Project title: Leveraging Finance 4 positive Social Change
Project acronym: Finance4SocialChange
Programme: Interreg Danube Transnational Programme
Project duration: 07/2018 – 06/2021
Total budget: 2 013 975,00 EUR
Budget of UKS: 129 750,00 EUR
Lead Partner: IFKA Public Benefit Non Profit Ltd. for the Development of the Industry (Hungary)
Web: http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/finance4socialchange

Finance4SocialChange is designed to enable the creation of a business environment that helps social entrepreneurs create more viable and scaling social companies in the DR. Project aims to facilitate improved policy learning between policymakers and government agencies, social enterprises (start-up and scale-up SEs), financial intermediaries and financial service providers, (social) enterprise catalysts, academia and the public to deliver innovative policy designs enabling new capital for scaling positive impact on society in the Danube region.

Finance4SocialChange answers a key gap in Danube region’s policymaking sphere, namely the joint understanding of social impact as well as the creation of more sustainable start-up and scale-up social enterprises in the Danube region through improved regulatory frameworks. Finance4SocialChange’s main result is to intensify the cooperation of project partners (policymakers, financial intermediaries, social enterprise catalysts, research institutes) with target groups (start-up and scale-up social enterprises) in the Programme Area via:

• Social Impact Investment Community Strategy for the Danube region: creating a „community of practitioners“ committed to work together towards shaping the regulatory framework for the proper functioning of the social financing sector in the Danube region;
• Social Impact Investment Design Academy: delivering 130 hours blended transnational learning experience to 400 social enterprises providing knowledge and access to social impact investors, financial intermediaries and philanthropists;
• Social Impact Investment Competition: 6 months competence-based awards fundraising programme creating direct business opportunities and access to equity-type of financial options to 50 best performing social enterprises to secure social impact investments.

Finance4SocialChange brings together a multi-disciplinary quadruple-helix partnership of 14 Project Partners from 12 countries and 5 Associated Strategic Partners from across Europe.

Programme co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI)