Towards more efficient financial ecosystems : innovative instruments to facilitate access to finance for the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) : good practice report.
Date: 2016-09-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: EU Member State, EU policy, EU programme, artistic creation, cultural pluralism, cultural policy, cultural promotion, cultural relations, culture industry, financing, report, small and medium-sized enterprises

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GOOD PRACTICE REPORT

«««««««««««««««««««

TOWARDS MORE EFFICIENT 
FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEMS:   
INNOVATIVE INSTRUMENTS   
TO FACILITATE

ACCESS TO FINANCE

FOR THE CULTURAL AND   
CREATIVE SECTORS (CCS)

OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION (OMC) 

WORKING GROUP OF EU MEMBER STATES EXPERTS  

ON ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS

EUROPEAN UNION

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016

ISBN 978-92-79-54982-3
doi:10.2766/59318

© European Union, 2016
Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. 

E U R O P E A N   A G E N D A 
F O R   C U LT U R E

W O R K   P L A N   F O R   C U LT U R E 
2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 8 

NOVE MBE R 2015

GOOD PRACTICE REPORT

«««««««««««««««««««

TOWARDS MORE EFFICIENT 
FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEMS:   
INNOVATIVE INSTRUMENTS   
TO FACILITATE

ACCESS TO FINANCE

FOR THE CULTURAL AND   
CREATIVE SECTORS (CCS)

OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION (OMC) 

WORKING GROUP OF EU MEMBER STATES EXPERTS  

ON ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTORS

 
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 

Introduction  

2. 

The financial ecosystem in the CCS  

2.1  Challenges that the CCS are facing  

in access to finance 
Importance of intellectual property rights 

2.2 

3 

Typology of funding models 

3.1  Public support measures 
3.2.  Debt finance 
3.3  Equity finance 
3.4  Crowdfunding 
3.5  Risk mitigation schemes 
3.6  Other alternative forms of funding 

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5. 

6. 

7. 

4.  Matching the needs of the CCS companies  

with innovative funding 

4.1  Support for pre-seed and seed stage companies  

(micro-size companies) 

Incubation support 

4.2  Support for start-ups 
4.3 
4.4  Development of products and services 
4.5  Support for innovation 
4.6  Financing Intellectual Property 
4.7  Social investment in arts 

Assessment of existing funding schemes 

Conclusions 

Recommendations 

8. 

Bibliography 

4

TABLE OF CO NT ENT S

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      INTRODUCTION   

5

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
6

INTRODUCTION1

1
See SME definition on  
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly- 
environment/sme-definition/index_en.htm
2
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TX-
T/?uri=URISERV:cu0007
3
 See Council Conclusions on cultural and creative 
crossovers to stimulate innovation, economic sustaina-
bility and social inclusion.
4
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TX-
T/?uri=uriserv:OJ.C_.2014.463.01.0004.01.ENG
5
  The topic of access to finance is part of Priority Area 
C: ‘Cultural and creative sectors: 
Creative economy and innovation’.
6
  COM(2012) 537.

IN T RODU CTIO N

Objective, mandate and target groups 

The OMC group’s work on access to finance for cultural organisations and creative 
small and medium-sized enterprises 1 (SMEs) started in July 2014, in the framework 
of the Council Work Plan for Culture for 2011–2014 2. The objective was to develop 
a good practice manual on the financial mechanisms available to small and medium- 
sized enterprises in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS). Originally, it was planned 
that the group would only meet twice and, with the help of a mapping of financial 
instruments prepared by the European Expert Network for Culture (EENC), would 
complete its report by the end of 2014. However, given the complexity of the issue, 
it soon became clear that the theme merits a more profound treatment. In particular, 
the work on access to finance for the CCS needed to be placed in the context of 
current economic and social crisis on the one hand, and the political reflection on 
the sectors’ potential for growth, job creation and social welfare as well as its con-
tribution to cross sectorial innovation on the other 3.  

Subsequently, in the Work Plan for Culture for 2015–2018 4, the Council extended 
the group’s mandate as follows 5:  
‘Experts will identify innovative funding schemes and investment practices in the 
cultural and creative sectors’ and ‘Focus on the financial ecosystem for the cultural 
and creative sectors. Examination of financial instruments, such as loans and equi-
ties. Overview and analysis of alternative financing, such as public-private funds, 
business  angels,  venture  capital,  crowdfunding,  sponsorship,  donations  and 
philanthropy.’

Furthermore, it stated that ‘the participation of finance and economy experts will be 
encouraged.’

Like all OMC reports, this report has several target groups. First and foremost, the 
report targets political decision makers at European, national, and sub-national level. 
It also targets financiers, CCS companies and professionals, and others interested 
in CCS financing. The report’s objective is to inspire investors to explore the obvious 
investment opportunities that creative SMEs offer by further deepening the target 
groups’ understanding of specific issues related to CCS financing; in particular where 
there are gaps or bottlenecks in the financial ecosystem. The report’s assessment 
and recommendations should provide political decision makers, financiers and CCS 
companies with ideas on and possible solutions for overcoming these issues and 
unlock the undisputed potential of the CCS for smart and inclusive growth.

Policy context

The Commission’s 2012 communication on promoting cultural and creative sectors 
for growth and jobs in the EU 6 identifies access to finance as a major difficulty for 
the CCS. The financial and economic crisis only makes this situation more critical at 
the very time when investment is needed for the sectors to adapt.

The situation has not changed much since 2012. The CCS have a strategic role to 
play in meeting the Commission’s top priority of jobs and growth in Europe, especially 
in providing jobs and career opportunities to young Europeans, who have been 
hard-hit by unemployment in the EU. However, the potential of the CCS cannot be 
fully exploited because of difficulties in accessing finance. 

7

Good practice report on access to financeOMCThe work of the OMC group is also valuable in the context of other EU priority initi-
atives: the digital single market, the modernisation of EU industry, the single market 
strategy, and the review of the Europe 2020 strategy. It also feeds into the discussion 
on funding opportunities for the CCS from different EU programmes, such as the 
Creative Europe programme, including the CCS guarantee facility, COSME (including 
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs), Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+, the EU structural 
funds, and the Investment Plan for Europe.

In addition, the report complements and further develops analyses of CCS access 
to finance, such as the work of the European Creative Industries Alliance, the survey 
of CCS financial needs carried out by Idea Consult (2013), the study on the ‘Entre-
preneurial dimension of the cultural and creative industries’ by the Utrecht School 
of the Arts (2010), and the European-Parliament-commissioned study on ‘Encour-
aging private investment in the cultural sector’ (2011).

The main idea behind the report is to provide impetus for the EU and its Member 
States to move from reflection to action, and an opportunity to learn from each other.

Evidence about the importance of the CCS 

The cultural and creative sectors are some of Europe’s most dynamic sectors; they 
are estimated to generate about 4.2 % of total EU GDP 7. According to the figures 
published by Eurostat in June 2015 8, employment in the CCS at EU level increased 
from 2.5 % in 2008 to 2.9 % in 2014, as compared to total EU employment. Despite 
the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, the proportion of cultural employment in 
total employment has increased, suggesting not only a certain resilience of the sector, 
but additional job creation within it. Available evidence confirms that the cultural and 
creative industries are highly attractive for young people and absorb them easily: on 
average, the CCS employed more 15-29-year-olds than any other economic sector 
(19.1 % of total employment in CCS versus 18.6 % in the rest of the economy).

According to a study carried out for the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Office 
for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) 9, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)- 
intensive industries generate more than a quarter of employment and more than  
a third of economic activity in the EU. Overall, almost 39 % of EU GDP is generated 
in IPR-intensive industries, with trade-mark-intensive industries accounting for 34 %, 
design-intensive industries for 13 %, patent-intensive industries for 14 % and cop-
yright for 4.2 %. Interestingly, copyright-related industries have a significant trade 
surplus (EUR 15.3 billion), which highlights their export potential. 

These figures are part of a growing evidence base showing that economic production 
is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Whereas in the industrial economy most 
investment was in tangible assets and tangibles were driving growth, in today’s 
creative economy intangible assets are the main objects of investment, sources of 
value and drivers of growth. A US study on intangible asset market value 10 shows 
the rapid and dramatic change from tangible to intangible assets as the source of 
market value. CCS access to finance must be seen in the context of this transfor-
mation to ensure that its importance is fully appreciated.

8

7
Ernst and Young (2014) Creating growth – 
Measuring cultural and creative markets in the EU.
8
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/culture/ 
cultural-employment/data/database
9
Intellectual-property-rights-intensive industries: 
contribution to economic performance and 
employment in the European Union industry-level 
analysis report, September 2013 – A joint project 
between the European Patent Office and the Office 
for Harmonisation in the Internal Market.
10
Ocean Tomo, LLC. See also: 
http://www.oceantomo.com/blog/2015/05-11- 
valuation-tools-for-assessing-ip-risks/

INTRODUCTIONFigure 1 – Components of Standard & Poor’s 500 11 Market Value

100 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %

83 %

68 %

32 %

20 %

80 %

68 %

16 %

84 %

32 %

17 %

1975

1985

1995

2005

2015*

Tangible Assets

Intangible Assets

Source: Ocean Tomo LLC 
* January 1, 2015

Structure of the report

This report looks at the innovative instruments which can facilitate access to finance 
for the cultural and creative sectors. Such instruments need to be part of well-func-
tioning and efficient financial ecosystems.

There is no shortage of studies or surveys on CCS access to finance. Based on these 
studies, we can say that there appears to be a consensus on the main challenges 
and bottlenecks that CCS companies face when trying to access finance. These 
include e.g. the predominance of SMEs and micro-enterprises, the (mis)perception 
that CCS companies as riskier that other types of business, the fact that many CCS 
companies are IP-based and cannot use their intangible assets as securities and/or 
collateral for financing. The OMC group corroborated these findings, as shown in 
chapter 2.

There are, however, no EU-level listings or overall assessments of the financing 
instruments available at regional, national and EU level, or of possible gaps or failures 
in financing. Therefore, the OMC group’s main task, and contribution, was to describe 
and analyse the financial ecosystem available to the CCS and deepen the analysis 
and understanding of its specificities.

11
The S&P 500, or the Standard & Poor’s 500,  
is an American stock market index based on the market 
capitalizations of 500 large companies having common 
stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. 
12
http://www.eenc.info/wp-content/themes/kingsize/imag-
es/upload/EENC-CCSsAccesstoFinance-141118.pdf

The group’s preliminary work was based on the European Expert Network on Culture 
(EENC) report on mapping opportunities for the CCS to access finance in the EU 12,  
which identified over 160 different financing instruments, by no means an exhaustive 
list. Because of the abundance of financing instruments, and in order to be able to 
analyse the financial ecosystem and its strengths and weaknesses, the group decided 
to classify the instruments according to complementary typologies: based on the 
funding model (chapter 3) and – from the beneficiaries’ perspective – based on 

9

Good practice report on access to financeOMCthe needs of the CCS (chapter 4). Chapter 5 has an assessment of existing 
practices based on these classifications. The conclusions and recommendations 
are discussed in chapters 6 and 7, respectively.

The OMC group’s working methods

The OMC group met six times and brought together experts from the culture, econ-
omy and finance ministries of 25 Member States. In line with the mandate to engage 
with finance and economy experts, 18 representatives of financiers and CCS com-
panies participated in the group’s meetings. They made presentations and partici-
pated in discussions, which greatly helped the group’s work. The same can be said 
of several Commission representatives from different Directorates-General, including 
DG Education and Culture (EAC), DG Communications Networks, Content and Tech-
nology (CNECT), DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW) 
and Research and Innovation (RTD).

The OMC group was co-chaired by Kimmo Aulake (Ministry of Education and Culture, 
Finland) and Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning (Managing Director of Creative Business 
Cup, Denmark). The group expresses its gratitude to all the experts from the Member 
States and the European Commission, as well as to the financing and CCS experts, 
for their valuable contributions. Special thanks go to the European Expert Network 
on Culture and Cornelia Dümcke, Zora Jaurová and Péter Inkei, who prepared the 
mapping of financing instruments.

10

INTRODUCTION             THE FINANCIAL 
                  ECOSYSTEM 
                        IN THE CCS   

11

Good practice report on access to financeOMC «
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12

INTRODUCTION2

T HE  F INANCIAL ECOSYS TE M I N  T HE CCS

‘Ecosystem’ is typically defined as a system or network of interconnecting and inter-
acting parts. The financial ecosystem in the CCS includes parts that are internal to 
CCS companies e.g. companies’ financial situation, assets, skills, know-how, busi-
ness plan, and goods or services. Parts that are external to the company include 
e.g. finance providers and supporters, demand for the company’s goods or services, 
market dynamics and demand, and the regulatory and policy framework within which 
the company operates.

The financial ecosystem in the CCS is, therefore, far wider and more complex than 
the direct relationship between companies and financiers, although a financier is 
likely to take all relevant variables into account.

The complexity of the financial ecosystem in the CCS is presented below (Figure 2), 
with seven main areas and related exemplary elements listed in each of the boxes.

Figure 2 – The financial ecosystem in the CCS companies

•  Size of market
•  Risk related to market
•  Growing/Declining

•  Own capital
•  Benefits for reinvesting
•  Company’s liquidity
•  Available collateral
•  Available IP

•  Public
•  Media
• 

 Opinion leaders  
(perceived risk of CCS)

•  Policy makers
•  Analysts (CCS market data)
•  Financial institutes

Target 
market 
dynamic

Company’s 
financial 
situation

• 

 Creative skills  
(convincing products/services)

•  Management skills (pitching)
 Financial skills in-house  
• 
or Availability on market

Reputation 
of CCS 
sector

CCS
 companies’ 
looking 
for finance (1)

Skills & 
Financial 
know-how

•  Financial crisis
•  Basel III
•  State aid rules & de minimis
• 
•  Tax system
• 

IP regulations

 Alternative finance  
regulations

Regulations 
& policy 
framework

Supporters

Finance 
providers

 1
To start a business, to innovate (develop new 
products and services), for research and 
development, to access new markets.

• 

 Private: banks, business angels,  
crowdfunding,…

•  Public: grant schemes, vouchers,…
• 
Individual: business angels,…
•  Collective: family and friends,  

crowdfunding,…

•  Family & Friends
•  Business angels
•  Brokers
• 

 Agencies &  
one-stop shops
•  Coaches & Trainers
• 
•  Clusters
•  Accelerators
•  Universities

Incubators

13

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
The financial ecosystem is made up of several actors who are all pursuing their own 
objectives, and a number of circumstances which facilitate or limit the attainment of 
these objectives, or which are neutral in this respect. For the ecosystem to function 
and be able to serve the objectives of its actors, there needs to be meaningful com-
munication and understanding between the actors. For example, CCS companies may 
need funding for different kinds of tasks related to R&D, production, marketing and 
market entry to growth, and these may vary over time. In order to assess whether these 
funding needs correspond to a financier’s objectives and funding criteria, the financier 
must have intimate knowledge of the company and its assets, goods or services and 
commercial potential in target markets, as well as of the nature of IP-rich and IP-based 
businesses in general. This calls for open communication and mutual trust.

It appears that, in the CCS, communication between the different actors within the 
ecosystem does not flow in an organic way, and that there are asymmetries. More 
often than not, CCS companies do not have sufficient information on different financial 
instruments, especially as regards Venture Capital financing. Furthermore, small CCS 
companies sometimes also lack solid business strategies and many have difficulties 
in describing their position in the value chain and the value and role of intangible assets, 
especially intellectual property, for their business and growth potential. Several stake-
holders suggest increasing training for CCS entrepreneurs on these crucial skills. When 
CCS companies can present financiers with business plans (including on how and by 
whom ideas will be executed and what kind of value will be generated as a result) and 
information on business-critical assets, they will increase the pool of ideas and make 
them more visible and understandable for financiers.

For their part, financiers usually have limited understanding of the characteristics of 
IP-based businesses, though this seems to be more prevalent among banks and 
government-based financing instruments than, say, among business angels and ven-
ture capitalists. However, improving financiers’ awareness and understanding of 
CCS, especially of the specific characteristics of its sub-sectors and the business 
models of CCS SMEs, which are usually typical IP-based businesses, is a funda-
mental issue in the EU.

There are significant differences as regards the functioning of the financial ecosystem 
in the CCS, both within Europe and between Europe and other parts of the world, 
especially the USA. Although there are financial instruments available to CCS compa-
nies in all EU Member States, there are wide discrepancies in the maturity of financial 
ecosystems in the CCS. There are specific cases where CCS companies and entre-
preneurs moved their businesses from one country to another because of the legislative 
environment, availability of financing, or in order to become closer to the target market. 
This was, undoubtedly, sensible for the companies in question, but it is not beneficial 
for the countries they left or for smart growth in the EU in general.

Similarly, several experts have reported that a significant amount of available risk 
financing comes from the USA and that US investors are more familiar with the 
relevant UK regulations than those in other Member States, which makes them much 
more willing to invest in UK-based companies. Therefore, with several UK financing 
instruments, the financial ecosystem in the UK’s CCS, especially in London, is well 
advanced and seems to have achieved a critical mass of both CCS companies and 
financiers with the requisite understanding of IP-based businesses. This has enabled 
the creation of a virtuous circle. For technology businesses, Silicon Valley is an even 
better example of a virtuous circle.

