The Startup4MED initiative has a budget of EUR 80 million to support SMEs and start-ups in the Mediterranean region and is intended to reach 136,000 people.

Omissions

• Only the existence and general purpose of StartUp4Med could be verified; the two quantitative elements of the claim (EUR 80 million; 136,000 people) appear in no source retrieved.
• StartUp4Med was announced in October 2025 as part of the Pact for the Mediterranean, i.e. roughly one year before the speaker's intervention — the claim does not make clear whether the EUR 80 million is an allocated budget or an indicative/target figure, nor whether 136,000 people is a target or an achieved result.
• No independent secondary source (Reuters, Euractiv, etc.) reporting the EUR 80 million or 136,000 figures was found, so the numbers remain uncorroborated.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission — Questions and Answers on the Pact for the Mediterranean (press corner, QANDA/25/2839)"It will boost entrepreneurship through StartUp4Med, a Mediterranean ecosystem for start-ups and SMEs." (The retrieved excerpt confirms the existence and purpose of StartUp4Med but does not contain the EUR 80 million or 136,000 people figures.)
• PrimaryEuropean Commission — 'Launch of the Pact for the Mediterranean' (speech, SPEECH/25/2841)Announcement of the launch of the Pact for the Mediterranean, presented as the framework under which new initiatives, including support for entrepreneurship, are set up with Southern and Eastern Mediterranean partners; the retrieved excerpt contains no budget or beneficiary figures for StartUp4Med.
• SecondaryWestMED Initiative (European Commission) — 'Pact for the Mediterranean Launched: A New Era of Regional Cooperation'"On 16 October 2025, the European Commission officially launched the Pact for the Mediterranean – an ambitious framework to deepen cooperation between the EU ..."