The objective of the call is to contribute to the development of programs or funds, appropriate and reliable, that provide financing to social enterprises, as well as support structures that can provide business development services and network structures to improve the investment readiness of social enterprises. In addition, the call aims to identify, develop, promote and disseminate good practices in order to support social enterprises in accessing finance.

To be eligible, applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

• be a legal entity (public or private)
• Be established in one of the eligible countries, namely:
EU member states (including Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs))
non-EU countries: the listed EEA countries and countries associated with the ESF+ or in negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before the grant is signed.

Grantees and affiliated entities must register in the participant registry-before submitting their proposal-and it must be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation).

Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associate partners, subcontractors, third parties providing in-kind contributions, et cetera.

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least three applicants (beneficiaries; non-affiliated entities), meeting the following conditions:

• At least one applicant must be a potential investor who has signed a letter of intent to invest/co-invest in the proposed financial product
• At least one applicant must be a “support Organization,” which is an organization that provides primarily non-financial support to social enterprises, particularly support for business development and investment readiness. Support organizations include incubators, accelerators and campuses (providing co-working spaces).

The estimated amount for each project is between 300 000 EUR and 400 000 EUR