A significant number of the mapped financial instruments available to SMEs in the 
CCS is supported by public institutions and public money. The list of instruments 
presented in this report and the EENC report 13 is not exhaustive and there are many 
private financing instruments, from banks and business angels to crowdfunding and 

13
European Expert Network on Culture (2014)  
Opportunities for CCS to access finance in the EU.

14

THE FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE CCSventure capital funds. This highlights the importance of governments and public 
institutions for financial ecosystems in the CCS. While public financing instruments 
themselves need to be adapted to the needs of IP-based businesses, governments 
can, and should, provide leverage vis-à-vis private financiers, from business angels 
to venture capital funds and banks. This is, of course, especially the case in current 
times of austerity in public financing. Where governments have taken an active role 
as intermediaries, either directly, through incubators or accelerators or together with 
other intermediaries, they have helped change communication and information asym-
metries within the financial ecosystem. Obviously, public-private financing instru-
ments and guarantee schemes have also proved to be effective tools to activate 
private financiers.

A specific question on access to finance and the financial ecosystem in the CCS 
relates to the role of IP rights in financing, and their use and perceived value as 
collateral. IP rights are important assets because they can increase a company’s 
asset value. Understanding and valuing these assets can help a company to negotiate 
access to credit or other forms of financing and help acquire better terms for that 
financing 14. 

In certain countries (the UK is an example) companies now invest more in intangible 
assets than in tangible assets 15. However, most financiers retain traditional models 
apportioning substantial value only to tangible assets (like real estate assets) as 
security. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 2.2.

2.1 

 Challenges that the CCS are facing  
in access to finance

It is a well-recognised fact in many European countries that the cultural and creative 
sectors are (or have the potential to be) the fastest growing sector of the economy. 
However, the fact that they face challenges in accessing finance is one of the critical 
obstacles to their growth.

Most  SMEs  from  the  CCS  have  difficulties  making  use  of  traditional  financing 
schemes. Creative SMEs often turn to private banks when seeking finance, but are 
usually turned down.

Research shows that the challenges and framework conditions facing SMEs in the 
CCS are on many levels homogenous across the different CCS subsectors. This 
report follows these findings and covers the cultural and creative sectors as one 
sector, supporting the idea that policy initiatives can be addressed across CCS 
subsectors.

The EENC report points out a number of challenges that SMEs in the CCS face in 
accessing finance. Some of these are shared by SMEs from other sectors, while 
some ‘specific characteristics of CCS organisations reinforce the problem of access 
to finance’ 16. The latter include:

 ࡟ Intrinsic characteristics of CCS activities: lack of tangible assets, dependence 
on intangible assets, lack of collateral, high uncertainty of market demand, gen-
eration of value over long and uncertain periods of time, etc.

 ࡟ Characteristics of organisations and entrepreneurs within the CCS: per-
ceived lack of business skills, dependence on public investment schemes, CCS 
entrepreneurs’ fear of losing control of their business, etc.

15

 14
See also: European Commission (2013) 
Final Report from the Expert Group on Intellectual 
Property Valuation.
 15
NESTA (2014) – UK investment in intangible assets:  
Report for Nesta: 
https://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/1402_
working_paper_-_uk_investment_in_intangible_as-
sets_report_for_nesta.pdf
16
IDEA Consult (2013).

Good practice report on access to financeOMC ࡟ Specific market conditions: size of market (e.g. cultural and linguistic fragmen-
tation of CCS markets across Europe), lack of good market intelligence, pressure 
on existing business models (due to digital shift, among others), etc.

More specifically, recent literature has addressed the following challenges experi-
enced by SMEs in the CCS:

 ࡟ Lack of information on available sources of funding arises as a recurrent 
challenge: ‘Perhaps the greatest obstacle faced by entrepreneurs and enterprises 
in the CCS is how to locate the funds to finance their endeavours’ 17. 

 ࡟ The problem of mismatched information between companies (particularly 

SMEs and start-ups with limited credit histories) and the market.

 ࡟ Lack of market data on creative industry business models, past performance 

and industry trends.

 ࡟ Issues around valuing IP (discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2.1.).

 ࡟ Lack of understanding of the CCS’ unique characteristics by financiers, includ-

ing banks.

 ࡟ Limited forward planning among SMEs in the CCS: ‘The online questionnaire 
revealed that 22 % of the CCS had no financial and economic planning while 
53 %  had  a  one  year  forecast …  Only  4 %  had  a  financial  forecast  of  up  to 
5 years’ 18. 

 ࡟ SMEs in the CCS tend to seek funding for individual projects, rather than 
their business in general: ‘One of the main reasons given to explain the limited 
commercial success of CCS is the trend to focus on financing projects rather 
than the company itself. Only 37.2 % of cultural and creative companies try to 
raise finance for the business itself rather than for an individual project. Greater 
attention needs to be paid to corporate finance if creative businesses are to 
succeed in attracting a wider range of investment (e.g. equity finance)’ 19. 

 ࡟ A systematic market failure has been identified in the supply of debt finance 

for ‘broader view innovation’ projects and processes.

New difficulties have also been brought about by the impact of the financial crisis. 
These include stricter risk-management mechanisms in banks – departments spe-
cialising in CCS are given less autonomy to decide on the provision of loans, whereas 
risk-management departments, which often have a less positive view of the sector, 
are given more power 20. More generally, investors are being driven away from per-
ceived high-risk sectors 21, which again reinforces the particular responsibility of the 
public sector in responding to the needs and specificities of the CCS and devising 
specific schemes for them. ‘Whilst access to finance has been shown to be a core 
challenge for creative businesses, the impact of the recent global crisis and eco-
nomic recession has resulted in even scarcer availability of capital with creative 
businesses being in an even more competitive position to achieve finance.’ 22 

Growth-oriented creative SMEs would benefit from strengthened business skills, 
which are a precondition for being able to improve access to finance, envisage  
a possible expansion to other countries in the future, or to develop new, innovative 
products and services. Studies have shown that SMEs from the CCS are often 
commercially as ambitious as SMEs from other sectors. Realising these ambitions 
to grow, innovate, develop new products or services, entertain, educate or improve 
access to finance is difficult, however. The CCS are known for the missing middle: 

16

17
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU),  
The Entrepreneurial Dimension of the Cultural and 
Creative Industries (Utrecht: HKU, 2010), p. 112.
18 
HKU (2010), p. 114.
19
KEA, Promoting Investment in the Cultural and 
Creative Sector: Financing Needs, Trends and 
Opportunities (ECCE Innovation / Nantes Métropole, 
2010), p. 5. Quoting Clayton / Mason study for BOP 
and Pembridge, 2006. 
20
IDEA Consult (2013), p. 124.
21
Creative Industries Management Ltd (CIM) (2012), 
Mapping of Nordic Creative and Cultural Industries 
Financial Environment A KreaNord Report p. 31.
22 
Jenny Tooth, Mini-Study on the Access to Finance 
activities of the European Creative Industries Alliance 
(European Commission – DG Enterprise and Industry / 
Angel Capital Group/Greater London Enterprise, 
2010), p. 15.

THE FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE CCSthere are many small SMEs and a few large, multinational companies, but not much 
in between.

Improving business skills would therefore be an asset, in particular because the CCS 
are  characterised  by  highly  dynamic  and  unpredictable  markets  together  with  
a predominance of intangible business assets. In addition, investors are aware of 
the business models in traditional, well-known sectors, but not of opportunities in 
the CCS. This is partly due to the lack of understanding of the CCS, but also due to 
the absence of specific valuation tools, market knowledge, scalable products and 
services, business ideas and potential exit strategies.

Similarities with SMEs in other sectors

Alongside the specificities noted above, some studies have also identified similarities 
between SMEs in the CCS and companies in other sectors, both as regards their 
economic structure and financial needs and the way in which the financial sector 
addresses them:

 ࡟ Similarities in companies’ economic structure: the IDEA Consult survey pro-
vides data which shows that SMEs in the CCS have similar data on their current 
ratio and solvency ratio as do SMEs in the broader economy. This is the case 
in all Member States except Cyprus and Greece as well as, to a lesser extent, 
Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Romania, where SMEs in the CCS 
appear to suffer more  23. 

 ࡟ Similarities in the approach of financial institutions: some studies show that 
investors may not necessarily distinguish SMEs in the CCS from those in the 
broader economy: ‘[A study in Sweden] concluded that investors and financiers 
do not make any difference between creative and cultural and other industries 
when evaluating repayment capacity and related risk (corporate viewpoint). Since 
CCS are strongly individual driven, it was pointed out that the focus of risk assess-
ment [does] not reside on (specific) industry but entrepreneur (team)’ 24. 

In this context, some authors have discussed the need to devise specific instruments 
for the CCS: ‘More often than not, the CCS sector is not specifically targeted (or 
avoided) by banks. CCS can still be part of a bank’s portfolio, but as part of a larger 
SME portfolio which happens to include CCS SMEs, rather than as the result of  
a specific targeting strategy towards the sector.’ 25 In any case, it is worth noting that 
some CCS subsectors (e.g. those active in ICT-strong areas such as gaming or software) 
may be more attractive to mainstream investors than others; this is discussed below.

2.2 

Importance of intellectual property rights

Economic production is undergoing a transformation that is nothing short of dramatic. 
Current production relies mostly on intangible assets, in particular on intellectual 
property (IP), as shown e.g. by the proportion of company value accounted for by 
intangible assets. Subsequently, most company investment goes to harnessing intan-
gible assets and IP, and it is from these assets that most revenue comes. CCS 
companies and most growth businesses in general have few or no tangible assets, 
and rely exclusively on IP.

Harnessing IP and improving IP-rich businesses’ access to finance is crucial for 
Europe’s  economic  recovery  and  necessary  for  the  CCS  to  unlock  their  full 
potential.

23
IDEA Consult (2013), pp. 69-70.
24 
Creative Industries Management Ltd (CIM) (2012), 
Mapping of Nordic Creative and Cultural Industries
Financial Environment A KreaNord Report p. 31.
25
IDEA Consult (2013), p. 124.

17

Good practice report on access to financeOMCTraditionally, financiers valued IP rights as collateral only if they were cash generating 
or if the company could show the contracted revenue expected from them. Beyond 
this, however, IP rights have been either ignored or dealt with only as part of business 
collateral packages, and the CCS couldn’t benefit from their value for the purpose 
of financing. The reasons for this are discussed below.

Times are changing, however, and new tools and approaches that address these 
issues are appearing on the market. For example, in addition to traditional IP financ-
ing tools such as licencing or direct sales, there are new tools which give lenders 
additional avenues for enforcement against IP assets. One such tool is auctioning 
IP with companies that conduct IP auctions and online exchanges for IP. Growth 
finance is becoming more common and traditional lenders are setting up new depart-
ments to explore and address it 26.  

With changes in the market and newly available tools, financiers are showing an 
increasing interest in IP as collateral. However, this is still more an exception than 
the rule, and tangible asset classes such as immovable property remain by far the 
favoured type of collateral for many financiers – despite the declining proportion of 
corporate assets that are tangible.

There are at least five main challenges to using IP as collateral:

 > the failure of all involved in the financing process to identify and value IP assets;
 > inherent risks associated with the nature of IP assets;
 > failings of security legislation which does not specifically apply to IP assets;
 > enforcement difficulties;
 > international difficulties.

Problems with identification and valuation

Unless they are acquired from a third party (rather than developed), company balance 
sheets currently do not include intangible assets or IP, due to these assets’ nature 
and subsequent issues with their valuation 27. In addition, many IP-rich start-ups or 
scale-ups have difficulties with listing all their IP assets with an analysis of their value 
for the business and their accounting value. Without this information, it is not possible 
to present IP assets in a way which would enable financiers to make a decision as 
to whether they may form an appropriate collateral base.

Even if information is available, few financiers are willing to and capable of assessing 
the value of IP. Other than private equity funds, which carry out due diligence as 
part of an equity acquisition strategy, it is rare to see lenders engaging in a detailed 
due diligence process (including legal, regulatory and market due diligence) in rela-
tion to IP assets even if the relevant company’s main assets base and growth strategy 
depends on IP.

As a result, IP is either discarded and does not form part of the security package 
(this is especially the case with the most common type of IP for the CCS, i.e. cop-
yright), or it is included in a wider security package. Both of these have the same 
effect: the CCS does not benefit from the real and business value of the IP assets 
to gain additional financing.

To address this issue, a number of tools are being developed to assist companies 
and financiers to identify assets, understand their place in the business, and quantify 
their value. One such tool is the ‘intellectual property assets protocol’, currently being 
used in the UK 28. It helps list assets by type and value, and then links to financiers’ 
decisions on whether due diligence should be carried out and what type of security, 
if any, should be granted.

18

26
One example which the UK Intellectual Property 
Office looked at is the breakthrough programme 
run by Santander’s Corporate Banking division, 
an initiative backed by a £ 200 million allocation 
for lending to high growth potential SMEs. It was 
reported that over 400 companies expressed interest 
in it, many of whom display the typical profile of 
being IP- and intangibles-rich and light on tangible 
fixed assets. See Banking on IP?, published by the 
UK Intellectual Property Office: https://www.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/312008/ipresearch-bankingip.pdf
27 
See International Accounting Standard 38, in 
particular paragraphs 21, 25 to 32 and 52 to 67. 
28
See http://www.olswang.com/media/48405868/
intellectual_property_assets_protocol.pdf

THE FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE CCSAlso in the UK, organisations are building platforms and toolkits to help companies 
navigate the system and help them present their IP assets in a way that financiers 
understand. The Intellectual Property Office published the IP Finance Toolkit earlier 
this year. The Big Innovation Centre set up the Entrepreneurial Finance Hub 29 where 
participant companies follow a step-by-step process towards financing.

Inherent risks in the nature of IP assets

IP assets carry inherent risks of rapid devaluation. The risks include: speed of obso-
lescence in innovative markets; loss of business-critical personnel carrying out the 
knowhow necessary to understand, create and use the IP; an adverse determination 
in IP litigation; the company’s reputation loss; etc. Even if IP assets are identified, 
lenders still need to manage these risks.  

A number of approaches are being developed to overcome these risks. First, it may 
be that a risk is more perceived than real and lenders, especially private equity 
lenders, increasingly carry out detailed due diligence to assess the legal and market 
risk, and translate this into their commercial risk model.

Secondly, insurance products are developing to cover the risks identified above. If 
an asset is critical to the company, both the company and its financiers have the 
same interest in insuring the risk. Where insurance is in place, financiers should verify 
its quality before including it in the security package.

IP insurance products developed from litigation insurance products. Insurance liti-
gation has been available for some time to insure against the risk of a party incurring 
legal costs defending litigation and having damages awarded against it from a suc-
cessful claim. Insurers will now insure these risks specifically in relation to infringe-
ment of specific IP rights 30. 

Alongside the market for litigation insurance, insurance products that insure the value 
of IP rights or portfolios of IP rights are being developed. The products are still 
bespoke and are provided by specialist institutions, but they can cover a wide variety 
of risks and can be offered directly to financiers too. Subject to agreement on certain 
matters (such as valuation methodology and what happens in case of a partial rather 
than a full loss), specialist underwriters offer policies or guarantees, or find syndicates 
who do so.

Here are two examples of insured products:

 ࡟ Underwriting the value of a portfolio of IP by providing a financier with a guarantee 
against the financier’s payment of a fee. In the event of default and enforcement, 
the underwriter pays the financier, acquires the portfolio, and sells it on 31. 

 ࡟ Underwriting innovation costs should registration applications fail due to unfore-

seen events.

In spite of the risks described in this section, certain IP rights have a long history of 
funding, especially if they are cashflow generating. In 1997, David Bowie was the 
first recording artist to issue bonds based on his back catalogue, raising £ 35 million 
(this has been followed by artists such as James Brown and the Isley Brothers). 
There have been similar deals in the film industry 32. Patent securitisations (especially 
in the pharmaceutical and life science industries) are regularly completed 33. For 
smaller-sized deals, bank lenders provide funding. Currently, lending is done against 
artists’  back  catalogues,  touring  and  ticket  revenue,  and  sponsorship  revenue, 
although most of these deals are private and therefore unreported.

19

29 
See http://www.biginnovationcentre.com/ 
entrepreneurial-finance-hub
30 
 There are a number of specialist IP litigation brokers. 
31
This model is used particularly by a number 
of North Amercian underwriters including MCAM.
32
Since the Marvel bonds, all the main studios have 
issued bonds either on existing libraries or future 
productions, including Fox, Universal, DreamWorks, 
Paramount and Disney.
33
Royalty Pharma is the leader in this field, 
with a warehouse facility structure that allows 
for the inclusion of additional patent interests.

Good practice report on access to financeOMCFailings of security legislation

National legislation does not always enable the creation of a security interest that is 
suitable for the company or its financiers in practice.  

For example when a security involving the transfer of title (e.g. an English legal mort-
gage) is used, the IP must be assigned to the financier, who becomes its owner. 
Although the financier licenses the IP back to the original owner, the change of 
ownership poses risks for the company’s business continuity. There are also issues 
for the financier, such as liability for registration fees and litigation risk from competing 
entities.

Some legislation may exclude certain IP rights or sources of IP rights from security. 
In particular, in a number of EU jurisdictions rights obtained from licences-in are 
deemed to be personal rights which cannot be pledged. In certain companies, espe-
cially in the media, such rights may be extremely valuable to the company and it is 
unhelpful not to be able to rely on such value to attract financing.

There are some practical solutions. For example, one may change the corporate 
structure to isolate IP assets in a company within a corporate group which was set 
up to hold all of the group’s IP (and licence it to other group members), often referred 
to as an IPCo, with a share charge taken over the shares in that company. 

More interestingly, legislators across the EU are looking into changing current laws 
to make more relevant forms of security over IP assets possible.

Enforcement strategy issues

The next issue for a financier is to consider its exit and enforcement strategy. There 
might be a limited market for the specific IP right or a specific link to business-critical 
personnel.

Again, the market is slowly changing. IP exchanges, new participants, and increased 
familiarity  with  IP  and  insurance  are  creating  new  opportunities  for  sales 
strategies.

