Apart from a financial support effect, startup funding may also have a secondary effect on entrepreneurial survival through the entrepreneur’s perception of the funding as emotional support. The focus of this study is on how the emotions attached to receiving public funding increase the likelihood of entrepreneurs staying as entrepreneurs through enhanced entrepreneurial passion. We test our hypotheses on a unique dataset of Finnish entrepreneurs who started their business between 2005 and 2010 and received a startup grant from the government (n=2,469).