This round is aimed squarely at companies still running at low digital intensity: mostly paper, Excel, a handful of disconnected programs, no real business management system. Here's what you need:
- A for-profit micro or small enterprise.
- The project location named in the application has to be in Budapest, and it must be a registered seat, site, branch or office of the company. So it's not your registered seat that has to sit in Budapest, it's the location of the development, and that location has to be registered too. You can name only one project location, and you have to deliver the project there, then keep running it there through the maintenance period.
- At least one completed financial year covering a full 365 days, from 2024 or later.
- A very low digital intensity score on the official self-assessment (kkvdigital.dkf.hu). In practice that usually means your company still runs mainly on Excel, on paper, or on programs that don't talk to each other. You have to fill in this assessment yourself.
The call spells out, item by item, which legal forms are accepted and what the exclusion grounds are. If you've already largely digitised your operations, this funding round probably isn't for you.
Not sure if you qualify? Book a free pre-screen and I'll go through the basic conditions with you, plus what you're planning to build.
What can it be spent on?
The call (fifth amendment) works from a fixed list of development objectives, and not every one of them is supported. For an Odoo implementation, these are the ones that matter:
- Using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
- Using a customer relationship management (CRM) solution.
- Sending e-invoices that support automated processing. (Not e-invoicing in general: a plain PDF invoice may not cut it.)
- Online sales.
- Using a paid cloud service (within the scope the call defines).
A standalone Odoo implementation isn't enough on its own, though. The grant is for a project covering multiple development objectives: you have to commit to at least three eligible objectives. And under the ERP objective, you have to roll out and actually use at least two new modules. Odoo can sit at the centre of the development, in other words, but it can't be the whole of it.
In addition to the minimum of three development objectives, you also need to budget for equipment. The cost you claim for equipment has to land between 15% and 30% of the project's total EU-eligible cost. Both limits apply twice: when you put the application together, and again while you deliver the project.
You can't make up that 15% with just any hardware, either. The call gives you a closed list, and under this activity you can only procure: a computer, monitor, laptop, network attached storage (NAS), router, mobile phone, tablet, or multifunction printer. Servers, production machinery, and other industrial kit are off the list. So a purely software project won't meet the conditions.
Being honest about AI
This is where most of the confusion comes from, so let me spell it out precisely.
“Business use of artificial intelligence technology” is NOT supported as a standalone development objective in this call. If you commit to it anyway, its cost has to sit in the budget as an explicitly non-eligible item. Data analytics, IoT, and robotics are excluded the same way.
AI can still play a role in this application, though, for two reasons:
- Paid cloud services are a supported objective, and the call puts subscription AI services, language models among them, into this category.
- It also works in your favour at evaluation: commit to a development objective that contains or applies an AI solution and you pick up 2 extra points in scoring.
So in short: an AI subscription fits, and it even earns points, while custom AI development comes out of your own pocket. In practice, that's the line that decides what goes into the application and what sits alongside it.
One procurement rule matters here: if the development objective or piece of equipment you've chosen appears in the official qualified catalogue (vallalkozzdigitalisan.mkik.hu), you can procure it only from an accredited supplier listed there. So before you sign with anyone, check whether your supplier is on that list. Buying from a supplier who isn't on it can put the eligibility of those costs at risk.
Glazer-Innovation is an accredited ICT supplier. That alone doesn't make every service eligible, though: I still have to check the specific modules, services, and catalogue entries item by item against the call. I'll review these with you during the assessment.
I put together and check the technical documentation myself. The administrative side, compiling the full application package and reviewing it before submission, is the grant writer's job.
Separate ceilings apply to training and ICT security briefing costs: up to 20% of total eligible cost for “provision of ICT training to employees”, and up to 10% for “informing employees about their ICT security obligations”. Don't confuse that 10% ceiling on one objective with the project's separate, minimum 10% own-funding requirement; they're separate requirements.
Those two ceilings, together with the equipment ratio, are binding both at submission and throughout delivery. This isn't a box you tick once and forget: you can't reshape the cost structure freely as you go, so it pays to plan with the final ratios from day one.
Timing is what matters
Under the current call, 27 October is the formal final deadline. But submissions are suspended if the funding requested across all applications reaches 130% of the budget, and that threshold was already hit on 3 September 2026 (see the update at the top of this article). So no new application can go in right now. If the suspension lifts, submit early in the window rather than waiting.
There's a precise rule on project start, and it comes with a real cost if you get it wrong: you can't start the project before the funding application goes in. From the day after submission you may start at your own risk, but that buys you no advantage at evaluation and guarantees nothing. So before you sign a contract or place an order, I check with you whether that step would already count as a project start under the call.
Preparation is a different story, though. Start that now, so you're ready the moment it opens again.
There's a deadline at the other end too: the project has to be physically complete by 30 September 2028. Set your own internal deadline earlier than that; you'll want time left for handover, fixes, and preparing the financial documentation for the grant.
How does Odoo fit in?
Odoo can handle sales, inventory, invoicing, and purchasing in a single system, for example, and because it's built from modules, the “at least two new modules” condition is usually easy to meet, as long as the implementation genuinely introduces and uses two of them. AI features can further reduce manual work, such as document processing or drafting payment reminders, though the rule above still applies to funding those. In my own projects, these features have cut manual data entry and the errors that come with it, but what you can expect varies from company to company. In the assessment, I'll go through which of these would deliver tangible business results for your company.