International issues

Studies have shown that in some CCS sub-sectors, e.g. game developing, SMEs 
are more internationally oriented and are more likely to want to reach foreign markets 
than companies from other sectors are. Unlike tangible assets which are easily 
identifiable, intangible assets like IP are by their nature impossible to fix in a specific 
location, so a financier will want to ensure that it has security in each jurisdiction in 
which the business operates or generates value.

The absence of international harmonisation means a fragmented and complex pic-
ture 34. National legislation, if it even recognises IP as a class of assets over which 
security can be granted, may have a range of different options for how IP rights are 
created and what needs to be done to perfect them (registration, notices, etc.).

Further  harmonisation  in  this  area  would  be  welcome  and  would  certainly  help 
encourage financiers to lend against IP.

The issues in this section are discussed in more detail in the articles referenced in 
this footnote 35. 

20

34
See e.g. the 2007 UNICITRAL 
Legislative Guide on Secured Transaction, 
http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/
security/Guide_securedtrans.html
35
See ‘TMT Finance: Part I’, Butterworths Journal of 
International Banking and Financial Law,  
March 2015, p. 172; ‘TMT Finance: Part II’,  
Butterworths Journal of International Banking and 
Financial Law, June 2015, p. 370; ‘TMT Finance:  
Part III’, Butterworths Journal of International  
Banking and Financial Law, September 2015, p. 520.

THE FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE CCS       TYPOLOGY 
OF FUNDING 
          MODELS 

«
«
«
«
«
«

«
«
«
«
«
«

T YP OLOGY  OF FU ND IN G M OD EL S

The CCS can benefit from various funding instruments, ranging from self-finance, 
public support measures to private financing (debt and equity). In addition, there 
are alternative funding models which frequently have mixed forms and are the most 
innovative in their design and outreach. This chapter attempts to provide short 
definitions of different generic and specific funding models available to the CCS 
and illustrate them with examples.

The good practices were selected based on the availability of an assessment or 
evaluation, their reputation, the number of applications, budget size, how specific 
the practice is, and its replicability and implementability. Also, it was important to 
select good practices that can inspire stakeholders in all EU Member States, across 
different policy approaches and traditions.   

Figure 3 – Typology of funding models

3. 1  Publi c  su ppo rt  m eas ur es

SELF-FINANCE

PUBLIC 
SUPPORT 
MEASURES

DEBT FINANCE

EQUITY 
FINANCE

OTHER

CROWDFUNDING

GRANTS

TAX 
INCENTIVES

PERSONAL 
RESOURCES

RETAINED 
PROFITS/
OWN 
EARNINGS

I

I

S
E
T
R
O
H
T
U
A
C
L
B
U
P

I

I

Y
L
M
A
F
&
S
D
N
E
R
F

I

I

I

S
N
O
T
A
S
N
A
G
R
O
E
T
A
V
R
P
/
S
N
O
T
U
T
T
S
N

I

I

I

DONATION

SPONSORSHIP

PATRONAGE

BUSINESS 
ANGELS

VENTURE 
CAPITAL

MEZZANINE 
VENTURE 
CAPITAL

LOANS

MICRO-CREDIT

OVERDRAFT

INVOICE
FINANCE

LEASING/HIRE
PURCHASE 
AGREEMENTS

I

I

L
A
C
N
A
N
F

I

RISK MITIGATION     SCHEMES: GUARANTEE/INSURANCE

Good practice report on Access to Finance OM C

23

3 
 
 
 
 
Traditionally, public support measures available to SMEs in the CCS include grants, 
loans, tax incentives, cash rebates, and guarantee schemes.

3.1.1  Grants

Unlike loans, grants are funding that the recipient does not have to pay back. They 
are direct financial contributions from the EU or national budget to finance either 
an action intended to help achieve an objective of a given policy or the functioning 
of a body which pursues an aim of general interest. Grants are intended to increase 
the competitiveness of certain sectors or companies and as such are subject to 
EU state aid rules 36. 

 EXAMPLES 

> 

 Enterprise Estonia (Estonia) – start-up grants, creative industries develop-
ment grants. See description and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.2. on p. 70

>    TEKES (Finland) – The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation – grants 

and loans

>    Invega (Lithuania) – subsidies for promoting entrepreneurship, but also 

loans, etc.

3.1.2  Vouchers

Vouchers are documents that entitle the holder to a payment or a free good or ser-
vice. They can take the form of a ticket or card which serves as a substitute for cash.

A number of EU Member States have put in place creative or innovation voucher 
schemes:  Ireland,  the Netherlands,  Germany,  Estonia,  Lithuania,  the UK 37 and 
Portugal. The vouchers can be used for marketing expertise, advice on IP rights, 
R&D, management, design or other areas.  

Creative vouchers

Creative voucher schemes are small amounts of credit or grants provided by 
governments to small and medium-sized enterprises to purchase services that 
introduce innovation (new products, services or processes) into their business 
operations. They are typically granted to strengthen collaborations between sci-
entists, entrepreneurs and government-related bodies to promote innovation and 
applied research.

24

36
See the regulation on de minimis aid: http://
ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/
de_minimis_regulation_en.pdf and the general 
block exemption regulation http://ec.europa.eu/
competition/state_aid/legislation/block.html
37
Promoting Investment in the Cultural and Creative 
Sector: Financing Needs, Trends and Opportunities; 
Report prepared for ECCE Innovation – Nantes 
Métropole, May 2010.

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS E XAMPLES 

>  aws Creative Industries Voucher/Kreativwirtschaftsscheck (Austria)

The aws Creative Industries Voucher (Austria) is issued in the form of a grant 
of up to EUR 5 000 and enables SMEs from all industries to use creative services 
in the framework of an innovation project. The objective is to stimulate innova-
tion projects in SMEs, especially in those from traditional sectors, through 
cooperation with the creative industries. Since the project’s beginning in 2013, 
more than 1 200 companies made use of a voucher; the Ministry of Economy 
provided EUR 6 million for this. In 2015, EUR 1.5 million is earmarked for the 
aws Creative Industries Voucher.

The projects which have been supported with the aws Creative Industries 
Voucher show the great variety of the creative industries as well as the additional 
benefit of the funding instrument:

Example 1: A traditional pastry shop in Styria (Konditorei Handl – http://torten-
meister.com/) developed a modern online shop and personal cake design tool 
for cakes and other sweet dishes. The creative service provider was DiCube, 
whose expertise lies in technological applications for web services (responsive 
webdesign 38, etc.) and in graphic design. DiCube also brought in online mar-
keting and e-commerce know-how. Now, customers can design their own cake 
and order it online. The cakes are shipped across Austria by the Austrian Post.

Example 2: ENERMENT Energie Management Systeme e.U. (http://www.ener-
ment.at/),  a  company  based  in  Upper  Austria,  is  a  specialist  in  cost-  and 
resource-efficient energy management systems, especially in lighting, electricity 
and heat. One of their products is a highly efficient storage heater with low emis-
sions. In order to also optimise the heater’s surface, the company developed new 
attractive surfaces using geopolymere techniques, with the help of a designer, 
Hans Rainer. He is a ceramicist and kiln engineer, and has been working as an 
artist and designer in this field since the 1980s. During the course of the project, 
several kinds of surfaces made of geopolymeres were developed – rough, glassy 
and velvet-like – in different colours, ranging from white to graphite or brown.

http://awsg.at/Content.Node/en/innovation_investment/creative- 
industries/3850.en.php 

>  Creativeworks London BOOST (UK)

The Creativeworks London BOOST scheme replaced the Creative Voucher 
scheme in the final stages of the Creativeworks London project. Creativeworks 
London BOOST is a follow-on award that had been established to enable those 
businesses and researchers who have already benefited from Creativeworks 
London and London Creative and Digital Fusion support to develop and/or 
commercialise their ideas through an additional collaborative research project 
that benefits both the SME(s) involved and the arts and humanities research 
base in London.

http://creativeworkslondon.org.uk   

38
http://www.dicube.at/responsive-webdesign/

25

Good practice report on access to financeOMC OTHER RELEVANT E XAMPLE S 

>    A pilot programme on developing vouchers in health, care and the CCS 
– Tillvaxtverket (Sweden) – the assessment showed that the pilot was  
a success 39. A key factor was that vouchers were granted to companies 
that did not have to provide information on annual turnover or the number 
of employees

>    Creative Wallonia (Belgium) – vouchers for the creative industries

Assessment of the creative voucher schemes
Creative vouchers give companies the opportunity to introduce more innovation. 
This is especially the case for smaller companies that lack experience and extensive 
budgets for research and development. There is proof that creative industries con-
tribute to innovation in the wider economy 40, though many companies are unaware 
of the value of acquiring creative skills and services to promote innovation. Creative 
vouchers are a suitable tool for providing companies with an incentive to overcome 
barriers to horizontal or vertical cooperation in the value chain. They decrease risk 
and thereby enable companies to try out new approaches to innovation. 

Creative SMEs also benefit from creative vouchers, as the vouchers provide an oppor-
tunity to develop Business to Business (B2B) markets. B2B markets and partnerships 
with large companies are important for many creative SMEs 41. However, in order to 
benefit from such opportunities, creative SMEs need to be capable of mapping and 
identifying challenges, and developing services and sales channels that meet the 
innovation needs and demands of large companies. Creative vouchers are a good way 
of stimulating this development among SMEs in the CCS, especially in conjunction 
with matchmaking and brokerage services from qualified intermediaries.

In 2015, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy com-
missioned  an  external  evaluation  of  the  Austrian  ‘creative  industries  voucher’ 
scheme to the Technopolis Group consultancy. The main outcome of the evaluation 
was that the scheme has succeeded in stimulating and supporting SMEs in the 
creative industries in creating innovative collaborations with businesses, particularly 
in the services sector, but also  in various creative sectors and, to a lesser extent, 
with companies from traditional manufacturing sectors. The positive effect is par-
ticularly clear at the level of micro-enterprises.  

Many of the projects were marketing-related and addressed either the ‘recipient’ com-
pany as a whole or a product/service that was in the late stages of innovation devel-
opment, just about to be commercialised. Two other project clusters, overlapping and 
somewhat smaller, were in the area of app development and product design. It was 
observed that it in practice it is difficult to define clear demarcation lines between 
different types and sub-sectors of creative, service and manufacturing industries, which 
makes it difficult to limit the scheme to certain sub-sectors in a meaningful way. The 
scheme’s success in reaching out to a high number of companies remains its greatest 
challenge, as demand can quickly surpass available funds. 

Recommendations centred on communication issues, e.g. better communication 
of project content that the scheme intends and does not intend to support, and 
the setting up of an award for particularly good projects that would help increase  
awareness not only of what the scheme is about, but also of the possible benefits 
of cross-sectorial innovation between the creative and other industries.  

26

39
http://www.tillvaxtverket.se/download/18.48
a604441429f388620254/1443039871298/
Rapport+-+slututv%C3%A4rdering+av+pilot-
program+f%C3%B6r+utvecklingscheckar.pdf 
40
Arge Creativ Wirtschaft Austria (2009):  
Third Austrian report on creative Industries; 
URBACT II (2012): Creative SpIN – Creative spillovers 
for innovation; Nesta (2010): Creative clusters 
and innovation.
41
In some creative subsectors, new tendencies 
towards business-to-business markets are already 
well developed, especially in sectors disrupted by 
digitalisation. In the music industry for example, 
creative SMEs are increasingly finding new revenue 
streams by selling musical content and musical 
brands to other businesses, rather than actually 
selling music to consumers. Other sectors, especially 
architecture and design, are inherently accustomed 
to business-to-business markets.

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELSThe evaluation builds on a considerable empirical base, including a previous internal 
evaluation, document and monitoring data analysis, two surveys with a total of 459 
responses from scheme participants and beneficiaries, as well as small case studies.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and ICT vouchers

In addition to creative industries vouchers which promote innovation through coop-
eration  with  the  creative  industries,  some  countries,  e.g.  the  UK,  Austria  and  
Lithuania, have innovation vouchers. In 2015 Portugal has introduced entrepre-
neurship vouchers.

 E XAMPLES 

> 

 Innovation vouchers in the UK 

Innovate UK’s Innovation Voucher is worth up to £ 5 000 and can be used to 
pay for an external expert to help small and medium size businesses grow.  
It can be used for all kinds of business expertise, including on idea develop-
ment, design, and making the most of IP (to buy time and help with using 
specialist equipment or facilities, etc.).

> 

 The growth vouchers research programme (United Kingdom)

The UK’s growth vouchers research programme helps small businesses to 
find strategic advice from private sector suppliers who can help their business 
grow. It is a joint programme between the Department for Business, Innovation 
and Skills (BIS) and the Behavioural Insights Team in Cabinet Office and was 
launched in 2014.

Growth vouchers offer expert advice in areas such as: raising finance and 
managing cash flow, recruiting and developing staff, improving leadership 
and management skills, marketing, attracting and keeping customers, and 
making the most of digital technology.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/growth-vouchers-programme

> 

 Entrepreneurship vouchers (Portugal)

The purpose of the entrepreneurship vouchers is to promote qualified and 
creative entrepreneurship through the Structural Fund Operational Programme 
for Competitiveness and Internationalisation. Competitiveness and interna-
tionalisation is both a regional and a thematic national priority stipulated in 
Portugal’s partnership agreement for 2014-2020.

The vouchers are designed to support SMEs with less than two years of 
experience in the area of qualified and creative entrepreneurship. They aim 
to support sectors with strong growth potential, including the creative and 
cultural sectors and/or knowledge, scientific and technology-based compa-
nies, namely in the application of Research&Development results in the pro-
duction of new goods and services.

27

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
The vouchers can be used for: consulting services in the area of entrepre-
neurship essential to start-up companies; business plan development; mar-
keting and the digital economy (website, online store, mobile applications, 
digital catalogues and online advertising).

This incentive grant supports projects in the field of business innovation and 
qualified and creative entrepreneurship. 

 OTHER RELEVA NT EXAMPLE S 

>    Innovationsgutschein C, Baden-Württemberg (Germany) – see descrip-

tion and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.5 on p. 61

>    Inočekiai (Lithuania) – innovation vouchers to encourage co-operation 

between business and research institutions

>    Innovation vouchers (Austria), granted by the Austrian Research Promo-
tion  Agency  (FFG)  for  cooperation  with  universities  and  research 
organisations

The ICT innovation vouchers aim to support micro-enterprises and SMEs in using 
digital technologies to innovate and increase their competitiveness. The scheme is 
a useful instrument to include in strategies for innovation and growth implemented 
at local and regional levels. It enables regional and national authorities to facilitate 
SMEs’ access to digital know-how and technology by giving them the incentive to 
connect with ICT knowledge and service providers. The aim is to encourage the use 
of new ICT-based business models.

Each scheme is not only tailored to the regional situation but is also designed in such 
a way as to be easy for SMEs to implement. The EU regions can set up and fund an 
ICT Innovation vouchers scheme through the EU structural and investment funds 
(ESIFs). The scheme is implemented in a decentralised way by each region or country 
that decides to use it to trigger SMEs’ digitisation and contribute to their business 
development. In 2013, the Commission published an EU Guide for regional authorities 
to develop ICT innovation vouchers schemes 42. 

28

42
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/node/67716

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS3.1.3  Tax incentives

Tax incentives include deduction, exclusion or exemption from a tax liability, offered 
as an enticement to engage in a specified activity (such as investment in capital 
goods) for a certain period 43. The cultural tax incentives are defined as all provisions 
in the law resulting in a decrease in the tax charge (from the taxpayer standpoint) 
and, conversely, a decrease in tax proceeds collected by governments 44. 

Some tax incentives implemented in EU Member States have proved to be effective. 
This is especially the case with audio-visual production incentives targeted to attract 
foreign productions. Some Member States operate broader audiovisual tax credit 
schemes that apply to both domestic and foreign productions, like the Lithuanian 
film tax incentive scheme, the tax credit for film production and distribution scheme 
in Italy, and the Belgian tax shelter scheme. Other types of tax incentives include the 
UK’s Enterprise Investment scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, which 
offer tax relief to venture capital investors who purchase shares in SMEs.

It should be noted that tax incentives are intended to increase competitiveness of certain 
sectors or businesses and as such they are subject to EU state aid rules. If they were 
widely used, their contribution to competitiveness would be diluted and might even lead 
to a ‘race to the bottom’ and have an adverse effect on competition.

 E XAMPLE 

> 

 The Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise  
Investment Scheme (United Kingdom) – tax relief offered  
to venture capital investors 

The UK’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Invest-
ment Scheme (SEIS) are both managed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), 
the UK’s tax authority. EIS is a tax relief offered to venture capital investors 
purchasing new shares in SMEs. SEIS is a tax relief offered to venture capital 
investors purchasing new shares in early-stage SMEs. The SMEs may be in 
various  sectors  of  the  economy.  Companies  in  the  CCS  (particularly  film, 
gaming, software, etc.) have traditionally benefitted from both schemes.

www.hmrc.gov.uk/eis – www.hmrc.gov.uk/seedeis

In addition to tax incentives that include deduction, exclusion, or exemption 
from a tax liability (like EIS/SEIS), the UK government offers a range of payable 
tax credits to the creative industries. These are:
 - film tax relief;
 - high-end television, animation and children’s television programme tax relief;
 - video games tax relief;
 - orchestra tax relief (from 2016).

All above tax relief possibilities are available at 25 % for all British qualifying 
films (intended for theatrical release), high-end television, animation and chil-
dren’s television, video games, and orchestras. Tax relief is available on 80 % 
of the qualifying total core expenditure or the actual UK core expenditure 
incurred, whichever is lower.

