Kick-starting the nascent social finance market in Estonia (SoFiMa)

The main goal of the project “Kick-starting the nascent social finance market in Estonia” (SoFiMa) is to achieve cooperation between various sectors and stakeholders in developing the current situation of social entrepreneurship in Estonia. The project engages with representatives of businesses, non-profit organizations, scientists, investors, representatives of banks and local as well as national-level policy makers. The final result of the project will be a Memorandum of Understanding for the future creation of a new social finance instrument meeting the needs of the Estonian market.

The project consists of three main groups of activities: research and analysis, capacity building and knowledge exchange and networking.

Research and analysis:

• Analysis of the investment needs and investment readiness of Estonian social enterprises.

• Analysis of the readiness of Estonian investors to invest in social enterprises and the factors affecting it.

• Feasibility study of a new potential social finance instrument.

Capacity building activities include implementation of the social entrepreneurship incubation programs in Tallinn and Võru County. Tallinn is the city with the highest potential regarding social economy ecosystem and business growth. Students are the main target group of the incubation programme in Tallinn. Activities in Võru County focus on representatives of communities, local enterprises and non-profit associations, from whose initiatives social enterprises can grow and become partners for the local government.

Exchange of knowledge and networking takes place through roundtables and workshops for local decision-makers and policy makers, bank representatives and investors. The aim of the planned events is to increase awareness of various target groups about social entrepreneurship and to create meeting places for the involvement of new parties.

The project ends with the signing of a memorandum between the parties, which agrees on the future of financing opportunities for socially responsible companies in Estonia.

The project consortium includes: Baltic Innovation Agency, Tallinn University, Development Centre of Võru County, Estonian Social Enterprise Network. The project is also supported by AS SEB Bank and startup accelerator Buildit.

The project is co-financed by the European Commission through the Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” 2014-2020 programme – Actions to boost the development of finance markets for social enterprises. One of the objectives of the EaSI programme is to promote employment and social inclusion by improving access to finance for social enterprises and supporting the development of the social enterprise finance market.