Two earlier implementations, and what I learned from them
Over the past few years I've delivered several grant-funded Odoo implementations. They came out of earlier calls, not C-26, so don't read them as eligibility templates for this round. The implementation lessons still hold, though. I'll share two, without company names or exact regions.
An industrial manufacturer, 20-30 people. I digitalised three areas at once: production (inventory, scheduling, scrap handling), controlling (automated reports), and purchasing. It came together in roughly three months. Afterwards, the owner told me day-to-day operational coordination needed far less manual chasing, which freed up time for growth instead.
At another small business running several sites, sales, the webshop, and invoicing used to run separately, none of them talking to the back office. With Odoo, sales, purchasing, Hungarian invoicing, and inventory all landed in one system. The implementation took four months.
In both projects, a detailed technical specification provided a workable basis for the budget and the implementation that followed.
How it works
1. Check your eligibility. Complete the digital intensity self-assessment at kkvdigital.dkf.hu, and check the basic conditions: Budapest-based micro or small enterprise, low digital intensity.
2. Assessment and cost estimate. I go through your requirements with you, then estimate what the system needs to do and what an Odoo plus AI implementation would cost.
3. The application itself. I put together the technical part: which business processes and Odoo features need implementing, and what they'll cost. The administrative part is the grant writer's job. I don't write grant applications myself, but if you don't have someone for that, I can point you to a reliable partner.
4. Delivery. Once you're approved, it's installing Odoo, rolling out the modules, switching on the AI features, migrating data, training your team, and go-live support. An implementation of similar scope typically takes 3-4 months.
What matters before you say yes
Non-repayable funding sounds great, but it's not free money. Delivery and maintenance obligations come attached, and you're better off knowing them up front.
First, results: by the end of the project, your company's digital intensity level has to show a measurable increase. Miss the digital progress you committed to, and the organisation managing the grant can end the agreement and claw back what's already been paid. Second, the maintenance obligation: you have to keep running the system you implemented for a set period afterwards.
So it genuinely matters whether the system gets used or just sits there installed. That's exactly what I aim for: a real implementation, a company that actually switches over, and a result you can point to. Get that right, and you cut the risk of falling short and having the grant clawed back.
FAQ
Who can apply?
A for-profit micro or small enterprise with its project location in Budapest (a registered seat, site, branch, or office), a very low digital intensity score (based on the self-assessment at kkvdigital.dkf.hu), and at least one completed financial year covering a full 365 days, from 2024 or later.
Does the grant fund AI as well?
Only partly. “Business use of artificial intelligence” isn't supported as a standalone objective, so those costs have to sit in the budget as non-eligible. Subscription AI services, though, are eligible under the supported “paid cloud service” objective, and committing to an objective that includes an AI solution earns you 2 extra points at evaluation.
Is implementing Odoo on its own enough?
No. The grant is for a project covering multiple development objectives: you have to commit to at least three eligible objectives, and under the ERP objective, roll out and use at least two new modules.
Do I have to buy equipment out of the grant too?
Yes. Equipment costs have to fall between 15% and 30% of the project's EU-eligible total cost, and only equipment on the call's closed list qualifies: computer, monitor, laptop, network attached storage, router, mobile phone, tablet, and multifunction printer. So a purely software project won't qualify.
How much funding can I get, and how much do I need myself?
The grant covers up to 90% of eligible costs, somewhere between HUF 3 and 12 million. Budget for a contribution of at least 10% from your own funds, plus any ineligible costs.
Will I ever have to pay it back?
The grant itself is non-repayable, no loan attached. But there are strings: if your digital intensity score doesn't rise measurably by the end of the project, or you don't keep the system running for the required period, the grant can be clawed back.
Is Glazer-Innovation Kft. an accredited supplier?
Yes, I'm an accredited ICT supplier. That alone doesn't make every service eligible, though. During the assessment, I'll check the call requirements with you to establish which costs of an implementation you commission from me would be eligible in your specific C-26 application.
If you're interested, let's start with the assessment
Formally, submission runs through 27 October, but it's currently suspended (see the top of this article). It's still worth starting your preparation, so you're ready if it reopens. If your project location is in Budapest, your company's digital maturity is low, and you're weighing up an Odoo-based system, request a free assessment.
Request a free assessment, and in one conversation I'll cover:
1. Eligibility: whether you can apply under the basic conditions.
2. Development objectives: which three would make up your set.
3. Odoo modules: which ones fit your processes.
4. Cost estimate: what the implementation would run you.
The assessment is free and carries no obligation.
Sources
- DIMOP Plusz 1.2.6/C-26 call, Grant Portal, documents page: palyazat.gov.hu: DIMOP Plusz 1.2.6/C-26 documents The information in this article draws on the fifth amendment of the call (accessed 28 July 2026).
- palyazat.gov.hu: DIMOP Plusz 2021-2027 programme overview
- digitalismegujulas.kormany.hu
- vallalkozzdigitalisan.mkik.hu: accredited ICT supplier and qualified product catalogue
- kkvdigital.dkf.hu: digital intensity self-assessment