29

43
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/
tax-incentive.html
44
The Ernst & Young international survey on tax 
policies in the cultural sector (2009), 
http://www.forum-avignon.org/sites/default/files/
editeur/Etude_Forum_Avignon_ERNST_Young_ENG.pdf 

Good practice report on access to financeOMC3.1.4  Other innovative forms of public funding

Repayable contributions are a tool financed by public authorities in Catalonia.  
A selected project simultaneously gets double financing consisting of a loan with 
zero costs and a ‘repayable contribution’ to be paid back totally or partially by the 
beneficiary company, depending on the company’s performance during the period 
in which the repayable contribution is used.

 EXAMPLE 

>  Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (Spain) –  

repayable contributions (loan + subsidy)

The ICEC’s aim is to increase employment in the CCS and to increase audience 
numbers. The institute concentrates on repayable contributions, a combination 
of subsidies and interest-free loans. The loan bids must have an economically 
viable strategy and are focused on investment recovery. The government covers 
project losses, and gets its money back if the project is successful. Over time, 
the payback rate of subsidies has increased from 22 % to 94 % (only among 
closed cases though). repayable contributions require the mandatory submis-
sion of a guarantee whose amount is determined by economic variables. This 
can be a personal guarantee.

Repayable contributions increased from EUR 2.1 million to EUR 5.9 million in 
four years (2009-2013). The number of cases, companies and investment almost 
doubled in 2013, compared to the previous year. Closed cases have produced 
an overall return percentage of 89 %.

The ICEC also operates a guarantee fund for the CCS. However, it only started 
in 2014 and therefore has not yet produced measurable results. In addition, the 
ICEC offers participative loans for digital creative businesses, especially for 
start-ups for an amount (between EUR 40 000-200 000). The companies have 
to provide co-financing in the form of equity.

http://www.gencat.cat/cultura/icec/ 

Assessment of repayable contributions based on an example:

GRUP FOCUS is Spain’s leading business organisation in the world of perfor-
mance art. Since its founding in 1986, GRUP FOCUS has dealt with all aspects 
of the arts and entertainment industry, but theatrical production and manage-
ment is its backbone and core activity. Nowadays, GRUP FOCUS comprises 
19 companies dedicated to the comprehensive management of cultural content, 
all linked by a common thread: the pursuit of excellence and the commitment 
to creativity and culture. The group manages the entire process, from creating 
and producing shows, to staging and distributing them, as well as managing 
copyright and representing authors. GRUP FOCUS operates five theatres with 
consistently high-quality productions and exhibitions. Since 2002, it has ben-
efited from repayable contributions, which have become an excellent support 
for the development of new and different theatre projects, such as:

30

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS 
the production of large format musicals;

 ࡟
 ࡟ performances of the musical ‘Tarantos’ in Madrid.

The following projects had high production budgets, so repayable contributions 
represented a significant part of overall resources:

 ࡟ productions aimed at family audiences;
tours in different Catalan theatres;
 ࡟
 ࡟
exhibitions in other Spanish regions;
 ࡟ minimising the operating risk in own theatres.

According to GRUP FOCUS, the main advantages of repayable contributions 
are that they:

 ࡟
 ࡟

 ࡟
 ࡟

 improve the company’s financing capacity and resources;
 finance both the production of a show and its operation in the theatre  
or on tour;
lead to savings in financial expenses;
 encourage the company to design the project with more economic 
criteria, involving the recovery of investment costs and profitability  
(as opposed to grant aid);
encourage partnering among the public administration and the company;

 ࡟
 ࡟ minimise show-related risk;
 ࡟
 ࡟
 ࡟
 ࡟ optimise theatre programming.

create new, diversified theatre content;
increase the company’s production and activity;
increase capacity to reach other geographical areas;

According to GRUP FOCUS, the only disadvantage of repayable contributions 
is the need to have a guarantee for 50 % of the amount of the repayable con-
tribution, which means having a guarantee facility with a financial institution. 
For some companies, this not easy to obtain given the current credit restriction 
policy. Nonetheless, thanks to the changes introduced in the regulation of repay-
able contributions in recent years, GROUP FOCUS’ positive return track record 
(over 90 % of return from all repayable contributions granted to the company 
in the past) has meant that the company benefits from a guarantee exemption 
in 2015.

From an economic point of view, since 2002 GRUP FOCUS has received repay-
able  contributions  for  a  total  amount  of  EUR  2 188  506,  to  be  split  into 
EUR 850 667 of a non-repayable grant plus a repayable loan of EUR 1 337 839.

96 % of the total amount granted in this period had been returned from closed 
projects.

31

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
3.1.5   Organisations that offer a wide range of instruments 

(‘one stop shops’)

There are a number of organisations across Europe that offer a diversified portfolio 
of funding instruments.

 EXAMPLE 

>  Creative England (UK)

Creative England is dedicated to the growth of the creative industries across 
England. It is a one stop shop for creative companies and individuals to find 
and access support and investment. Creative England is a not-for-profit com-
pany that invests in talented people and their creative ideas across the creative 
industries,  from  games  to  film  and  television  to  digital  media  companies.  
Creative England’s objectives are to: (1) develop and grow creative businesses; 
(2) develop and support creative talent; (3) foster the development of creative 
clusters; (4) identify new and expanding markets for creative content; (5) pro-
mote the talent and creativity of England; and (6) advocate for the economic 
and cultural contribution of England’s creative industries.

Creative England provides financial support in form of direct equity investments, 
revenue and profit share investments, soft loans, recoupable grants and some 
non-recoupable grants. In addition to financial support, Creative England pro-
vides: business mentoring; skills and Continuing Professional Development 
training courses and workshops; access to useful business resources and men-
tors; access to industry news; and a wide range of industry events and net-
working opportunities.

Some of the financial instruments available from Creative England include:
 - zero-interest-based business loans;
 - equity investments;
 - revenue share and profit share investments;
 - accelerator programmes for start-ups;
 - start-up and early-stage financing;
 - feature film development funding;
 - feature film production funding;
 - shorts development funding;
 - shorts production funding;
 - high-end TV production funding;
 - funding for games development;
 - vouchers schemes.

A unique aspect of Creative England’s work is around building a strong supply 
chain – enabling small companies to build long-term relationships and do busi-
ness with large corporate buyers. One example of this is its partnership with 
such industry leaders as Microsoft and Sony, who as a direct result of these 
partnerships are working with smaller games developers and studios across 
England to create innovative games and IP.  

http://creativeengland.co.uk 

32

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS OTH ER RELE VAN T EX AM PL E S 

> 

 aws (Austria) – funds for start-ups and SMEs, grants for investments  
& innovation, loans and guarantees, equity, and specific training and ser-
vices – see the description of aws and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.4. 
on p. 78

> 

 Cultuur & Ondernemen (the Netherlands)

Cultuur & Ondernemen (C&O) is based in Amsterdam and encourages entre-
preneurship in the Dutch creative industry. C&O supports cultural organisations, 
artists and creatives with advice and assistance to get more value from their 
activities and assists them in professional development, innovation of business 
models, and the development of good governance and oversight. C&O provides, 
researches and implements different funding mechanisms, such as microcre-
dits, loans and guarantees. It works together with parties (such as municipalities 
and funds) and uses its network to increase the impact of cultural policies and 
investments.

http://www.cultuur-ondernemen.nl/ 

>  Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft (Germany)

The Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft is a municipal institution founded to pro-
mote Hamburg’s creative industries. As a directly accessible contact and ser-
vice facility, it is open to all creative stakeholders and companies in the Hanseatic 
city. It aims to develop and support an economically sustainable basis for 
 Hamburg’s creative stakeholders. This includes measures tailored to individual 
requirements, such as providing targeted advice, specific information and busi-
ness know-how, improving working conditions based on new information, and 
implementing specific pilot projects or identifying funding possibilities. Whether 
it is start-up capital for a company, financial support for a project or quick 
funding for an urgent investment – almost everyone must rely on external financ-
ing at one point or another. The Kreativ Gesellschaft helps keep an overview of 
financial matters and find the right financing strategy. To simplify the search for 
best-suited funding, the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft has developed a web-
based register of supporters, the ‘Funding Finder’, and has also set up  Germany’s 
first regional crowdfunding platform.

http://kreativgesellschaft.org

33

Good practice report on access to financeOMC3.2  Debt f inance

This part focuses on commercial funding available for the CCS. Debt finance is  
a financing method in which a company receives a loan and promises to repay it 45.  
Debt financing includes  both secured and  unsecured  loans.  Security  involves  
a form of collateral as assurance that the loan will be repaid.  

If the debtor defaults on the loan, that collateral is forfeited to satisfy payment of 
the debt. Most lenders will ask for some sort of security on a loan.

3.2.1  Loans

A loan is an act of giving money, property or other material goods to another party 
in exchange for future repayment of the principal amount along with interest or other 
finance charges. A loan may be for a specific, one-time amount or can be available 
as open-ended credit up to a specified ceiling amount 46. 

 EXAMPLES 

> 

 KredEx (Estonia) – loans, venture capital, credit insurance  
and guarantees with a state guarantee

KredEx helps companies develop more quickly and expand more safely into 
foreign markets. It offers loans, venture capital, credit insurance and guarantees 
with a state guarantee. It also help people to improve their living conditions, by 
offering loan guarantees with a state guarantee for purchasing homes, as well 
as loans, guarantees and grants for energy efficiency solutions.

 -  Start-up loans are suitable for new companies and those who have been 
operational for up to three years. They can be used as investment and oper-
ating capital.

 -  A business loan guarantee is designed for companies that require their 

operations to be financed by a bank or leasing.

 -  A technology loan is suitable for export-oriented industrial companies wish-

ing to invest in machines and devices.

 -  A capital loan is suitable for companies who have shown that their business 

model works, and who are planning development investments.

 -  An export loan is meant for companies wishing to finance large-scale export 

transactions of goods manufactured in Estonia.

www.kredex.ee/en/ 

>  The Arts Impact Fund (UK)

The UK’s Arts Impact Fund is a new £ 7 million initiative launched in March 
2015, set up to demonstrate the potential for social investment in the arts. Its 
objective is to invest for artistic, social and financial return. The fund offers 
repayable financing to arts organisations working in England that can show 
that they are sustainable, have great artistic ambitions and have a positive 
impact on society.

34

45
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/ 
debt-financing
46
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/ 
loan.asp#ixzz3Y1L8YjBj

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELSBy investing in the arts, the fund wants to support more organisations to become 
enterprising and resilient. By focusing on both artistic and social outcomes,  
it wants to promote the wider positive impact art has on society and support 
more organisations so that their work can benefit individuals and communities.  
By lending to growing and ambitious organisations, it wants to attract more 
social investors to the arts to benefit the sector in general.

Depending on the organisation’s needs, the fund can provide repayable financ-
ing of between £ 150 000 and £ 600 000.

 OTH ER RELE VAN T EX AM PL E S 

> 

> 

> 

 Creative England Business Loans (UK) – see description and a beneficiary 
story in chapter 4.2. on p. 73

 Cultuurinvest (Belgium) – investment fund for creative entrepreneurs – see 
description and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.4. on p. 80

 StART (Belgium) – offers both debt finance and equity – see description 
and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.4. on p. 81

>  Creative Industry Finance (UK) – loan finance

> 

 Les fonds d’avances remboursables de l’Institut pour le financement 
du cinéma et des industries culturelles (IFCIC) – repayable funds of the 
Institute for the financing of film and cultural industries (France) – loans 
for cultural industries (FAIM), press companies (FAREP), independent 
bookstores (FALIB), art galleries (FARGA) and young fashion designers 
(FAJEC)

>  Rentevrije Lening (the Netherlands) – interest-free loans

> 

I nnovate UK (UK) – catalysts: R&D funding which focuses on specific 
priority areas and aims to help take projects from research to commercial 
viability. Also collaborative R&D: helping businesses and researchers to 
work together on science, engineering and technology innovation.

35

Good practice report on access to financeOMC3.2.2  Microfinance

Microfinance or microcredit organisations have developed platforms, mostly on the 
internet, that facilitate a modified form of (indirect) peer-to-peer lending where the 
microcredit organisation typically sources capital from the crowd. The microcredit 
fund lends to companies at reasonable rates, and provides other financial services 
(such as coaching) to entrepreneurs. Microfinance consists mainly of micro-loans 
(less than EUR 25 000) tailored to micro-enterprises (91 % of all European businesses) 
and people who would like to become self-employed but are facing difficulties in 
accessing traditional banking services. Throughout the European Union, 99 % of all 
start-ups are micro- or small enterprises and one-third of these were launched by 
unemployed people.

 EXAMPLES 

>  Micro Bank la Caixa (Spain) – micro loans

> 

 NRW.Bank.Kreativwrtschaftsfonds (Germany) – micro loans for start-ups 
and SMEs

NRW.Bank supports micro start-ups with credit requirements of up to EUR 25 000 
via the NRW/EU.Mikrodarlehen, which is funded by the European Regional 
Development Fund (ERDF) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Applica-
tions for promotion funds under the latter programme are channelled through 
the  STARTERCENTERS  in  North  Rhine-Westphalia  which,  acting  as  NRW.
BANK’s cooperation partners, provide promotion advice to potential company 
founders and accept their loan applications. As no collateral is required for the 
micro loans, they also allow unemployed people to set up self-employed busi-
nesses, thereby facilitating their return to working life. To increase the attrac-
tiveness  of  this  programme,  the  fixed  standard  interest  rate  was  reduced 
significantly in the third quarter of 2014.

3.2.3  Debt finance instruments less commonly  

used in the CCS

•  Overdraft: also called credit line. Business borrowing under which a bank extends 
credit up to a maximum amount against a current account customer. Interest is 
charged only on the amount used (drawn balance). An overdraft is approved only 
for a fixed period (usually one year) after which it must be renegotiated. It is  
a common instrument in the CCS, though is not possible for start-ups unless 
there is a guarantor.

• 

Invoice finance/factoring: the bank advances the amount invoiced, deducting 
a commission. Normally short-term finance. Not very common in the CCS.

•  Leasing: Contract by which an owner of a specific asset grants a second party 
the right to its exclusive possession and use for a specific period and under 
specified conditions, in return for specified periodic rental or lease payment. Not 
very common in the CCS, linked to fixed assets.

•  Hire-purchase: A system by which a buyer pays for a thing in regular instalments 
while enjoying the use of it. Upon the full payment of the loan, the title passes to 
the buyer. Not very common in the CCS, linked to fixed assets.

36

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS 
3. 3  Equity  fin an c e

Equity finance is a financing method in which a company issues shares of its stock 
and receives money in return. How much ownership a company must relinquish 
depends on the value of the company and the size of the equity finance investment.

3.3.1  Venture capital

Venture capital is one of the more popular forms of equity financing used to finance 
high-risk, high-return businesses. The amount of equity a venture capitalist holds is 
a factor of the company’s stage of development when the investment occurs, the 
perceived risk, the amount invested, and the relationship between the entrepreneur 
and the venture capitalist.

Venture capital firms provide capital for start-ups and young high growth-companies 
in innovative sectors such as ICT and life sciences. Venture capitalists typically 
require a high return on their investment due to the perceived high risk, as it is very 
difficult to predict future success of the start-up company. In order to mitigate some 
of the business risk, venture capitalists tend to get involved in their investments and 
to provide a valuable network and knowledge. Investors usually have personal expe-
rience with starting a risky venture or experience in a particular sector. Therefore, 
the contribution of venture capitalist can be decisive in the company’s success.

 E XAMPLES 

>  Vertis SGR spa (Italy)

Vertis SGR spa PRIVATE EQUITY/VENTURE CAPITAL – Vertis SGR spa has 
launched two closed funds, one of private equity and one of venture capital, to 
support SMEs located in the southern region of Italy. It has established agree-
ments with 14 research centres and 7 universities in the south of Italy to better 
define investment opportunities. Vertis works with companies in the fashion, 
ICT, media and other sectors at various phases, from the start-up stage (ear-
ly-stage financing) to expansion capital and buy-out steps. In the screening 
phase of private equity projects, applicants need to provide information on their 
business plan, previous experience, and principal competitors (the company’s 
SWOT analysis). For venture capital, Vertis adopts the following criteria to select 
new investment opportunities: process or product innovation with digital tech-
nologies, location in the south of Italy, and management with expertise in the 
relevant field.

http://www.vertissgr.it 

>  Vækstfonden – Venture Capital and Equity Fund (Denmark)

Vækstfonden (The Danish Growth Fund) is a state investment fund that con-
tributes to the creation of new companies by providing capital and expertise. 
The Danish Growth Fund is expected to support creative companies through 
investment with a total amount of EUR 27 million between 2013 and 2015.  
At the end of 2015, the support to creative companies is at EUR 30 million, i.e. 
above target in the creative sector. The Danish Growth Fund provides capital 
in the forms of equity, loan or guarantee instruments. It operates on market 
terms but is less adverse to invest in business with a higher risk profile.

