TISE’s mission is to provide financial services that help develop local projects and to support micro, small and medium businesses, NGOs and social enterprises. Our financing is focused on projects with social impact. The standards of conduct applied throughout our activity set forth in TISE’s Code of Ethics

Social and Economic Investment Company TISE SA has 30 years of business history. It was established in 1991 by BISE, a bank, Foundation for Social and Economic Initiatives (FISE) and the French investment fund SIDI. From 2009 to 2023, it was owned by the French cooperative bank Crédit Coopératif. At present, it is fully owned by the Polish cooperative bank Poznański Bank Spółdzielczy (Grupa SGB).

Initially, TISE was in the business of equity financing for small and medium enterprises through venture capital, credit guarantees and subordinated loans. Since 2008, TISE’s main activity consits in providing loans to SMEs and NGOs.

Funds for the loans come primarily from various EU programs aimed at supporting both small businesses and the social economy. TISE is one of the biggest intermediaries for such loan programs in Poland. It is a long standing and verified partner for the Polish Development Bank (BGK) and the European Investment Fund.

Between 2013 and 2016 TISE was the sole partner of the Polish Development Bank in the pilot project co-financed by the European Social Fund “Financial Engineering Support for Social Economy Development”. The program aimed at providing loans to finance capital expenditures of social enterprises. During the 3-year activity of the fund, TISE granted 500 loans to 401 social enterprises – worker cooperatives, disabled and blind-persons cooperatives, social cooperatives, NGOs, non-profit companies and companies run by the Catholic and other churches.

Since November 2014, TISE has been granting loans to graduates, students in final years of study and unemployed people, under the “First business – Supporting your start” programme of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy and the Polish Development Bank. The purpose of the programme is to provide support to future entrepreneurs.

In 2016, TISE entered into a loan guarantee agreement with the European Investment Fund. Thanks to this agreement TISE has been providing loans (partially backed by the EIF) to social enterprises in Poland and the CEE.

TISE is a founding member and the only organisation from Poland of the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks, FEBEA. It is also a member of the European Venture Philanthropy Association EVPA.

Since its creation, TISE has taken part in a variety of initiatives supporting the development of civil society in Poland. TISE is a founding member (in 2004) of the Standing Conference on Social Economy (SKES), which seeks to boost joint efforts of persons and organisations to develop and promote the social economy model in Poland – by promoting social economy as a leverage of economic development of the Polish society, establishing mechanisms for exchanging knowledge, experience and good practice, and by developing networks of social economy operators.

Each year, TISE co-organises the Polish Social Economy Conventions (OSES) – the annual holiday of social economy featuring panels, discussions, research presentations, exhibitions, theatre performances and trade fairs.

TISE and its employees (as volunteers) sit on the jury of Konkurs im. Jacka Kuronia na Przedsiębiorstwo Społeczne Roku [Jacek Kuroń Competition for the Best Social Enterprise of the Year]. TISE also awards and sponsors two special prizes: the Honorable Mention and the Discovery of the Year Award.

In May 2017 , TISE once again obtained the Green Office certificate  – the Evaluation Committee of the Environmental Partnership Foundation awarded TISE 100% points in all the areas under scrutiny.

TISE in figures :

Current loan portfolio: PLN 544 million as of 31.12.2020

Number of loans granted since 2008: 8700

Value of loans granted since 2008: PLN 1,2 bilion

Number of employees: 63

Number of loan programs under management: 61, out of which 51 for micro, small and medium businesses and 10 for the social economy.