Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALTFInator (Capacity-building of the financial ecosystem and its participants for improving innovative SME´s access to alternative forms of finance in Europe with focus on SE and CEE)

Teaser

Alternative financing (AF) for businesses across Europe has increased considerably in recent years, becoming an important source of finance for entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs. However, access to AF varies considerably across Europe with Southern, Central and Easter European...

Summary

Alternative financing (AF) for businesses across Europe has increased considerably in recent years, becoming an important source of finance for entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs. However, access to AF varies considerably across Europe with Southern, Central and Easter European regions lagging behind Northern and Western European regions in terms of AF volume (total and per capita). To bridge this gap, Altfinator will facilitate the transfer of best practices from more advanced to less advanced markets. We will design, develop and implement a capacity-building strategy for the financial ecosystem and its participants in South, Central and Eastern European countries to improve the provision and absorption of AF.

Long-term strategic objective of the project is to increase the competitiveness and growth of European innovative SMEs.

Direct objective of the project is to improve innovative SME´s access to alternative forms of finance and absorb the potential emerging new forms (i.e. ICO) empowered by innovative financial technologies.

Operational objective of the project is to design, develop and implement a capacity-building strategy to increase the capacity of the financial ecosystem and its participants in South, Central and Eastern European countries for provision and absorption of alternative forms of financing for SMEs.

Sub-objectives are to:
• To map and analyse the framework conditions and establish the capacity-building strategy and implementation plan.
• To provide cross-European information architecture with materials, resources and online tools for capacity building and matching of innovative SMEs to alternative finance schemes and their providers.
• To engage and broaden the stakeholder community, complemented by equal increase of knowledge, capacity and partnerships in support of provision and absorption of alternative forms of financing for innovative SMEs.
• To review the impact of the implementation and provide the evidence-base for adaption and sustainability of the scheme in the light of experience.
• To provide stakeholders at European and International level, with the information concerning the Altfinator activities, events, achievements, respective web platform, material and tools.

Altfinator is a large-scale project and the overall objective of Altfinator project is to help to create a developed alternative financing market in our target regions.

Work performed

First period of the Altfinator project was successful with all general objectives accomplished. Here is the overview of activities carried out by work packages:

WP1 – The main focus of WP1 in the first period was on setting up the necessary project management structures – project communication channels, document management, quality management and financial management.

WP2 – The main objective of WP2 in the first project period was to establish, validate and adapt the capacity-building strategy and implementation plan for improving innovative SMEs access to alternative forms of finance, and to establish an outlook on new fintech services.
Main activities were the following:
• Mapping the AF ecosystem and listing best practices.
• Developing the capacity-building strategy and implementation plan as the preparation phase for the final capacity-building strategy to be developed in the second project period.
• Creating an analysis on the current trends and future of fintech services.

WP3 – The objective of WP3 is to provide cross-European information architecture with materials, resources and online tools aimed for capacity-building and matching of innovative SMEs with alternative finance schemes and their providers. The resources and tools developed can be used independently by users as online tools and will be applied during Altfinator engagement and capacity building activities.
Main actions taken in the first reporting period are the following:
• A detailed list of training materials, targeted at AF providers and AF multipliers, was defined and delivered. All materials are available on the Altfinator website.
• The Altfinator web platform development was completed. The website is the main online source providing information about Altfinator project, featuring also the Altfinator map and matching tool.

WP4 – The aim of this WP is to engage and broaden the community, complemented by equal increase of knowledge, partnerships and activities in support of provision and absorption of alternative forms of financing for SMEs.
Main activities included:
• The first of the four national workshops was held in Slovakia and the second one prepared in Portugal.
• One of the two international workshops took place in Spain.
• Two of the eight roundtables were held in Slovakia and Hungary.
• National awareness activities were carried out in the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain.

WP5 – The main objective of this WP is to review the impact of the implementation plan, provide appropriate input for adaption of the scheme and plan for sustainability. The first 6 months of the period was focused on producing the Monitoring and Impact Assessment Plan which set the basis for future work to be carried out regarding the project\'s impact assessment.
Main activities executed in the first project period included:
• Compiling a list of impacts to be monitored
• Identifying and selecting relevant indicators
• Initiating the impact measurement process

WP 6 – The aim of this WP is to create awareness about the Altfinator project and to disseminate the information concerning the project activities, knowledge emerged and results produced to specific target groups as well as to a broader range of stakeholders on a European level.
Main activities included:
• Defining the appropriate strategies and planning considering the scope of the project.
• Developing professional materials for communication
• Setting up channels for communication
• Supporting the Altfinator consortium members in relevant events and preparation of publications

Final results

The expected impacts to be generated from previously mentioned Altfinator activities are:
• Increased use of alternative forms of financing by innovative SMEs.
• Emergence and growth of alternative finance options available to innovative SMEs in Member States and Associated Countries where such options are less available or developed at present.
• More cooperation between different suppliers of finance in order to crowd in existing EU, national and regional financing structures targeting innovative SMEs.
• Replication in Member States and Associated Countries of successful approaches to encouraging the take-up of alternative finance by innovative SMEs.
The real long-term impact on a country’s and European economic performance can be perceived when the innovative SMEs scale and expand their operations. Altfinator intends to create the conditions for SMEs´ expansion by addressing the financing gap.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.altfinator.eu.