Social and Economic Investment Company (TISE) has made first capital interventions using the FKIS Fund (Social Equity Investment Fund) by granting subordinated loans to two social enterprises, and also by taking up shares in one of them.

In autumn 2018, Social and Economic Investment Company won a competition organised by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy under the EU’s programme POWER for developing a pilot social venture capital fund for social enterprises. In December 2019, Larigo Group, a non-profit company from Łódź Voivodeship, and Stowarzyszenie Klinika Jeździecka from Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship were the two social enterprises to become the first investees.

Social Venture Capital (SVC) is a method of financing using a venture capital strategy model and instruments known from the capital market to finance non-governmental organisations, social enterprises or activities that generate a large social impact. The traditional financing model is mainly based on loans or guarantees, and thanks to SVC, these entities can use the equity or quasi-equity instruments.

TISE has established a company – Fundusz Kapitałowych Inwestycji Społecznych (FKIS Fund), which will carry out the investments on its behalf.

As for Larigo Group, FKIS took up 29.6% stake in the Company’s capital and granted subordinated loans for a total of PLN 1 million (EUR 240 k) . The non-profit company Larigo Group was established by a social cooperative ‘Larigo Group’ in June 2019. The company handles industrial shredding and destruction of documents and electronic storage media. The investment aims to expand the Company’s reach from central region to nationwide by opening four new shredding facilities in different regions of Poland. This will enable the Company to broaden its client portfolio to include corporate clients. Larigo has 25 employees with disabilities (profound hearing impairment, epilepsy, schizophrenia, pervasive developmental disorders). The planned social effects include, among other things, hiring further 20 people with disabilities within 18 months.

Stowarzyszenia Klinika Jeździecka has received a subordinated loan of PLN 0,5 mln (EUR 120 k) to build an indoor arena to be used throughout the year. As a result, the number of disabled people who receive regular rehabilitation therapy will double. The Association was established in August 2018 and provides such services as hippo-therapy, horse breaking and carriage driving for disabled people. It also organises more ‘traditional’ classes for young and adult horse riders as well as offers accommodation at its guest house.

SVC is an innovative instrument that allows for financing even these projects and ideas of social entrepreneurs that sometimes go beyond the rigid framework for granting loans. This way, even very risky, but socially important projects may be implemented. I do hope that, if our pilot exercise is successful, we will be able to scale it up, and the development of Polish social entrepreneurship sector will gain momentum, declares Michał Radziwiłł, President of FKIS.

According to Milena Błaszkiewicz, President of Stowarzyszenie Klinika Jeździecka, such a financial instrument will make it possible for social enterprises without solid bank collateral to carry out projects important for the local community.

In this project, we use our many years of experience in both operating in the traditional venture capital market for several years and in lending to social economy entities in Poland and in Central Europe for more than ten years, says Mikołaj Kowalczyk, President of TISE.

About the project

PLN 11 million has been allocated for capital investments under the SVC-FKIS- TISE project.  The funding comes from the EU’s Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development (measure 4.1. Social Innovation) and TISE’s own funds. Transactions may be concluded until end-June 2023 or until the funds are exhausted. The investments will be long-term, even up to 10 years.

The project offers financial support in the form of the following two financial products: capital and subordinated loans (facilitating the acquisition of financing from other sources) and consultancy for supporting investors.

The Fund supports entities across the country by investing in social enterprises of various legal forms that pursue projects in the areas of care services, creating jobs for people at risk of social exclusion, assistance in achieving or maintaining independence, and ecology.

Each social enterprise wishing to join the Programme will have to meet five basic criteria:

There are known training schedules under the second accreditation in the Programmer project prepared by two training institutions that have already obtained accreditation: Altkom Akademia offering a three-path training: Web front end, Full stack React / Vue, Java and C-School on two paths: Full stack React / Vue, Java. The schedule can be found here:

https://programator.dudaone.com/our-services

Please be advised that as part of the supplementary accreditation received the application of one training organizer offering two additional paths: a PHP programmer and an automated testing programmer. The application is being evaluated, the results of the accreditation will be known at the latest in the last week of July 2019. In the event of a positive evaluation, the training schedule will be made available in July 2019.

The PROGRAMATOR project is run by the TISE / Asister consortium within the framework of the Program and Pencil Program financed by the EU Operational Program Knowledge Education Development

Yesterday, on the occasion of the 95^th anniversary of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego was held the BGK Partner Gala during which TISE was awarded a special prize for “special contribution and achievements in the distribution of EU and national funds for entrepreneurship development and supporting the mission of social economy entities.” During eight years of cooperation between BGK and TISE we granted over 4 000 loans under several dozen operating contracts worth than a half a billion złotys.