37

Good practice report on access to financeOMCThe initiative stems from the Danish government’s plan for the creative indus-
tries ‘Denmark at work – Plan for growth in the creative industries and design’, 
launched in February 2013. Since 1992, the Danish Growth Fund and private 
investors have together co-financed growth in more than 5 400 Danish compa-
nies, with a total commitment of more than EUR 2 billion. The almost 6 000 com-
panies which the fund has co-financed since 2001 today represent a total 
turnover of approximately EUR 9 billion and employ approximately 41 000 people 
all over the country.

http://www.vf.dk/ 

>  VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin II (Germany)

The VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin II is one of two venture capital funds 
which have been set up by the IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft in Berlin, and which 
are currently in their investment phase. The IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft pro-
vides venture capital to innovative Berlin-based companies and has established 
itself as a market leader in the field of early-stage financing in Germany. Its 
funds are used primarily for the development and market launch of innovative 
products and services, as well as for the business concepts of creative indus-
tries. The VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin II has a fund size of EUR 40 million 
and is financed by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Fund for 
Regional Development (ERDF) administered by the Federal State Berlin. Since 
1997, the IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft and its partners have made EUR 1.006 mil-
lion available to creative and technology-orientated companies. Of this, the 
portion invested by IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft itself, as leader, co-leader or 
co-investor, was approximately EUR 141 million.

http://www.ibb-bet.de

> 

 The Creative Industries Fund – Portugal Ventures (Portugal) – private 
equity investments for SMEs in the CCS

Portugal Ventures is a venture capital and private equity firm active in all sec-
tors including the CCS. It focuses on investment in innovative, scientific and 
technology-based companies as well as in companies from the more traditional 
Portuguese cultural, tourist and industrial sectors, with significant competitive 
advantages and export-oriented towards global markets. Portugal Ventures’ 
aim is to partner with entrepreneurs and help them achieve new levels of com-
petitiveness and success at all stages of the development of their companies, 
in a number of different sectors. Portugal Ventures works alongside entrepre-
neurs, enabling high-growth Portuguese companies to achieve global status.

Portugal Ventures was founded in June 2012 as a result of the merger of the 
three state-backed venture capital and private equity firms – AICEP Capital 
Global (founded in 1988), InovCapital (founded in 1989) and Turismo Capital 
(founded in 1991). Members include: APCRI – Portuguese Venture Capital and 
Private Equity Association, EVCA – the European Private Equity and Venture 
Capital Association and NEVCA – New England Venture Capital Association. 
Portugal Ventures has(circa) EUR 450 million assets under management. 

www.dgtf.pt 

38

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS OTH ER RELE VAN T EX AM PL E S 

> 

> 

 Austria  aws  Gründerfonds  –  funds/equity  for  start-ups  and  SMEs  
https://www.awsg.at/Content.Node/footer/presse/98992.php 

 ELEVEN – Eleven Accelerator Venture Fund (Bulgaria) – venture capital 
fund for early-stage companies – see description and a beneficiary story 
in chapter 4.2. on p. 69

>  Royal Majestics Fashion and Design Fund (Finland) – private equity fund

> 

> 

> 

> 

 ALMI  funds  for  startups  and  SMEs  (Sweden)  –  see  description  and  
a beneficiary story in chapter 4.6. on p. 90

 Nextury Ventures (Lithuania) – investment in early-stage start-ups and 
new fast growth and high-potential-value ideas

 Practica Capital (Lithuania) – there are two funds: Practica Seed Capital 
and Practica Venture Capital. They invest in early-stage (seed, start-up) 
development of high-potential business ideas and later-stage expansion 
of established businesses in Lithuania

 Arengufond  (Estonia)  –  the  aim  of  the  Estonian  Development  Fund’s 
investment activities is to offer funding to Estonian start-ups by developing 
the Estonian venture capital market by investing together with private 
investors who have an in-depth knowledge of the specific fields 

3.3.2  Business angels

As venture capital firms increasingly focus on later-stage ventures, business angels 
are becoming a more important source of funding for start-ups in some sectors. 
Entrepreneurs should seek out business angel networks, which are becoming more 
commonplace as a means of bringing entrepreneurs and investors together. Although 
angel investors will consider companies at an earlier stage than most venture capital 
firms, they will still expect to see a business plan that is convincing and promising. 
Entrepreneurs should seek out angels who are active in their sector and deal size. 
This may include current customers of the business. Business angels can be defined 
as knowledgeable private individuals, usually with business experience, who directly 
invest part of their personal assets in new and growing unquoted businesses. Besides 
capital, business angels provide new entrepreneurs with business management 
experience 47. 

47
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/access-to-finance/ 
funding-policies/business-angels/index_en.htm

39

Good practice report on access to financeOMC EXAMPLES 

> 

Invicta Angels – Association of Business Angels from Oporto (Portugal)

Invicta Angels is a private non-profit entity that aims to link companies that are 
in the process of being created or of implementing growth plans with business 
angels  and  venture  capital,  with  a  specific  fund  for  creative  industries.   
The  objective  of  the  business  angel  is  the  valuation  of  start-ups,  acquiring  
a stake in the share capital, and for a certain period of time providing financial 
support for the project’s implementation and growth. The ultimate goal for the 
business angel is to sell its holding with a capital gain, and this can only happen 
if the project reaches the expected success. During their participation in the pro-
ject, the business angel assumes the project risk in the same way as the project’s 
own promoters. The Invicta Angels business angels developed the creative indus-
tries, through an Investment Fund NSRF 2007-2013 operational programme, 
‘Compete’, and the  investment Fund ‘Finova’ for creative industries.

http://www.invictaangels.pt/ 

>  Business Angels Scheme for Culture (ACCME’14) (Spain)

The ‘ACCME’14: Angels and Culture for the creation of more jobs’ is a project 
that aims to encourage entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries as 
a source of growth, value creation, economic wealth and cultural excellence.

ACCME’14 is an investment readiness program that includes professional train-
ing for entrepreneurs and an investment forum to encourage the private sector’s 
participation in the financing of cultural entrepreneurial projects.

Promoters: from April 2014 until the first quarter of 2015, ACCME’14 was run 
by the Business Angels Network Catalonia – BANC, a private institution created 
in 2002 which connects private investors (business angels) and entrepreneurs 
seeking funding to develop their business projects. BANC addresses private 
investors interested in participating in new business ventures to provide smart 
capital: experience, contacts, capital and confidence.

Through ‘ACCME’14 – Angels and Culture for the creation of more jobs’, BANC 
proposed a comprehensive way for innovative projects in the cultural and cre-
ative industries to access financing.

40

TYPOLOGY  OF  FUND IN G M O DE LS

3.3.3  Seed capital

Seed capital funding is a form of financing provided to study, assess and develop 
an initial concept. The seed phase precedes the start-up phase. The two phases 
together are called the early stage 48.  

Seed capital:
•  concentrates on the very early stages of young innovative companies, which are 

• 

characterised by high levels of investment risk;
is aimed at supporting companies in moving from the idea or prototype stage to 
first commercial revenue;

•  offers limited amount of equity capital (typically in the range of EUR 200 000-

300 000 and usually not beyond EUR 500 000) 49.  

 E XAMPLES 

>  AIB Seed Capital Fund (Ireland)

> 

 Most seed investment schemes in the UK benefit from SEIS (Seed Enterprise 
Investment Scheme) tax relief provided by the UK government to investors 
investing in the seed round (for companies less then two years old). 

>  White Star Capital (UK)

 White Star Capital, a London-based fund targeting the UK, Europe and the 
USA, is a seed and early-stage investment company for digital and mobile 
technology start-ups. With worldwide connections, it can help companies go 
global. Investment level: seed and early-stage venture capital. Portfolio com-
panies: Key Me, DICE, Dollar Shave Club.

http://whitestarvc.com/

>  London Venture Partners (UK)

London Venture Partners invest exclusively in online, social, mobile and tablet 
games. They never stray outside this and they’ve built their team and expertise 
specifically for this sector, in other words they know the games industry well. 
Investment level: everything from pre-seed to series. A portfolio from £ 20 000 
(EUR 28 000) onwards. Companies: Omnidrone, Applifier and Playraven. 

http://www.londonvp.com/ 

48
https://www.fi-compass.eu/info/glossary/s  
49
European Commission: The public role in financing 
innovative companies: shifting from venture capital 
to seed investment –  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/
expert-groups/i4g-reports/i4g_policy_brief_5_-_
seed_capital.pdf

41

Good practice report on access to financeOMC3.4  Crowdfund ing

Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by attracting small 
amounts of funding or donations directly from multiple investors using social media 
and internet channels, allowing innovators, entrepreneurs and business owners to 
use their social networks to raise capital. In the past few years, crowdfunding has 
become increasingly popular, particularly in creative industries such as film and 
publishing, and in social enterprises. Crowdfunding was originally a debt instrument 
rather than for equity, due to restrictions in some countries on providing equity stakes 
through crowdfunding. It evolved in recent years and the spectrum currently consists 
of five different types: donation (no reward, debt or equity stake), reward (entrepre-
neurs pre-sell a product or service to launch a business concept without incurring 
debt or sacrificing equity/shares), lending (the backer receives interest and the loan 
will amortise), equity (the backer receives shares of a company, usually in its early 
stages,  in  exchange  for  the  money  pledged),  and  hybrid  forms.  Reward-based 
models are the most common form of crowdfunding. They made up 43 % of the total 
in 2012, with growth of 524 % that year. The donation model is the second most 
important form with 29 %, followed by the equity model (15 %) and the lending-based 
model (13 %) 50. 

Main types of crowdfunding:

•  Peer-to-peer lending

 Individuals lend money to a company with the understanding that the money will 
be repaid with interest. It is very similar to traditional borrowing from a bank, 
except that you borrow from lots of investors.

•  Equity crowdfunding

 Sale of a stake in a business to a number of investors in return for investment. 
The idea is similar to how common stock is bought or sold on a stock exchange, 
or to venture capital.

•  Rewards-based crowdfunding

 Individuals donate to a project or business with expectations of receiving in return 
a non-financial reward, such as goods or services, at a later stage in exchange 
for their contribution.

•  Donation-based crowdfunding

 Individuals donate small amounts to meet the larger funding aim of a specific 
charitable project while receiving no financial or material return.

•  Profit sharing/revenue sharing

 Businesses can share future profits or revenues with the crowd in return for 
funding now.

•  Debt-securities crowdfunding

 Individuals invest in a debt security issued by the company, such as a bond.

•  Hybrid models

 Offer businesses the opportunity to combine elements of more than one crowd-
funding type.

Crowdfunding has been placed high on the agenda of the European Commission. 
In 2015, the Commission published a guide for SMEs on crowdfunding (23 lan-
guages available) 51. A number of studies are being carried out, including a general 
one on ‘Crowdfunding: Mapping EU markets and events’ to gather comprehensive 
data on the volume of the crowdfunding market in the EU. A specific project on 
crowdfunding for the cultural and creative sectors is also ongoing.

42

50
Difass (2014): Creative industries and crowdfunding, 
http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/difass-pro-
duction/downloads/files/000/000/128/original/
DIFASS_Theme_7_Creative_Industries_and_
Crowd_Funding_Policy_Recommendation_paper.
pdf?1400503181
51
European Commission, Crowdfunding explained 
(2015), http://ec.europa.eu/growth/ 
access-to-finance/funding-policies/crowdfunding/
index_en.htm

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All types of crowdfunding can be used by the cultural and creative sectors, but so 
far reward-based and donation-based crowdfunding have been the most common.

According to a study carried out by Culturecrowd 52,  equity crowdfunding ‘offers the 
arts sector and the creative industries a significant new investment tool that has the 
following potential:
• 
• 
• 

to encourage existing arts investors to invest further in the arts;
to attract and encourage new atypical arts investors to begin investing in the arts;
to require the arts sector to consider arts projects, where appropriate, as sus-
tainable financial ventures’ 53. 

Crowdfunding is most often used by start-up companies or growing businesses as 
a way of accessing alternative funding. It is an innovative way of sourcing funding 
for new projects, businesses or ideas.

It can also be a way of cultivating a community around your offering. By using the 
power of the online community, you can also gain useful market insights and access 
to new customers 54. 

 E XAMPLES 

>  KissKissBankBank (France)

KissKissBankBank is a crowdfunding platform which helps people to raise 
funds to realise their ideas and projects, by creating an alternative space ded-
icated to creativity, innovation, solidarity and entrepreneurship. Key data about 
KissKissBankBank (since its founding in March 2010):
 - 56 787 created projects;
 - 16 551 presented projects;
 - 493 live projects;
 - 674 923 KissBankers;
 - EUR 37 224 860 collected.

>  Voordekunst (the Netherlands)

Voordekunst is a crowdfunding platform which was founded in 2009 at Amster-
dam’s Fund for the Arts and which received initial funding from the Ministry  
of Culture. It is a non-profit foundation with two main goals: improving entre-
preneurial skills among artists and art institutions and visualising public support 
for the arts. 

Key data about Voordekunst:
 - It is donation/reward based;
 - 76 377 donors;
 - EUR 7 508 803 donated;
 - 1 363 projects successfully financed;
 - 17 partners, both public and private;
 - success rate over 75 %.

43

52
http://www.culturecrowd.co.uk/wp-content/ 
uploads/Equity-Crowdfunding-for-the-Arts-
June-2013.pdf
53
http://www.culturecrowd.co.uk/wp-content/ 
uploads/Equity-Crowdfunding-for-the-Arts-
June-2013.pdf
54
Crowdfunding Explained,
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/9721

Good practice report on access to financeOMC>  Fund It (Ireland) – Crowd Fund Creativity

Fund It is a crowdfunding platform to help raise money for creative ideas and 
projects from Ireland. It is based on the premise that a creative idea can attract 
small amounts of money from a large number of people, whether they are family, 
friends, supporters, or simply members of the general public who would like to 
see a great idea realised in return for rewards.

It covers all of the culture and creative sectors, from fashion, to food and fine art.

Relevant criteria, including allocation of resources: all-or-nothing funding – 
every Fund It project or idea must reach or exceed its target amount before the 
time expires, otherwise the project does not receive funding and funders do 
not get charged.

Business to Arts – http://www.businesstoarts.ie   
Fundit.ie – http://fundit.ie/info/faq/ 
Business to Arts New Stream training project: 
http://www.businesstoarts.ie/newstream/ 

 OTHER RELEVANT E XAMPLE S 

> 

> 

 PPL Crowdfunding (Portugal) – see description and a beneficiary story 
in chapter 4.1 on p. 63

 Nordstarter (Germany) – see description and a beneficiary story in chap-
ter 4.1 on p. 64

>  Wspieramkulture.pl (Poland)

>  Crowdfunder (United Kingdom) – reward-based

> 

 Crowdcube (United Kingdom) – equity crowdfunding – see description 
and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.1 on p. 65

>  Seedrs (United Kingdom)

>  Funding Circle (United Kingdom) – peer-to-peer

>  Hooandja (Estonia) – http://www.hooandja.ee/en 

> 

 Hithit.com (Czech Republic) – reward-based, also cooperating for exam-
ple with the Vodafone Foundation on the ‘V pohybu’ project http://nad-
acevodafone.cz/programy/vpohybu/,  combining  a  crowdfunding 
campaign with the foundation’s contribution

>  Poligon (Slovenia) – http://www.poligon.si/en/ 

44

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS3.4.1  Linking crowdfunding with other sources of funding
Recently, new initiatives have emerged linking crowdfunding with other forms of 
financing, including loans and risk capital schemes. Crowdfunding is also being 
increasingly seen by the banks as an opportunity, as it provides starting capital that 
may identify potential markets for investors.

 E XAMPLES 

>  GOTEO (Spain) – mixed crowdfunding and feeder capital

GOTEO is a platform for crowdfunding or collective financing and distributed 
collaboration (apart from monetary contributions, it is possible to collaborate 
through services, material resources, infrastructure or by participating in spe-
cific micro-tasks needed for the development of the project). Goteo sources 
feeder capital, i.e. contributions from public and private institutions and busi-
nesses to be used for co-responsible investment with a multiplying effect in 
projects that rely on the support of civil society. 

Goteo favours projects that highlight the public good (apart from individual 
returns, the system is based on collective returns to the community), favouring 
free culture and social development.

Experience: from EUR 6 000 to EUR 100 000 per project.

These  are  the  points  that  differentiate  Goteo  from  other  crowdfunding 
platforms:

 ࡟

 ࡟

 ࡟

 ࡟

 ࡟

 ࡟

 ࡟

 Common, open and free: promotes projects that work for the common good, 
open code and/or free knowledge, with a focus on the public and favouring 
free culture and social development.
 Free and/or open licences: projects that wish to be co-funded with the help 
of Goteo must permit, through the use of licences, the copying, public 
communication, distribution, modification and/or use of part or all of each 
creation.
 Collective return: seeks a social return on investment and for this reason, 
apart from individual returns, the system is also based on collective returns 
for the common good.
 Social investment market: manages feeder capital with contributions from 
public and private institutions and businesses for co-responsible investment 
with a multiplying effect in projects that rely on the support of civil society.
 Distributed collaboration: in Goteo, apart from monetary contributions it is 
possible to collaborate through services, material resources, infrastructure 
or by participating in specific micro tasks needed for the development of 
projects.
 Two crowdfunding rounds of 40+40 days: there are two co-funding rounds, 
each with a duration of 40 days. The first is an ‘all or nothing’ round for the 
minimum essential budget, while the second is for an optimum sum to carry 
out additional improvements.
 Community of local nodes: Goteo is a community of communities, a network 
of local, independent, inter-coordinated nodes which serve to localise the 
digital, and to contextualise it.

www.goteo.org 

45

Good practice report on access to financeOMC>  Market Development Fund (Denmark)

The Market Development Fund helps companies bring their new innovative 
products to the market faster – a perfect match to creating growth and employ-
ment in Danish companies. In 2015, it launched a new initiative that matches 
funding raised through crowdfunding for consumer related products. The fund 
offers companies the possibility of validating their market potential through 
reward-based crowdfunding on a platform of their own choosing. If their cam-
paign turns out to be a success, the fund can match the financing from the 
crowd. Through a reward-based campaign, the company will establish its first 
contact with consumers, create awareness of the product, and raise money for 
the first production. The Market Development Fund finances a product’s test 
and adaptation phase – the phase during which many crowdfunding projects 
struggle  with  unforeseen  problems  regarding  for  example  the  scaling  of 
production.

