CROGIP
EIF and HBOR jointly invest into:
- private equity funds managed by the management companies selected by the EIF and
- co-investments with funds that already have an established relationship with the EIF and positive references.
The source for the investment is the CROGIP programme (Croatian Growth Investment Programme) worth EUR 100 million. HBOR and the EIF committed each EUR 50 million to finance this programme.
The objective of the programme is to accelerate additional private-sector investment into equity funds and thus enable a significantly higher amount to be invested in companies.
The objective of the programme is to accelerate additional private-sector investment into equity funds and thus enable a significantly higher amount to be invested in companies.
To whom the funding is intended
Financial means are intended to
1. SMEs and Mid-Caps (up to 3,000 employees)
1. SMEs and Mid-Caps (up to 3,000 employees)
- regardless of the sector they operate in,
- that are not in early stage of development („start-up“),
- that are established in the Republic of Croatia and do the majority of their business in the Republic of Croatia and/or plan an investment aimed at establishing or developing long-term operations in the Republic of Croatia, as well as employ a significant number of employees from the Republic of Croatia.
2. Projects and companies from Croatian (and Slovenian) universities and research institutes and centres.
Whom to contact
According to the terms of the CROGIP initiative and its internal procedures, the EIF has selected four funds in which the financial means of the CROGIP initiative will be invested.
Adriatic Structured Equity Fund
http://www.provectus-capital.com/hr/office@provectus-capital.com
Prosperus Growth Fund
http://www.prosperus-invest.hr/tomislav.ticic@prosperus-invest.hr
Croatian Mezzanine Debt Fund
http://mezz-partners.hr/info@mezz-partners.hr
Vesna Deep Tech Venture Fund
www.vesnaVC.cominfo@vesnaVC.com
About CROGIP
CROGIP is a financing programme launched by the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the EIF-NPI Equity platform and the Investment Plan for Europe in cooperation with EU national promotional institutions. HBOR is one of the founding members of this platform since September 2016. In January 2019, EIF and HBOR signed the agreement worth EUR 70 million launching CROGIP (Croatian Growth Investment Programme), an initiative that will facilitate investments in SMEs and Mid-Caps. In August 2020, the agreement amount was increased to EUR 80 million. To enable the launch of a fund for technology transfer from universities and research institutes and centres, the contract with the EIF was increased to EUR 100 million in July 2021.
Beside the general objective of providing support to Croatian companies and job creation through ensuring the availability of private equity/venture capital, the purpose of CROGIP is to develop the market and institutional capacities for private equity/venture capital financing in the Republic of Croatia by supporting fund management companies that direct a significant part of their investments to Croatian companies.
EIF implements CROGIP through investing in private equity funds and co-investing together with funds and private investors under market conditions. The programme is not limited to any specific sector, but investments in the companies operating in the Financial Services and Real Estate sectors and in the sectors listed in the Guidelines on the EIF Restricted Sectors are not allowed.
EIF enables investing in funds and co-investing with selected management companies that have positive references in accordance with the criteria defined in advance by HBOR through CROGIP. HBOR did not participate in the selection of funds and co-investment opportunities. HBOR, as the EIF's local partner, is available for the provision of local support to management companies that wish to increase their presence in the Republic of Croatia.
Beside the general objective of providing support to Croatian companies and job creation through ensuring the availability of private equity/venture capital, the purpose of CROGIP is to develop the market and institutional capacities for private equity/venture capital financing in the Republic of Croatia by supporting fund management companies that direct a significant part of their investments to Croatian companies.
EIF implements CROGIP through investing in private equity funds and co-investing together with funds and private investors under market conditions. The programme is not limited to any specific sector, but investments in the companies operating in the Financial Services and Real Estate sectors and in the sectors listed in the Guidelines on the EIF Restricted Sectors are not allowed.
EIF enables investing in funds and co-investing with selected management companies that have positive references in accordance with the criteria defined in advance by HBOR through CROGIP. HBOR did not participate in the selection of funds and co-investment opportunities. HBOR, as the EIF's local partner, is available for the provision of local support to management companies that wish to increase their presence in the Republic of Croatia.
Investing in Private Equity Funds
When considering the investment of funds from CROGIP, the EIF required from the funds to meet, among others, also the following conditions:
- management team with proven references
- strategy aimed at investments in growth and expansion
- most of company financing to be carried out in the form of equity or quasi-equity
- in accordance with their strategy, they intend to invest at least 70% of funds in companies that are established in the Republic of Croatia and:
- perform most of their business in the Republic of Croatia and/or
- plan investments that will start a long-term business in the Republic of Croatia (as indicated by a significant number of employees in the company in the Republic of Croatia)
- are small or medium-sized enterprises (definition of the European Commission) or mid-cap enterprises (up to 3,000 employees)
- are not in the early stages of development (as defined by Invest Europe).
Co-Investing with Private Equity Funds
CROGIP enables the EIF to invest part of the funds under tis programme through co-investment with selected fund management companies that:
- have an established relationship with the EIF
- have positive references
- propose co-investment in a company that represents a new or existing investment into the portfolio of the fund in which the EIF is already an existing investor.
Co-investing can be made in companies that:
- are small or medium-sized enterprises (definition of the European Commission) or mid-cap enterprises (up to 3,000 employees)
- are in the phase of growth and expansion and seek equity financing (i.e. companies should not be in the initial stages of the life cycle)
- have strong growth potential
- must be established in the Republic of Croatia (when it comes to the location of the company) and:
- perform most of their business in the Republic of Croatia and/or
- plan investments that will start or develop a long-term business in the Republic of Croatia (as indicated by a significant number of employees in the company in the Republic of Croatia)
- have other significant links with the Republic of Croatia as substantiated by the management company.
Investing in Technology transfer fund
HBOR, EIF and SID Bank (Slovenian Export and Development Bank) signed an agreement establishing the first regional platform for launching a fund for financing the commercialization of innovative technological and scientific solutions of Croatian and Slovenian universities, research institutes and value centres. The total amount, which is available under a joint initiative of HBOR, EIF and SID Bank, is EUR 40 million, out of which EUR 10 million is provided by each HBOR and SID Bank, and the remaining EUR 20 million is provided by the EIF. The technology transfer fund will have to ensure, among other conditions, that at least EUR 15 million is invested in projects or companies developing at, or originating in, universities or research institutes and centres in the Republic of Croatia.
The fund will invest in:
The fund will invest in:
- projects in the Proof-of-Concept phase that and need financial resources to assess the feasibility of the concept and to transfer the research results to the commercialization process, or
- companies that are in the earliest stages of development (Seed, Start-up or Later Stage Venture)