Thank you!

We would like to inform you that the second recruitment of candidates for the “Programator” cycle trainings conducted by the TISE / Asister consortium within the Program and Pike project funded by the EU Knowledge Program Education Development began. Detailed information and regulations can be found here: https://programator.dudaone.com/copy-of-rekrutacja

At the same time, we are starting the second round of accreditation of training companies for the “Programator” project. Training companies interested in participating in the project are invited to read the accreditation documentation here: https://programator.dudaone.com/services

Information about the Programmer

Do you want to become a programmer, but you are afraid that you have no qualification in this field or are your experience related to another industry?

If so, the “PROGRAMATOR” program functioning as part of the Program with PO WER project if for you!

In 2020 there will be missing around 1 million programmers, specialists in writing programs and computer applications or website creators around the world. This trend also applies to Poland, Already over 50 000 specialists in the industry are missing, and it is estimated that the gap in the IT market will grow despite growing earnings.

The purpose of the program

The answer to the demand of the labor market is the Program and PO WER contest, the participants of which will acquire competences necessary to take us a job as programmer.

What can you gain?

The project will provide interest-free loans (up to 18 000 zł) for  various dorms of education from programming languages in a package with activities aimed at improving professional competences, including those concerning the acquisition or change of workplace.

For whom?

The program is addressed to people who are not familiar with programming and have no experience in the IT industry, but would like to retrain, regardless of age, education or status on the labor market.

Note – Bonus!

Each participant who completes the training and within 6 months will find employment as a programmer or coincide with the acquired qualifications will be discharged for repayment of the loan (remission of up to 100% of the repayable assistance).

Conditions of accession:

• Minimum secondary education,
• Lack of higher IT education and IT education,
• Completing the “trial training” in programming before providing repayable assistance,

A test of the potential of a candidate as a programmer.

TISE SA in the autumn of 2018 won the competition organized by the Ministry of Investment and Development to create, within the framework of the EU POWER program, a social venture capital fund intended for social enterprises.

Social Venture Capital (SVC) is a method of financing using a venture capital strategy model and instruments known from the capital market to finance non-governmental organizations, social enterprises or activities that generate a large social impact. The traditional financing model is mainly based on loans or guarantees, and thanks to SVC, these entities can use the equity or quasi-equity instruments. Innovative support, combined closely with consultancy throughout the investment period (including in the area or running a company), will increase the potential of social enterprises not only in the financial aspect, but also substantive and organizational. Thus, SVC is an innovative financial instrument that will increase the opportunities for the development of social entrepreneurship in Poland.

In the project, we use our many years of experience from both the traditional venture capital market, where we operated over a dozen years with more than ten years of experience in lending to social economy entities – says the head of the project, Michał Radziwiłł – the president of TISE.

TISE has already established a company – Fundusz Kapitałowych Inwestycji Społecznych (FKIS Fund), which will carry out investments. The process of accepting applications has also started and advanced conversations with the first potential investors are being concluded.

11.3 million zł was allocated to the program Funds come from the EU Knowledge Education Development Program (Measure 4.1 Social Innovation) and from TISE own resources. Transactions may be concluded by the end of June 2023 or until exhaustion. The investment will be long-term, up to 10 years.

The project offers financial support in the form of two financial products, ie: capital and subordinated loans (facilitating the acquisition of financing from other sources) and consulting services supporting the investor.

The fund will support entities throughout the country by investing in social enterprises of various legal form, implementing projects in the areas of care services, creating jobs for people at risk of social exclusion, supporting obtaining or maintaining independence and ecology.

Each social enterprise wishing to join the Program will have to meet five basic criteria:

1. An enterprise is or has a chance to become an economically independent entity an economically independent entity or develop organizationally maintaining the ability to operate an investment vehicle.
2. The company has a clear, real vision of achieving, as a result of the implementation of investments with specific, measurable and qualitative effects. An additional advantage will be the development of an effective and reproducible model of the social economy based on healthy business rules.
3. The company has an effective and supporting team ready to combine consistent and long-term implementation of social and business goals.
4. The company’s managers express their willingness, confirmed by an agreement, to undertake long-term, transparent cooperation with TISE. This cooperation will be based on the rules of capital or quasi-equity investment.
5. The company is looking for external financing up to a maximum investment value of about 1million zł, or, in the case of larger needs, is willing to combine various instruments available on the market within a given project.

SVC is an innovative instrument that also allows to finance these investments and ideas of social entrepreneurs, which sometimes do not fit into the rigid framework of the loan process. It gives the opportunity to implement even very risky, but socially important, projects – declares Michał Radziwiłł.

Organizations that are interested in using this form of support may submit their applications to the following e-mail address: fkis@tise.pl