Today, the Market Development Fund co-finances innovative products and 
inventions that are on their way to market. It is a unique possibility for compa-
nies to obtain a grant to finish a product’s development from a prototype or 
beta-version to a market-ready product. This phase of testing and adaptation 
is not covered by any other private or public investors in Denmark.

>  PRODUZIONI DAL BASSO (Italy) – 
  mixed crowdfunding and bank loans

PRODUZIONI DAL BASSO is an Italian web platform open to anyone who wants 
to submit their project or idea, whether it is a social, cultural or personal project, 
or promote a product or service. It exists since 2005 and is one of the first 
crowdfunding platforms in Europe. Its purpose is to support ideas/projects by 
helping them find financial resources on the web and among people. It has 
different sections dedicated to the cultural and creative sectors (art and culture, 
music, theatre and dance, movies, festivals). It has financed 517 projects with 
EUR 1.3 million and 54 800 supporters. It uses two basic types of crowdfunding, 
rewards-based and donation-based, but has created a network that also sup-
ports hybrid models (for example loans offered by Banka Erica).   

www.produzionidalbasso.com 

> 

 UNICREDIT BANK AUSTRIA ART AWARD (AUSTRIA) –  
bank and crowdfunding

Unaccredited Bank Austria AG has traditionally seen its corporate commitment 
to the arts as an element of its corporate social responsibility framework. It is 
dedicated to supporting a mutually dependent, growth-stimulating, and part-
nership-based interplay of economy, culture and society. The resulting initiatives 
are based on the ongoing evaluation of offerings and proposals, especially with 
regard to the trends and needs of the creative scene in the area of cultural 
sponsorship. 

From its inception in 2010, the annually staged Bank Austria Art Award was 
conceived as a sponsorship award. With its total prize money of EUR 218 000, 
it is Austria’s highest private endowment of the arts. Now in its fifth year, the 
award has been redesigned to better meet the sponsorship needs of the art 

46

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELScommunity. Starting in 2015, Bank Austria has been presenting its Art Award 
as a crowdfunding campaign for 32 regional, smaller projects (EUR 110 000), 
as  a  Great  Honorary  Prize  of  the  Jury  for  outstanding  domestic  projects 
(EUR 100 000), and as a Prize of the Jury for Cultural Journalism (EUR 8 000). 

In 2015, some 75 projects were submitted for the Art Award and the jury rec-
ommended 32 projects for reward-based crowdfunding campaigns. As soon 
as a project reaches the first third of its financing needs with at least twenty 
supporters, Bank Austria pledges the second third of the total funding goal. 
The last third must, again, be crowdfunded. With private financiers (the crowd), 
the Bank Austria Art Award therefore becomes an active ‘accelerator’ of inno-
vative, regional art projects that triples the Bank’s total award money. Bank 
Austria has partnered with wemakeit, one of the largest crowdfunding platforms 
and Europe’s most successful one, which places a strong focus on cultural 
projects.

www.kunstpreis.bankaustria.at 

>  PHUNDEE (United Kingdom)

Phundee is a crowdfunding and social networking platform/resource that is 
dedicated to entertainment and arts projects and businesses. It caters to all 
kinds of projects created by inspired individuals who wish to drive a project 
forward to the point of performance, creation or production. It provides both 
reward- and equity-based crowdfunding options, allowing projects to offer 
rewards but also raise money in return for an equity stake. It has a simple model 
– campaigners seeking funding for their projects ask their fans to support these 
projects to help them realise their dreams. They offer exclusives in return for 
each tier of funding, enabling their supporters to get closer to the projects and 
the campaigners themselves. Once a project becomes successful and has an 
established fan base, campaigners can then use the equity model to raise 
investment for their company and ask fans to become shareholders.

www.phundee.com 

Good practice report on access to finance OM C

47

 
3.5  Risk mitig ati on sche mes

3.5.1  Guarantee schemes

A guarantee is an agreement under which a third-party (guarantor) agrees to be 
directly or collaterally responsible for the obligation of a first party (e.g. reimburse-
ment of a loan to a bank). The guarantor is liable to cover all or a specified amount 
of shortfall or default on the borrower’s debt 55. Very common in the CCS.

Guarantee schemes aim to stimulate investment in CCS by sharing the risks of 
investors. There are two main categories of guarantee that could be used by CCS:
•  public guarantee schemes for SMEs, and
•  public-private  guarantee  instruments  intended  specifically  for  the  creative 

sectors.

 EXAMPLES 

> 

 IFCIC – Institut pour le Financement du Cinéma et des Industries Culturelles 
(France) – guarantee loans and risk analysis

IFCIC is a credit institution which has been commissioned by the French gov-
ernment to contribute to the development of the cultural and creative industries 
in France and to facilitate their access to financing. In recent years, IFCIC has 
developed repayable advance funds, particularly for the sectors of fashion, 
publishing, art galleries and recorded music.

As of 31 December 2014, the total amount of guaranteed loans and advances 
granted  by  the  IFCIC  amounts  to  almost  EUR  720  million,  with  more  than 
EUR 350 million in outstanding risk.

>  CREA SGR (Spain)

CREA SGR (former Audiovisual SGR) is a company created in 2005 to manage 
a private-public guarantee fund to facilitate access to finance for SMEs in the 
CCS by reducing/eliminating the risk of the lender.

CREA SGR has secured more than EUR 250 million in guarantees, beginning 
its activity in the audiovisual sector and moving to other subsectors within CCS 
in recent years.

It has a team specialised in the CCS and offers a guarantee of 100 % of the 
loan/financing (when needed) – this has allowed it to get into any market and 
region, regardless of its level of development.

48

TYPOLOGY  OF  FUND IN G M O DE LS

55
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/ 
thefunds/instruments/doc/fls_stocktaking_final.pdf

>  Creative Europe Loan Guarantee Facility

The Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility is a facility implemented 
by the European Commission, through the European Investment Fund (EIF). Its 
aim is to provide guarantees and counter-guarantees on debt financing to finan-
cial intermediaries to improve CCS SMEs’ access to finance.

Thanks to the CCS Guarantee Fund, financial intermediaries selected by the 
EIF will be able to provide additional debt financing to SMEs in participating 
countries.

The budget of the CCS Guarantee Fund will be EUR 121 million, and the pro-
jected leverage effect is 5.7.

It is being funded from the Creative Europe programme (cross-sectoral strand).

3. 6  Other   alte rn at ive  fo rm s  o f  fu n di n g

Private investment for culture can also take the form of direct investment (including 
public-private partnerships), sponsorship, or patronage/donation 56. 

Figure 4 – Alternative forms of funding

Philanthropy

Corporate giving

Sponsorship

Selfless

General Interest

Commercial transaction

No expected return

Indirect return

Direct return

In-kind or Financial

In-kind or Financial

In-kind or Financial

Source: Prométhea (2015)

56
Final report of the EU-funded project 
Connecting Arts and Business (2015).

Good practice report on Access to Finance OM C

49

 
3.6.1  Sponsorship

In its most general form, sponsorship refers to support with returns, in which the 
sponsor receives something in return for his or her support, either directly or indi-
rectly. When describing sponsorship, it is useful to separate two forms: associative 
sponsorship which is the standard form of sponsorship, especially in the arts, in 
which the sponsor does not influence content and programming, and deep spon-
sorship in which the sponsor actually determines the form and the content of cultural 
production 57. Sponsorship is the payment of money by a business to an arts, heritage 
or museum organisation with the explicit objective of promoting its name, its products 
or its services. Sponsorship is part of a business’ general promotional spending and 
may be part of corporate social responsibility. It is usually deductible as a business 
expense, within certain legally defined limits.

 EXAMPLE 

>  Sponsorship agreement for Coliseum (Italy)

Mibact and the municipality of Roma signed a sponsorship contract with Diego 
della Valle Group (Tod’s) in 2011 to realise specific restoration projects and set up 
new infrastructure (a visit centre) inside and outside the Coliseum, the most impor-
tant monument in Italy with five million tourists per year. It is the first Italian example 
of a sponsorship agreement that includes a public/private partnership and project 
financing scheme with a private contribution of EUR 25 million. In return, Della Valle 
Group has exclusive use of the royalties on the Coliseum for 15 years.

3.6.2  Corporate giving/donations

Donations are considered to be one-sided business transactions, from which the donor 
expects no direct benefit. Reasons to donate are therefore moral and not economic. 
Two forms of donations can be distinguished: ‘pure’ donations, in which the donor 
stays anonymous, and ‘public’ donations, in which the donor is publicly announced, 
and receives indirect benefits from the promotion of his name in public. In some envi-
ronments the subcategory of patronage provides support with some return 58. Dona-
tions can be individual, corporate or channelled through grant-giving bodies.

 EXAMPLE 

>  Prométhea (Belgium/Wallonia)

Prométhea aims to develop corporate philanthropy and patronage for culture 
and heritage. It facilitates exchanges between different sponsorship actors from 
political, economic and cultural spheres, and support to businesses in their 
patronage strategy. Its objective is to increase the number of contributors to and 
resources for patronage, mainly in Belgium, while also being a player in European 
discussions in this area. Prométhéa is active in various sectors and receives 
public financial support from the Wallonia region and the Brussels region, as well 
as from private companies. Thanks to this support, Prométhéa has been contrib-
uting to the development of business sponsorship for over 25 years.

http://www.promethea.be 

50

57
McGuigan (2004), Rethinking Cultural Policy.
58
Klamer, Petrova and Mignosa (2006), 
Financing the arts and culture in the European Union. 
A study funded by the European Parliament.

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS3.6.3  Venture philanthropy

Venture philanthropy is about matching the soul of philanthropy with the spirit of 
investing. It is about achieving the highest possible impact from charitable invest-
ment, but instead of a financial return it aims for the highest benefit to society. 
Success in venture philanthropy means achieving a social impact by investing time 
and money in charities and social enterprises. 

Figure 5 – Venture philanthropy, definitions

1
High engagement 
support of few 
organisations

7
Impact 
measurement

6
Multi-year 
support

Venture Philanthropy & Social 
Investment work to build 
stronger social purpose organisa-
tions by providing them with both 
financial and non-financial 
support.

2
Organisational 
capacity-building

3
Tailored 
financing

5
Involvement 
of networks

4
Non-financial 
support

Source: EVPA presentation at the 3rd meeting of the OMC group in Riga, 10 March 2015

 E XAMPLE 

>  Corpus Hominis Arti (Italy)

The Corpus Hominis Arti project aims to boost the identity of the city of Brescia 
(IT), by reinforcing the social dimension of the arts. The project encompasses 
a series of cultural, socio-political, religious and economic activities in several 
fields (including theatre, research and training), focusing on community building 
and valorisation of religious heritage. The project also promotes participation 
and access to culture for the local community. The activities create crossovers, 
by connecting different organisations, breaking the ‘silo’ approach and promot-
ing networking among cultural actors. A big festival takes place once a year 
during the Corpus Hominis event to showcase the project results and share 
them with the Community. As a result, the city ‘rediscovers’ its identity and 
makes it more visible, and becomes a promoter of innovation, where culture 
plays a key role in the development of urban areas.

The total cost of the three-year project is EUR 1 023 000, of which EUR 650 000 
is contributed by the Cariplo Foundation and the remaining EUR 373 000 comes 
from project promoters and private entities involved through fundraising and 
sponsorship.

www.corpushominis.it – http://bko.fondazionecariplo.it/en/index.html

51

Good practice report on access to financeOMC3.6.4  Public-private initiatives

The introduction of fiscal incentives, matching grants and the involvement of private 
companies in the management of cultural institutions can be used as tools to direct 
private support towards specific objectives. Matching grants would stimulate the 
involvement of more stakeholders. The policy of matching grants does not imply  
a reduction of public resources. If governments choose this form of financing cultural 
projects without reducing the total amount of public resources, the amounts available 
would increase. The number of projects could therefore also increase.

 EXAMPLES 

>  Funding of galleries by means of purchasing art  

from public museums (Austria)

The art section of the Austrian Federal Chancellery provides funding for state 
and länder museums, earmarked for the purchase of art works from Austrian 
galleries. This innovative funding instrument improves the economic situation 
of the creative industries (galleries), is linked with art development objectives 
(supporting emerging artists’ entrance onto the market), and can only be used 
by  museums  that  also  invest  their  own  funds  (private-public-partnership).  
The economic actors (the galleries) are not burdened with applications and 
other administrative work, which is also a clear advantage.

http://www.kunstkultur.bka.gv.at/site/cob__60340/8027/default.aspx#a23 

>  ARCO FOUNDATION – International Contemporary Art Fair (Spain)

The ARCO Foundation Collection consists of nearly 300 works of art that have 
been acquired at ARCOmadrid (International Contemporary Art Fair in Spain) 
each year since 1987, from galleries participating in the fair.

Since 2012, the ARCO Foundation hosts Plataforma, an annual fund-raising 
lunch, with the goal of acquiring one of the works selected by ARCOmadrid’s 
advisors. The selected work becomes part of the ARCO Foundation’s perma-
nent collection. The foundation runs a ‘Friends of ARCO’ project, which aims 
to collect financial contributions from individuals and companies in exchange 
for invitations to special activities, gifts, tax deductions, etc.

http://www.ifema.es/arcomadrid_06/ 

>  The Arts Council of Norway

The Arts Council of Norway has also set up a gift reinforcement programme:  
it is inspired by a similar programme in the research field. It addresses museums, 
both investment in and refurbishment of museum buildings, and the purchase of 
art. The idea is that if a museum receives a gift from a private actor, the Ministry 
of Culture will donate an additional 25 %. 2014 has been a pilot year for the gift 
reinforcement program, with a total budget of NOK 10 million (EUR 1.2 million).

http://www.kulturradet.no/english 

52

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS 
The Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino (Italy), created in 2004, 
is Italy’s first experience of public management of a cultural institution like  
a museum with private participation, without commercial scope.

Partners include Mibact, Compagnia di San Paolo, Città di Torino, Regione 
Piemonte, Fondazione CRT and Provincia di Torino.

The restoration project, started in 2009, will be completed this year during the 
Expo exhibition and will give a more attractive space to the second most rich 
Egyptian collection in the world after that of Cairo. It will hopefully boost the 
number of visitors to the museum. The investment so far has been EUR 50 mil-
lion, from the foundation’s partners (EUR 25 million from the Compagnia di San 
Paolo, EUR 10 from the city of Turin, EUR 7 from the Piemonte region, EUR 5 mil-
lion from the  Fondazione CRT and EUR 3 million from the province), and from 
other private associations such as Scarabei, which have supported many res-
toration projects (textiles from the Kha’ grave and other ancient artefacts).

http://www.museoegizio.it/ 

MAXXI (Italy) is the National Museum of XXI Century Arts, is the first Italian 
national institution devoted to contemporary creativity. The public-private part-
nership between Fondazione Maxxi and Enel, the Italian Energy Group, signed 
on 6 October 2015, confirmed Enel’s position as a member of the foundation’s 
board. It also confirmed an investment of EUR 1.8 million over three years. 
Thanks to this support, the foundation will be able to give the public free access 
to its permanent collection and to enhance value of its cultural content. The 
museum will be able to become a creative platform for civic, cultural and eco-
nomic projects. In addition, the agreement will help to reduce the museum’s 
energy consumption and make it more sustainable. 

http://www.fondazionemaxxi.it/en/ 

> 

IFCIC – the advances fund for young fashion designers

IFCIC, with the financial support of Balenciaga, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, has 
created a fund that provides advances for fashion designers, helping them  
to finance the costs of creating and producing their collections of clothing  
or accessories.

http://www.ifcic.fr/ifcic/activites/jeunes-createurs-de-mode.html 

53

Good practice report on access to financeOMC OTHER RELEVANT E XAMPLE S 

> 

 The Onassis Cultural Centre (OCC) –   
see description and a beneficiary story in chapter 4.7. on p. 95

> 

 NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) 
(United Kingdom)  
http://www.nesta.org.uk/ 

>  FRAC – Fonds régionaux d’art contemporain (France) 

 http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/ 
Politiques-ministerielles/Arts-plastiques/Les-structures/
Les-Fonds-regionaux-d-art-contemporain-FRAC 

54

TYPOLOGY OF FUNDING MODELS 
       MATCHING THE NEEDS OF 
                   THE CCS COMPANIES 
  WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING 

«
«
«
«
«
«

56

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING MA T CHI NG  THE NEED S OF TH E CCS  COM P A NI ES

  WI TH  INNOVAT IVE FU NDIN G 

As discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, traditional funding sources, such as banks and 
venture capital firms, are struggling to find ways to finance CCS and businesses 
in those sectors for several reasons. It is obvious that innovative funding schemes 
are needed – schemes that are adapted to today’s economy.

It is clearly in the interests of all participants in the financial ecosystem to find new 
and innovative sources of funding that are adapted to the realities of economic 
production, the market and the needs of CCS companies. To make this easier, this 
report highlights some funding sources that can be considered examples of good 
practice.

4. 1  Sup por t  fo r  pr e- see d  a nd  se e d  s t ag e   

compan i es  (m ic ro -s ize   co m pan i e s )

What’s needed?

At the earliest stages of setting up a business, creative entrepreneurs tend to focus 
mainly on research and development to assess whether the venture is viable. The 
entrepreneur will often cover the cost of this research and development using his/
her own savings or contributions from friends and family. The remaining financing 
needs are likely to be fairly small but fledgling companies have difficulty attracting 
financing. Seed capital is difficult to obtain as fledgling businesses lack sufficient 
collateral and a verifiable credit history. 

Creative entrepreneurs also face specific challenges at this stage, such as: 
•  lack of information about relevant sources of finance;
•  limited understanding of funding sources;
•  lack of knowledge of how to present a business plan in a convincing way;
•  learn how to think in ways to grow the company. 

