This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story about Pukas Surf, a small company from San Sebastián, Spain. This company received a loan under the SME Initiative in Spain. Pukas Surf is a family business manufacturing surf boards. The company exists already for 45 years and since then extended its activity to further fields such as surf courses and swim wear production. Adur Letamendia from Pukas Surf explains in this video the business vision of the company and the challenges of securing financing for a company representing a niche in the leisure sector: “We as a company need to grow, and we need to grow because we want a better workplace, we want a better product. We want better athletes, and we need to invest to achieve that.”

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story about SWN Moravia, a company producing staircases and railings from the Czech Republic. The company received as final recipient an interest-free loan with ten years maturity from the Energy Savings programme provided by Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank (ČMZRB), the national promotional bank of the Czech Republic. This financial instrument is co-financed with resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). With this loan, the company replaced boilers generating heat for the company with the aim to significantly reduce its energy consumption, lower its emissions and make its heat production process more effective. Tomáš Nekula, the CEO of SWN Moravia, explains in this video the company’s decision to apply for the loan and not a grant, and how the application process worked from the perspective of the final recipient.

 

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission includes a video story and a brochure about EquiFund. EquiFund is a fund of funds programme providing equity financing to Greek companies and accelerating the development of venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) in Greece. The initiative is co-financed inter alia with resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), national funds, the European Investment Fund (EIF) as well as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) through the European Investment Bank (EIB). EquiFund’s three investment windows: the ‘Innovation window’, the ‘Early Stage window’ and the ‘Growth Stage window’, are operated by overall nine financial intermediaries, selected by EquiFund’s fund of funds manager, the EIF.

In the video, a number of persons involved in the VC sector in Greece explains the role of venture capital for the economy and the SMEs, the role of the public sector to support the VC ecosystem and how EquiFund can help sustain a thriving VC ecosystem in Greece.

The brochure is a handbook about equity financing with EquiFund, developed especially for potential final recipients.

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story about Vranov Beach Holiday Park, a final recipient of a loan from the Expansion programme provided by Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank (ČMZRB), the national promotional bank of the Czech Republic. The Expansion programme is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). With the loan, the accommodation offer of Vranov Beach Holiday Park was widened. The three year grace period of the loan provided by ČMZRB was crucial for the final recipient to kick-off the project.