CIVITTA Coordinating €1,5M Horizon2020 Project

H2020 project ALTFInator prepared by CIVITTA Estonia received excellent results in evaluation (14,5 points out of 15) and was selected for funding with 1,5 mln EUR by the European Commission.

Innovative SMEs are characterised by brilliant ideas, but are often young with immature structures and limited financial history, resulting in very low capacity to attract traditional forms of finance. Alternative sources of financing that have emerged in the last years represent at present a sector characterized by uneven distribution across countries and regions and many existing barriers that are still limiting SMEs' access. ALTFInator project is brought to life to facilitate improving innovative SMEs access to alternative finance through capacity building of the financial ecosystem and its participants in the countries where the potential for improvement is the highest (South Europe and Central and Eastern Europe).

In order to achieve this, ALTFInator project will:

- Map and analyze the framework conditions and establish the capacity-building strategy and implementation plan for the target regions

- Provide cross-European information architecture with materials, resources and online tools for capacity building and matching of innovative SMEs to alternative finance schemes

- Engage and broaden the stakeholder community, complemented by an equal increase of knowledge, capacity, and partnerships in support of provision and absorption of alternative forms of financing for innovative SMEs.

The project is coordinated by CIVITTA Estonia and has 11 high-level partners, including among others Zabala Innovation Consulting (Spain), Innomine Group (Hungary), development company Mediapark (Lithuania), CrowdfundingHub (Netherlands) and others.

The total budget of the project is 2 mln EUR. Expected start of the project is in March 2018 with a duration of 2 years.

ALTFInator project will be funded under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement nr. 792040)