Alternative financing sources and innovative new channels, such as microfinance or 
microcredits and crowdfunding are an increasingly common way of filling the gap 
or improving the situation. 

These types of financing sources can be likened to peer-to-peer lending and smart 
capital. Microcredits and crowdfunding platforms provide more than just capital.  

The offer: 
•  coaching and infrastructure-building (in the case of microfinance and creative 

vouchers); 

•  the  opportunity  to  showcase  the  product  or  service  to  potential  customers 

(crowdfunding). 

Relevant Instruments:  
MICROFINANCE, REWARD-BASED CROWDFUNDING,  
EQUITY CROWD–FUNDING, CREATIVE VOUCHERS, GRANTS

57

Good practice report on access to financeOMC4 
  CASE STUDY 1  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

PEDALFACTORY (Netherlands)

Pedalfactory is a company based in Amsterdam founded in 2013. Pedalfactory 
focuses on designing, creating and selling unique bikes and bike accessories. 
Pedalfactory develops high quality, sustainable products, and cooperates with 
specialists in its network. The company sets itself apart by offering its custom-
ers a personal, service-oriented approach to customers. It is an ‘umbrella’ 
uniting different brands and products.

Sandwichbike is the company’s first product. The Sandwichbike (with different 
customisable options such as the ‘Van Gogh’ print) is delivered flat-packed 
in a cardboard box to the customers’ doorstep. It is easy to assemble at home. 

After financing the company from its own resources in the pre-seed phase, 
Pedalfactory needed additional working capital financing. The company sent 
its business plan to a Dutch bank, and received a rejection email the following 
day. Fortunately, an enthusiastic consultant from Qredits granted the entrepre-
neurs the funding they needed. 

Two years on, the company’s market focus is global, with 95 % of its sales 
outside the Netherlands (France and the US are key markets) and it has won 
several design awards.

http://www.sandwichbikes.com 

>  Source of funding 

MICROFINANCE

>  Supported by 

Qcredits (The Netherlands)

>  Based in the Netherlands, Qcredits helps new and existing entrepreneurs to 
successfully start or relaunch a business, and offers funding up to EUR 250 000, 
plus coaching and tools. 

 Qcredits is an independent and private lender, and its partners include ING 
Bank and Triodos Bank. It makes use of the Progress Microfinance initiative 
that is backed by the European Investment Fund. The company is a non-profit 
foundation with a special tax status. Its aim is to offer coaching, microfinance 
and SME credit to start-ups with no other access traditional financial services. 
This gives entrepreneurs economic, financial and social independence.  

 To date, Qcredits has granted EUR 122 million of loans, consisting of 6 000 
microcredits and more than 200 SME credits and more than 2 000 coaching 
trajectory are finalised.

  http://Qcredits.nl 

58

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
 
 
  CASE STUDY 2  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1 

3D ANTÁRTIDA (Portugal)

3D Antártida: Polar Group from the University of Lisbon raised EUR 20 000 from 
300 backers to purchase a drone to carry out topographic monitoring for scientific 
research purposes. In addition to extensive media coverage, the project managed 
to obtain institutional backing from public agencies and the university. 

http://ppl.com.pt/en/prj/3dantartida 

  CASE STUDY 3  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1 

POR ELA (Portugal)

‘Por Ela’ is a film directed by a popular comedian, Nuno Markl, starring actors 
famous  in  Portugal,  such  as  Ana  Bacalhau  (singer  from  Deolinda),  César 
Mourão (television presenter and comedian) and Tónan Quito (stage actor). 

It was PPL’s most ambitious campaign to date but fell short of the initial 
EUR 100 000 target. Nevertheless, the EUR 40 000 raised set a new crowd-
funding record in Portugal. It was the first PPL campaign to use value-added 
calls as a complementary payment channel. It set new records for traffic on 
the website and backers (almost 2 000). 

Although  the  campaign  did  not  reach  its  target,  the  publicity  generated 
attracted valuable contacts that ultimately enabled production to go ahead. 
The film is scheduled for release in 2015. In the words of Nuno Markl, it was 
‘the most successful failure ever’.

>  Source of funding 

REWARD-BASED CROWDFUNDING

>  Supported by 

PPL Crowdfunding (Portugal)

>  PPL Crowdfunding is a crowdfunding platform launched by Orange Bird. Exam-
ples of project categories funded via PPL include: tourism, small businesses, 
book/music publishing, exhibitions and events, and technology projects – but the 
only  limit  on  the  type  of  projects  that  can  be  crowdfunded  is  the  owner’s 
imagination.

 PPL was launched in Portugal in 2011. In the meantime, there have been numer-
ous success stories. The keys to a successful campaign are: appealing and 
positive videos; effective promotion to a wide range of social groups; simple 
and attractive rewards and – above all – dedication to and passion for the idea.

PPL main statistics: 

 ࡟ number of users – 48 608 
 ࡟ total funding raised – EUR 1 195 218
 ࡟ projects published – 923 
 ࡟ success rate – 45 %
 ࡟ average contribution – EUR 35

http://ppl.com.pt/en 

59

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
  CASE STUDY 4  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

GUTE LEUTE Magazine (Germany)

Gute Leute is the first free English language magazine in Hamburg. It features 
inspiring stories about people living in Hamburg. Gute Leute is circulated free 
of charge, and will be financed by advertisers and sponsors. 

By using the ‘Nordstarter’ crowdfunding platform, Gute Leute was able to find 
a sufficient number of supporters and attract the funding needed to print the 
first  issue,  pay  for  licenses  for  the  website  and  fund  the  initial  marketing 
activities.

http://guteleute-mag.de/ 

>  Source of funding 

REWARD-BASED CROWDFUNDING

>  Supported by 

Nordstarter (Germany)

>  Nordstarter is a crowdfunding platform for financing projects in the creative 
industries. Creative projects are financed by microsponsors who receive a ‘gift’ 
in return. Project supporters and project starters meet on the website or at 
crowdfunding-events in Hamburg.

  https://www.nordstarter.org/

60

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING   CASE STUDY 5  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1   

CLIPPINGS.COM (UK)

Clippings.com, launched in 2013 by Adel Zakout, is a curated marketplace for 
beautiful furniture, lighting and homeware. Clippings is on a mission to redesign 
the design industry, by empowering brands to connect their customers directly 
with over 300 brands and 8 000 products on the platform. Clippings wants the 
‘old-fashioned, inefficient, inaccessible, and sub-scale’ design industry to adapt 
to technological innovation and e-commerce, and to provide an excellent ‘sto-
rytelling’ experience for customers. 

Clippings plans to launch a dedicated B2B platform that aims to make it easier 
for architects, interior designers and decorators have to search for products 
for their projects. They will be able to find products, negotiate prices and order 
directly through the platform, modernising a currently difficult process. 

Clippings  is  backed  by  angel  investors  (£ 535 000  –  EUR  760 000),  Sir  Spas 
 Roussev (Serpentine Scakler Gallery) and David Begg, founder of Tom Dixon. 
They plan to close the Crowdcube campaign (£ 500 000 – EUR 710 000) at the end 
of  September 2015, which funds will cover salaries and fund marketing budget.

http://clippings.com 

>  Source of funding 

EQUITY CROWDFUNDING

>  Supported by 

Crowdcube (UK)

>  Based in the UK and launched in 2011, Crowdcube is an online funding plat-

form that allows companies to raise equity funding directly from members  
of the public. The entrepreneur creates an online pitch and then promote it to 
people who might want to invest in their business. The business opportunity 
is promoted via social media and the entrepreneur chooses to make the offer 
more attractive with non-financial rewards. 

 Crowdcube is responsible for £101 million, which is invested in 292 busi-
nesses, by 207 000 investors. In February 2014, Crowdcube launched the 
‘Crowdcube Venture Fund’ that allows investors to crowdfund start-ups with 
the extra reassurance that their money is invested, managed and monitored 
by an independent professional fund manager.

  http://crowdcube.com 

61

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
  CASE STUDY 6  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

BEPART (ITALY)

Bepart defines itself as a ‘public imagination movement’. It is an innovative 
start-up that employs ‘augmented reality’ technology to fill cities with art, 
design, videos, sounds and words, so that anyone can create or add different 
content or simply enjoy the art installations in the urban spaces using a tablet 
or a smartphone. Bepart makes it possible to redraw urban scenery, integrating 
digital content into real spaces. This stimulates a dynamic, cultural approach 
to reality. 

Bepart  works  on  emerging  trends  in  new  technologies,  media  and  art.  
The technology can be used for installations, competitions, upgrading urban 
spaces, and augmenting exhibitions.

Bepart is an expandable project. Its goal is to create connections between cities 
worldwide so that everybody can enjoy or share their own content. 

http://www.fondazionecariplo.it/it/progetti/arte/innovazione-culturale/index.html 

>  Source of funding 

GRANT

>  Supported by 

Fondazione Cariplo Area Arte e Cultura (Italy)

>  Fondazione Cariplo Area Arte e Cultura – The general aim of Fondazione 
Cariplo’s Innovazione Culturale Programme is to bring to market products or 
services that can change or improve the way we engage with culture. The 
organisation supports youth entrepreneurship, increases audience engagement 
and improves the performance of cultural institutions.

 The second edition of the programme aims to identify good ideas for cultural 
innovation and help turn them into culturally innovative businesses. 

  There are three steps: 

  1.  Call for ideas, anyone can participate (organisations, teams, individuals).
  2.   A three-month workshop where around 60 people will work with profes-

sional coaches to turn their cultural idea into a viable business.

  3.   Fondazione Cariplo awards a grant to the best cultural innovators to develop 
their idea and support the networking for the widespread of innovation in 
cultural institutions. The first time the programme was run, 12 grants were 
awarded with a total value of EUR 1.35 million. The 12 entrepreneurs are 
now managing their business.

  http://www.fondazionecariplo.it/it/news/arte-cultura/index.html 

62

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
4. 2  Sup por t  fo r  star t- u ps

What’s needed? 

After the pre-seed phase, the entrepreneur explores markets and distribution chan-
nels, builds momentum, raises public awareness and has sent out his/her first 
invoices. However strong the business model and the management team, the entre-
preneur typically faces problems with cash flow, working capital and growth capital 
problems during the start-up phase. Typical business needs are recruiting employ-
ees, building an infrastructure and investing in ICT before more revenue comes in. 
The entrepreneur will still rely heavily on family and friends, as the start-up phase is 
still considered high risk by many investors (but not all – business angels and some 
venture capital firms may willing to provide finance).    

Relevant Instruments:  
BUSINESS ANGELS, ACCELERATORS, VENTURE INCUBATORS, 
VENTURE CAPITAL, START-UP GRANTS, LOANS and GUARANTEES

  CASE STUDY 7  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1   

LLAMAS’ VALLEY (Lithuania)

Llamas’ Valley is a digital magazine about interiors, art, fashion and food.  
In 2011, this start-up was selected for seed funding by StartupHighway. Llamas’ 
Valley received financial support to develop the magazine, a rent-free working 
space for two years in an incubator, individual mentoring and other invaluable 
support from leading entrepreneurs. Llamas’ Valley has become a well-known 
international digital magazine which is free on iPad/PC (and will soon be avail-
able on Android). Llamas’ Valley’s target markets are the UK, the US, Eastern 
Europe and Scandinavia.

http://llamasvalley.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

SEED FUNDING/ACCELERATOR

>  Supported by 

StartupHighway (Lithuania)

>  StartupHighway is a start-up accelerator based in Lithuania and an early seed 
stage fund. Since it was set up in 2011 it has developed a proven investment 
programme focusing on value maximisation for innovative technology start-
ups. It has been designed specifically to provide tailored support for the most 
promising entrepreneurs. So far, 17 companies from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, 
Italy, the UK and Russia have successfully completed the acceleration pro-
gramme and received funding from StartupHighway. Each start-up selected 
can be granted up to EUR 25 000 in seed funding. The funding is distributed 
in  usually  three  separate  tranches  during  the  acceleration  programme. 
 StartupHighway normally takes an equity stake of up to 7.5 % in exchange for 
funding, support, office space and individual mentoring. After the acceleration 
programme, the best start-ups are selected for the next round of investment 
from StartupHighway and its venture capital partners, and are offered even 
better conditions.

  http://www.startuphighway.com 

63

Good practice report on access to financeOMC  CASE STUDY 8  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

ZOOPPA (Italy)

Zooppa is a global social network for creative talent. Zooppa was founded in 
2007 at the H-FARM incubator and, following successful beginnings in Italy, 
launched in the US in 2008. From its global headquarters in Seattle, Zooppa 
has expanded rapidly, enabling major brands and their ad agencies to produce 
great content with creative talent worldwide. Thanks to a community of more 
than 330 000 international creative people, Zooppa produces videos, graphics 
and concepts for agencies and brands.

Companies develop a creative brief describing their brand’s attributes, the 
target audience, and the objectives of the campaign. Community members are 
then invited to create content in various formats. For example, producing a viral 
video, designing an animated sequence, creating a print ad, or writing a script 
for a potential ad. 

Members upload their work, then clients select and award the content they like 
best, although many campaigns also allow community members to vote on 
submissions in order to determine additional award-winners. Zooppa awards 
cash and special prizes to the creators based on the client’s selections (over 
EUR 4.5 million in prizes and awards so far – average prize is EUR 40 000).  
To  date,  Zooppa  has  300  clients  including:  Unilever,  Adidas,  FCA  Group, 
Procter&Gamble, Google, Samsung, Telecom Italia, Siemens, Warner Bros and 
agencies like BBDO, AKQA, GroupM, Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. 

The crowdsourcing content produced by Zooppa’s community has proven suc-
cessful: Pizza Hut produced a TV spot broadcast during the 2013 Super Bowl, 
Xbox produced the new soundtrack for Harry Potter Kinect Game, Chevron 
launched a video for their AIDS support campaign, and Kinder recently asked 
the community to upload photos of happy families from all over the world.

http://www.zooppa.com 

>  Source of funding 

VENTURE INCUBATOR

>  Supported by 

H-FARM accelerator/venture incubator (Italy)

>  H-FARM ACCELERATOR/VENTURE INCUBATOR is an innovative platform 
that invests in start-ups, drives the digital transformation of corporates, and 
provides high level digital education for students and professionals. It was 
founded in 2005 to make the most of opportunities arising from new digital 
business models. H-FARM is based in the Venetian countryside but also has 
also offices in London, Seattle, and Mumbai.

 H-FARM is a board member of the Global Accelerator Network that is a global 
champion of the seed stage, mentorship-driven accelerator model and includes 
70 leading accelerators from around the world. The aim is simple – support top 
accelerators that grow top companies. H FARM is also a partner of ATALANTA, 
a European network of leading accelerators that provide support to start ups in 
Europe. Over the last ten years, H-FARM has invested about EUR 17 million  
in  100 start  ups.  Over  550 people  work  in  the  various  companies  based  at 
H-FARM’s Venice site. The ultimate goal is to create a village dedicated to inno-
vation and technology to support a new generation of entrepreneurs. 

64

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
 One of H-FARM’s main strands is investment. H-FARM invests in companies 
that are H-CAMP alumni but also in new opportunities spotted on the market 
through the H-FARM Venture Fund. The fund is responsible for direct invest-
ment (between EUR  100 000 and  EUR  500 000) and indirect investment in 
early-stage Italian start-ups (specialising in software as a service (SaaS), con-
sumer internet, or B2B services) and in early-stage European start-ups with 
global ambitions in the field of SaaS or consumer internet.

  http://www.h-farmventures.com   

  CASE STUDY 9  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1   

KIDAMOM (Bulgaria)

Kidamom (Bulgaria) is an online entertainment provider. It provides subscription 
video on demand (SVOD) services for children. Videos (e.g. animated content 
or documentaries) can be watched in several languages and on a range of 
devices and parents can manage their child’s profile. 70 % of the content is 
produced in Europe. Kidamom received EU funding from the Joint European 
Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) Holding Fund (via the 
Eleven Venture Capital Fund) and attracted private capital through an innovative 
model for distribution and audience reach. 90 % of Kidamom’s revenue comes 
from the B2B sector. The basis of the business model is to sell access cards 
to Kidamom’s services to consumer brands, telecoms and hardware producers. 
This guarantees revenue and user registrations. The users are then encouraged 
to become paid subscribers. Kidamom has already tested its model in Portugal 
and Poland and is planning to expanding to other countries. 

https://kidamom.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

VENTURE CAPITAL

>  Supported by 

Eleven Accelerator Venture Fund (Bulgaria)

>  Eleven Accelerator Venture Fund is a venture capital fund for early-stage  

businesses.  

 It provides entrepreneurial mentorship and expertise, platform/technology sup-
port and the first round of financial investment. The fund focuses on innovative 
ideas and start-ups with potential on global market. It provides EUR 50 000 for 
the proof of concept during a three- to six-month acceleration programme with 
the possibility for up to EUR 150 000 of follow-on seed investment. Investment 
is accompanied with incubation, mentorship, matchmaking with partners and 
investors, and help with commercialising the product and bringing it to the global 
market. Eleven begins by taking a 6-8 % equity share, but the aggregate (accel-
eration and seed) should not generally exceed 30 %.

  http://11.me/about-eleven/ 

65

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
 
  CASE STUDY 10  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1   

Fork Film (Estonia)

Founded in 2011, Fork Film is an animation studio specialised in stop-motion, 
2D and classical hand-drawn animation. It creates and produces high-quality 
and distinctive commercials, corporate films and branded entertainment. It also 
produces multimedia presentations and animated content for all audiovisual 
platforms. The company mainly markets its services to advertising agencies 
and production companies. 

