Category: Public Calls

Overall objective: Promoting social entrepreneurship in order to encourage and ensure the capacity of existing and future social entrepreneurs

Specific objectives:

1. Improve the knowledge and skills of employees of existing and new social enterprises through specialised forms of training and education;
2. Encourage business development of existing and new social enterprises;
3. Increase the visibility of social entrepreneurship through public information and stakeholder networking

Eligible applicants:

Group 1

The applicant must act as a social entrepreneur, i.e. meet criterion No 2 of the prescribed criteria for social entrepreneurs defined by the Strategy for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Croatia for the period 2015-2020, (SDP) which reads;

A social entrepreneur performs the activity of production and traffic of goods, provision of services or performs an artistic activity that generates revenue on the market, and which has a favorable impact on the environment, contributes to the improvement of the development of the local community and society as a whole.

and must meet the following conditions:

be a legal person governed by private law – limited liability company, cooperative society;

association, foundation, which carries out activities in the Republic of Croatia and has the same in its basic act ;

2. the applicant must be registered in the relevant register at least one month before the deadline for submitting the application and must be registered in the Republic of Croatia or have its registered office in the Republic of Croatia; (the applicant and, where applicable, each project partner must include in the application a copy of the proof of registration and a copy of the instrument of constitution or other relevant basic act from which the action of the legal person is apparent);
3. have paid all taxes and other compulsory charges in accordance with national legislation due for payment (the applicant and, if applicable, each project partner, must submit in the declaration a certificate from the Ministry of Finance/Tax Administration on the absence of public debt in respect of public charges, which must be issued in the period from the date of publication of the Call to the date of application for the Call ;;
4. it is not subject to pre-bankruptcy settlement, bankruptcy, winding-up, compulsory recovery or winding-up proceedings;
5. has not breached the provisions on the ring-fencing of resources from the European Social Fund and other public sources.

Group 2.

An applicant who is not acting as a social entrepreneur at the time of the application but intends to become a social entrepreneur or to carry out an economic activity under criterion 2 above, defined by the SDP, for a social entrepreneur, must meet the following conditions:

be a legal person governed by private law – a cooperative, an association, a foundation, which carries on an activity in the Republic of Croatia and has the same as defined in its basic act ;;

1. the applicant must be registered in the relevant register at least one month before the deadline for submission of applications and must perform a registered activity in the Republic of Croatia or have its registered office in the Republic of Croatia (the applicant and, where applicable, each project partner must enclose in the application a copy of the proof of registration and a copy of the instrument of constitution or other relevant basic act from which the operation of the legal person is apparent);
2. have paid all taxes and other compulsory charges in accordance with national legislation due for payment (the applicant and, if applicable, each project partner, must submit in the declaration a certificate issued by the Ministry of Finance/Tax Administration on the absence of public debt in respect of public charges, which must be issued between the date of publication of the Call and the date of application for the Call;
3. it is not subject to pre-bankruptcy settlement, bankruptcy, winding-up, compulsory recovery or winding-up proceedings;
4. has not breached the provisions on the ring-fencing of resources from the European Social Fund and other public sources.

If the applicant is an association or foundation that does not have a registered economic activity, it is a condition that the economic activity is registered in the course of the implementation of the project, which will have to be proven by submitting a decision on the registration of the economic activity in the relevant register or by registering it with the Tax Administration by the end of the project implementation.

Eligible activities:

Group 1

1. Project management and administration;
2. Strengthening the capacity of employees of existing social enterprises through training and improvement programs (improvement of professional and managerial skills, technical knowledge, sales skills, marketing and accounting);
3. Improvement and acquisition of professional and business skills and skills of disadvantaged groups in the labour market (unemployed persons with disabilities, Croatian Homeland War veterans, members of deceased, imprisoned and missing Homeland War veterans, young people, women, members of the Roma national minority) through workshops, training and other forms of training;
4. Design and implementation of information activities in the field of social entrepreneurship (organisation of training, workshops, round tables, fairs, printing of promotional and training materials);
5. Exchange of knowledge and experience between existing social enterprises in the Republic of Croatia and EU countries (networking of social entrepreneurs at local, regional and national level, establishment of thematic groups for cooperation and exchange of good practices, organization of study trips in the country and abroad);
6. Promotion and visibility

Group 2

1. Project management and administration;
2. Development of business ideas and plans for new social enterprises/social entrepreneurs (expanding the scope of services and products on the local market, assessing needs and potentials, new products and services, new equipment necessary for the delivery of new products and services, professional and advisory services, market research, social and environmental impact, recyclability, targeted customers);
3. Promotion and visibility

Total grants: The total financial allocation under this Call for Proposals is 8.000.000,00 kn. The lowest value of the aid is 400.000,00 HRK and the highest 800.000,00 HRK per project.

