Open now · ESF Project Grants · ESF-2026-AG-TCS
Expected Outcome:
The general objective of the call is to further develop the social enterprise finance market by supporting the social finance intermediaries to provide the needed capital to social enterprises and mission-driven enterprises.
In this direction, the call builds upon previous similar calls and aims above all to support social finance intermediaries who undertake long-term risk capital investments in social enterprises and mission-driven enterprises. Therefore, the key objective of the present call of proposals is to catalyse risk capital investments below EUR 1 000 000 that otherwise would not happen in the area of social enterprise finance. The call aims to support the transaction costs for these low value investment tickets and thus to help to overcome the identified market failure / mismatch in the social investment market.
The present call also encourages the European (trans-national) and innovative dimension of social finance schemes and support towards emerging social finance markets, e.g. via cross-border investments and cooperation, dissemination of good practices, etc.
Under this call for proposals, the transaction costs support scheme will take the form of a grant, and it can be combined with financial instruments as means to address the mismatch of needed and sustainable ticket sizes.
By transaction costs, this call for proposals understands the different costs linked to these investments, such as due diligence related costs, legal advice fees, travel costs, business development support costs, support towards establishing an impact measurement and management plan or system, etc.
Scope:
Trimmed here, the full scope, expected outcomes and award criteria are on the official topic page ↗.
| Item | Estimate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Drafting effort | 3–4 weeks | single submission |
| Time to first payment | 6–9 months | cut-off → evaluation → grant agreement |
These are Bemzu's estimates from the call's structure (the number of stages and whether a consortium is required) not figures published by the Commission. Only the co-financing share is read from the call itself.
Eight questions, no account, nothing sent anywhere. You will know which of the 1526 open calls you can actually enter before you finish your coffee.
Check my fit