The European Commission published a call for proposals under the EaSI programme (PROGRESS Axis). The objective is to enable more social enterprises to take on repayable finance for developing and scaling up their innovative business model. The support aims at (1.) boosting the supply of social finance through institution and capacity building with committed actors, and (2) generating effective demand among social enterprises for social finance by developing their “investment readiness”. In order to take into account the variety of social finance market situations, the call offers several strands: Strand A: Establishment of social finance partnerships; Strand B: Establishment of social finance instruments and mechanisms; Strand C: Facilitating hybrid finance for social enterprises; Strand D: Development of investment readiness support for social enterprises; Strand E: Creation of a European level platform to reinforce the capacity of social enterprise support organisations.
The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of actions is estimated at EUR 2.150.000 million. The indicative grant amount per action will be: – for Strand A: EUR 85 000 – for Strand B: EUR 130 000 – for Strand C: EUR 130 000 – for Strand D: EUR 100 000 – for Strand E: EUR 150 000. The maximum co-financing rate is 80%. The deadline for application is
The deadline for applications is 13 June 2016. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Florian at florian.tuder@eurodiaconia.org. Or contact the Commission directly at empl-vp-2016-007@ec.europa.eu.
For detailed information on the different strands and eligibility criteria please find the full text of the call here (EN).