Applications The competition will be open from 1 July 2016 to 9 September 2016.

Subject: awarding grants for the development of innovations that will result in a product that is a novelty in the company's offer and/or a novelty in the market. This includes process innovation as long as the process contributes to product development. Projects that do not aim at the actual development of the product are excluded. Products can be tangible and intangible (incl. services).

Purpose: Encouraging investments necessary for the application (commercialisation) of R&D&I results (arrived by SMEs themselves, in cooperation with others or through knowledge and technology transfer) in business activities and the start-up of production based on applied solutions.

Objective: the development of assisted start-ups and the successful transfer of innovative start-up ideas into market-driven business ventures and the creation of new innovatively oriented companies with growth and export potential, with a focus on the commercialisation of products and services.

The call is intended for legal or natural persons who are:
– non-listed SMEs belonging to micro, small or medium-sized enterprises according to the definition set out in Annex I. Definition of small and medium-sized enterprises of Regulation 651/2014
– have been set up not more than 36 months before the date of submission of the project application, have not distributed profits and have not been set up through a merger.

Support under this Call shall be reserved exclusively for start-ups and shall not extend to existing enterprises that will be closed and reopened.

Eligible activities are:

1. Adapting the developed product/service to market requirements – (carried out on its own or under contract for a service on commercial terms) and representing the completion of an innovation (product/service) almost ready for a market containing key functionalities (Minimum Sustainable Product – MFA), for which the initial market interest has already been expressed and/or has first customers, including incremental innovations on existing products/services to create new versions for new markets. It may include the following:
– adapting and completing innovation (product/service) to market requirements, including testing and incorporating test results into the final product/service and optimisation;
– transfer of market-applicable technological solutions, know-how (know-how transfer) including related advisory services and employee training, c. Review of the Feasibility Study;
– demonstration and evaluation of innovation in the operational environment;
– product design,
– the protection and management of the intellectual property concerned, including applications for the recognition of rights and the conduct of proceedings for the recognition of intellectual property rights and the development of a strategic plan for the protection and management of intellectual property.

2. The commercialisation of R&D results (preparation of product/service launches) may include the following:
– market research and testing for innovation;
– verification of market analysis and/or market needs;
– testing the product with potential customers;
– verification of the business model/plan;
– Preparing production and investing in pilot production, zero series;
– the marketing plan and the revision of the business and marketing plan;
– peer-to-peer marketing activities directly related to the commercialisation of research results and the launch of products/services on the market;
– preparing for the next investment cycle and attracting additional funding.

3. Additional activities related to Action 1 and/or 2 eligible for the entire duration of the project may include:
– engagement of external highly qualified and other professional staff;
– investments in instruments and equipment;
– investments in operations made directly and exclusively as a result of the project (such as salaries of applicant staff directly involved in project activities, operating costs, etc.).

4. Activities relating to contractual obligations (additional activities under this item may not exceed 5% value of the aid):
– a project audit in accordance with Chapter 7.5 of the Instructions (if applicable);
– promotion and visibility in accordance with Chapter 7.6 of the Instruction.

Activities listed under points 3 and 4 shall only be eligible provided that they are directly linked to the project and activities listed under points 1 and 2.

Total grants are 22,800,000,00 HRK for the period up to 31 December 2016. The minimum grant amount that can be awarded to an individual entrepreneur under this Call is HRK 150 000.00, while the maximum grant amount that can be awarded to an individual entrepreneur is HRK 1 500 000.00.

Applications for the competition will be accepted from 10 June 2016 to 31 December 2016, i.e. until the funds are used up.

If you are interested in applying for the competition, please contact us at: ivan.kermeci@porin.hr or on 051/634-333.