Fork Film was launched in the Tallinn Creative Incubator. Its founders wrote 
their business plan in 2010 and applied to Enterprise Estonia for start-up grant 
of EUR 4 500. The grant was used to consolidate the company’s visual identity 
and purchase technical equipment. The Tallinn Creative Incubator provided 
advice and support on writing a business plan and setting up a company.

www.forkfilm.eu  

>  Source of funding 

START UP GRANT

>  Supported by 

Enterprise Estonia (Estonia)

>  Enterprise Estonia (EE) is one of the largest institutions within Estonia’s 
national entrepreneurship support network. It provides financial assistance, 
advice, cooperation opportunities and training for entrepreneurs, research 
institutions, and the public and non-profit sectors. Among other grants and 
programmes, it offers grants for starting a sustainable business or for devel-
oping or growing an export business. 

  Entrepreneurs can apply for a start-up grant if their company:  

 ࡟ was registered no more than 24 months before;
 ࡟  has fewer than 10 employees (grant creates a year-round job for at least one 

person) and an annual turnover of less than EUR 80 000;

 ࡟ has a well-thought-out sustainable business model; 
 ࡟ has a product or service that is ready for launch;
 ࡟  forecasts an annual turnover increase of at least 20 % in the two years fol-
lowing the end of the project (and of at least EUR 80 000 by the end of second 
year) and expects to achieve profitability during the start-up project period;
 ࡟  does not need to be subsidised to remain viable (e.g. can use personal 

property, equipment or labour free of charge).

 The maximum start-up grant is EUR 15 000. The grant may constitute up to 
80 % of the total cost of the project. At least 20 % should be self-financed. 

 The start-up grant can be used to buy fixed assets (including software), carry 
out marketing activities or cover staff costs (up to 50 % of total project costs).

  http://www.eas.ee/en 

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MATCHING  TH E NE ED S O F T H E  CCS  C OM PAN IES  W ITH I NN OVATIVE FUN DI NG 

 
 
 
  CASE STUDY 11  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

BLITAB (Austria)

BLITAB is the first braille tablet ever developed for the blind and visually impaired 
people. The innovation combines social entrepreneurship and sustainable tech-
nology. Company CEO, Kristina Tsvetanova, developed BLITAB in collaboration 
with Slavi and Stanislav Slavev. It all began with an idea that the company’s CEO, 
Tsvetanova, had while she was a student. She was asked by a blind fellow student 
to sign him up for an online course. She suddenly became aware of the fact that 
modern information technology was designed almost exclusively intended for 
sighted people. This seemed unfair so she set about finding ways to improve the 
quality of life of blind and visually impaired people. 

During the first eight months of the prototype phase, BLITAB received eleven 
national and international awards for innovation and over 20 for social commit-
ment and entrepreneurship, including the prestigious ‘Award for Social Entrepre-
neurship’ and the ‘Disability and the European Innovator Award’. BLITAB won 
the Creative Business Cup 2015 in Copenhagen. The jury said about the winner: 
‘These entrepreneurs are passionate. The idea is social and innovative. The tech-
nology could be revolutionary – creating the right marriage between technology 
and social structures. Opening up the world to blind people who cannot see, 
could also encourage the blind to bring more solutions in the future.’ 

The Vienna Business Agency saw the potential of the idea and provided the 
initial funding in 2011. Support from a range of experts enabled BLITAB to 
produce the first design prototype. 

http://blitab.com/

>  Source of funding 

GRANTS

>  Supported by 

departure – the Vienna Business Agency (Austria)

>  The Vienna Business Agency is the first point of contact for national and 
international companies in Austria’s capital. It offers financial support, property 
and urban development incentives as well as free advice and other services.  
 The  Vienna  Business  Agency  prioritises  and  promotes  the  defined  focal 
strengths of the city – life sciences, urban technologies, creative industries 
and ICT. Innovation is the key to commercial success and ensures the long-
term development of the business location.

 The  Vienna  Business  Agency  offers  funding  for  creative  industries  via  the 
following instruments: 

 ࡟  creative_pioneer – support and funding for start-up businesses in the cre-
ative sector, for the development of creative products, services or processes 
and initial market positioning; 

 ࡟  creative_project – support and funding for innovation in the creative indus-

tries in the areas of development, marketing and distribution;

 ࡟  creative_focus – incentives to integrate highly relevant topics into econom-
ically-sustainable projects (e.g. in 2015, the ‘Call for Social Entrepreneurship’ 
supports projects that combine creative work and social entrepreneurship; 
 ࡟  creative_ market – support and funding for implementing the marketing and 
sales strategies from creative businesses with an existing product portfolio.

Good practice report on Access to Finance OM C

67

 
 
 
 
 
 Departure, the creative centre of the Vienna Business Agency, offers com-
prehensive services and networking assistance to companies from the Vien-
nese creative sector, from architecture through to multimedia. Departure has 
developed initiatives such as ‘curated by_vienna’, the ‘Content Award’ and 
the ‘Ideas Competition’.

 https://viennabusinessagency.at/creative-industries/about-departure/

  https://wirtschaftsagentur.at/ 

  CASE STUDY 12  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1   

LIVINGLENS (UK)

LivingLens is a software development company based in Liverpool, with offices 
in London. It was established in 2013 by Carl Wong and David Woods. Together 
they came up with the idea to build a sophisticated system that brings everyone 
in an organisation closer to the consumer. Their vision was to give companies 
the power to mine and interrogate consumer insight videos in a quicker and 
easier way than anything else on the market. LivingLens supports companies 
who want to immerse themselves in the consumer experience, but struggle to 
do so in an accessible, engaging manner. Additionally, LivingLens operates in 
any language, enabling users to search across all languages and translate into 
any language in moments. Searching and editing Spanish video content, for 
example, is very difficult for an English-only speaker. LivingLens breaks down 
cross-cultural and multilingual barriers by enabling users to gain insights from 
any video content in any language, regardless of their language capabilities. 

Creative England partnered with Collider to deliver the Collider13 programme for 
start-up companies. The programme supported companies that had developed 
a product that could help brands achieve market goals, business growth and 
better connections with their customers through mobile, digital and creative 
technologies. LivingLens secured a place on this start-up accelerator, receiving 
an investment from Creative England of £ 40 000 (EUR 57 000) along with mentoring 

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MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
 
and market access. LivingLens was a start-up without a large client. But Creative 
England liked the team and the idea and agreed that there was an increasing 
amount of video content needing analysis and large brands have a huge archive 
of customer insight that is difficult and time-consuming to analyse. 

LivingLens’s clients now include Unilever, Nielsen, Vision Critical, The Carphone 
Warehouse and Reevoo. They are also partnering with Market Logic Software, 
a knowledge management software supplier for 20 of the world’s biggest com-
panies. They released the new version of their platform, along with new smart-
phone apps for iOS and Android, in December 2014. Following the Collider 
programme, they secured £ 206 000 (EUR 292 795) in seed investment from  
a number of angel investors. 

http://livinglens.tv/   

>  Source of funding 

LOAN

>  Supported by 

Creative Angland Business Loans (UK)

>  Creative England Business Loans (UK) help fuel the growth of the fastest 
growing sector in the UK economy, financing business expansion and new 
products which will lead to the creation of new, high-quality jobs. An £ 8 million 
(EUR 11.37 million) fund over next 18 months will fund digital SMEs (based in 
England and outside of Greater London) with an interest-free loan of between 
£ 50 000 and £ 250 000. The loan will be repayable over a maximum of three 
years. The repayment period depends on the business and its performance. 
The loan must be matched 50:50 with other finance sourced by the company.

  http://www.creativeengland.co.uk/business/business-loans 

4. 3 

Incu bati o n  sup po rt

What’s needed? 

In the start-up phase, entrepreneurs are looking not only for additional investments 
and loans, but also for a suitable working environment, contacts, know-how and so 
on. Start-up companies operating in the CCS often have low level of entrepreneurial 
skills and market knowledge. The main role of business incubators, therefore, is not 
only to provide advisory and administrative support services, but also access to 
expertise, networks and investors. ‘Co-working’ spaces allow start-ups save on 
operating costs. An incubator’s primary objective is to produce successful and finan-
cially viable firms that can survive independently after the three-year incubation 
period. Early incubators focused on technology companies or on a combination of 
industrial and service companies, but newer incubators work with companies from 
a  wide  range  of  industries,  including  the  CCS.  The  close  working  relationships 
between start-ups from different disciplines in an incubator create synergies that 
facilitate CCS crossovers and the creation of new business models. In order to fulfil 
their main objective, incubators need to focus on growth companies rather that 
lifestyle companies. 

Relevant Instruments:  
GRANTS, INCUBATORS, SEED FUND

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Good practice report on access to financeOMC CASE STUDY 13  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Tallinn Creative Incubator (EE)

Incubator Tallinn opened the Creative Incubator in September 2009 in the 
Baltika Quarter, a co working space for entrepreneurs who are starting or devel-
oping a business in the CCS. 

In 2012, the Creative Industries Development Centre was set up alongside 
the incubator. It offers creative enterprises and entrepreneurs support services 
to help them to develop and internationalise their business. Services are used 
by creative entrepreneurs such as fashion designers, film and animation pro-
ducers, photographers, jewellers, and glass and leather artists. The centre 
organises regular courses, workshops, exhibitions and studio sales. 

Cooperation helps creative entrepreneurs and other important target groups. 
It  also  helps  creative  people  improve  their  understanding  of  business.  
The incubator and the development centre teach entrepreneurs the importance 
of ensuring business sustainability, and create opportunities for joint marketing, 
cooperation and contacts with market channels. The Creative Industries Devel-
opment Centre has connections with all the major players in the Estonian CCS.

In 2010, the Creative Incubator came second (out of 50 entrants) in a world-
wide competition to find the ‘Best Science-Based Incubator’ because of the 
way it manages to combine technological entrepreneurship with creativity 
and culture.

http://inkubaator.tallinn.ee/eng/  

>  Source of funding 

Creative Industries Development Grant 

>  Supported by 

Enterprise Estonia (Estonia)

>  Enterprise Estonia is one of the largest institutions in the Estonian national 
support system for entrepreneurship, innovation, tourism and regional devel-
opment. It also helps implement the creative industries development measure. 
The aim of the measure is to link the potential of CCS to entrepreneurship,  
in order to increase the number of enterprises with new and ambitious business 
models, increase export capacity and create added-value for the other eco-
nomic sectors through creative  industries  upon  development of  business 
models, products and services and sales and marketing. The measure consists 
of seven activity lines:
 ࡟ grants for incubators and business accelerators;
 ࡟ grants for CCS development centres;
 ࡟ export capacity building grants for CCS enterprises;
 ࡟ grants for the joint projects between CCS and other sectors’ enterprises;
 ࡟ grants for developing CCS infrastructure and technological capacity;
 ࡟  support for increasing entrepreneurial awareness within CCS, increasing 
awareness about creative economy among other sectors, and developing 
knowledge and skills;

 ࡟ support for developing and implementing large scale cross-sector projects.  

  http://www.eas.ee/en
  http://www.kul.ee/en/activities/creative-industries 

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MATCHING  TH E NE ED S O F T H E  CCS  C OM PAN IES  W ITH I NN OVATIVE FUN DI NG 

 CASE STUDY 14  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

an&angel (Latvia)

an&angel is a glass design company based in Riga at the creative business 
incubator ‘Creative Andrejsala’. It was established in 2004 by Agnese Garā-
Nīmane and Artis Nīmanis. an&angel’s collections are developed using unique, 
next-generation technologies. The company’s designs are now available in 
26 countries around the world. It won the prestigious Red Dot design award  
in the ‘Product Design’ category in 2013 and the German Design Award in 2015 
(in addition to a string of other design and export awards). an&angel has also 
participated in several design exhibitions, gaining international recognition.

The creative business incubator ‘Creative Andrejsala’ has helped and supported 
an&angel with space, marketing and product manufacturing. In addition, it has 
helped develop and strengthen the team’s business skills and overall strategy. 
As a result, an&angel has increased its export turnover to 60 %, opened a show-
room and established a worldwide reputation.

http://angel.lv/ 

>  Supported by 

Creative Andrejsala (Latvia)

>  The creative business incubator ‘Creative Andrejsala’ (Latvia) was developed 
as part of collaboration between the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of 
Culture. It is a platform for creative companies, offering business incubation 
services for new businesses (no older than two years) in the creative industries. 
The incubator provides administrative, legal, accounting, fundraising, market-
ing, partnership establishment and other business services to companies.  
It also offers offices, work spaces, small manufacturing areas as well as shared 
workspace and conference rooms. Since it was set up in 2010, the incubator 
has supported 130 creative companies. On average, each company has cre-
ated two new jobs and the total amount of tax paid by incubated companies  
is EUR 0.92 million (excluding taxes paid after the incubation period). The total 
turnover is EUR 7.5 million (excluding the increase in turnover after the incu-
bation period is over). Only 10 out of 130 incubated companies have termi-
nated their business activities.

 Creative Andrejsala will finish its programme by the end of 2015 and in 2016  
a new incubation programme will be launched, and the level of support provided 
will be slightly increased (e.g. support for entrepreneurs in pre-incubation phase).

  http://www.csala.lv/ 

Good practice report on access to finance OM C

71

 
 CASE STUDY 15  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

THINGK (Italy)

THINGK  uses  new  sensors  to  create  everyday  objects  and  devices  made  
of natural materials and adapted for the ‘internet of things’ era.

The company presented prototypes of its first range at the first European ‘Maker 
Faire’ in Rome in 2013. Afterwards, they were voted one of the five best start-
ups in the Switch2Product competition 2013, and entered Polihub, one of the 
best start-up incubators in Italy, funded by Politecnico di Milano. 

Switch2Product is an initiative sponsored by Fondazione Banca del Monte di 
Lombardia with support from Microsoft YouthSpark, and is part of the ‘Start-up 
Revolutionary Road’ project, realised in collaboration with Fondazione Cariplo. 
Switch2Product offers the winner a two-month programme of entrepreneurial 
empowerment (innovation camp) and a four-month acceleration path.

In 2014, THINGK was selected for a call by the Region of Lombardia and their 
business plan includes other financial instruments (such as business angels, 
financing  and  venture  capital).  By  May  2014,  they  reached  a  USD  50 000 
(EUR 47 000) target on the ‘Indiegogo’ crowdfunding campaign.

http://www.thin-gk.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

SEED FUND

>  Supported by 

The Lombardy region (Italy)

>  SUPPORT FOR CULTURAL AND CREATIVE START UP IN LOMBARDY: 
ACCESS to PRE-SEED FUNDS. The Lombardy Region, Unioncamere Lom-
bardia, and the Chambers of Commerce of Lecco and Cremona have created 
a call to support cultural and creative start-ups in Lombardy helping entrepre-
neurs cut costs through the use of business incubators, co-working centres, 
fabrication laboratories (fab labs) and special agencies or affiliates of the Lom-
bard Chambers of Commerce which can support them during the pre-seed 
phase. Through this initiative they will encourage and support the profession-
alism of aspiring start-ups in the CCS by providing them with managerial skills 
and employees (including young people). The selected projects will receive 
funding of between EUR 7 000 and EUR 10 000.

  To qualify, businesses must:
 ࡟ be in the cultural sector;
 ࡟ be a cultural or creative business 
 ࡟ process digital products and services. 

 The total allocation is EUR 315 000 distributed and covered by institutional 
partners. There were 19 proposals and 6 are being turned into a business. 
Most of them have been guided through crowdfunding and other regional calls 
and financial instruments supporting new firms. 

 http://www.bandimpreselombarde.it/index.
phtml?Id_VMenu=362&cqs=SWRfQmFuZG89MTQ 

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MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
 
4. 4  Develo pme nt  o f pr oduct s  and  s e r v i ce s

What’s needed? 

The development of products and services, i.e. R&D, is a critical phase that precedes 
actual production. Well-executed development requires sufficient funding and, if the 
producer does not have sufficient cash flow from previous products, it may be difficult 
to acquire. In some sectors, distributors finance product development, but the terms 
of their funding may not always be beneficial to the producer and can include, for 
example, relinquishing part of the rights to the work, or loans with relatively high 
interest rates. Traditionally, there have been only a few public financing instruments 
that target the development phase. However, as the following examples show, the 
situation is improving.

Relevant Instruments: 
GRANTS, LOANS, CROWDFUNDING, REPAYABLE CONTRIBUTIONS, 
BUSINESS ANGELS and GUARANTEES

 CASE STUDY 16  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Flimmit GmbH (Austria)

Flimmit is a Vienna-based company, founded in 2007, with 12.5 full-time equiv-
alent employees and a turnover of more than EUR 0.5 million in 2015. It offers 
video on demand (VOD), semantic movie search engines and related services. 

The idea of Flimmit was to establish a VOD service that offers regional content 
on the Austrian market, which was not covered because of regulatory issues. 
Flimmit clearly established itself as a legal VOD platform for Austrian and Euro-
pean productions.

The development of two main products and services was funded by aws impulse 
XL (in 2008-2009 it funded the video platform, in 2009-2010 the movie search 
algorithm). In addition, the company benefited from contacts arising from the 
publication of projects funded by aws. 

Both projects were a mixture of culture and technology (software development, 
semantic-based analysing technologies, management of film rights) but the 
technological leap was too low for research funding instruments, whilst at the 
same time the project was not suitable for cultural funding schemes since no 
content was being produced. There were no private investors available, as the 
investment capacity was too small for venture capitalists and the regional ori-
entation too unattractive in terms of growth. Traditional banks were not willing 
to finance the project because of the lack of property assets.

Today, Flimmit is Austria’s market leader in VOD services and offers more than 
5 000 titles. It has won several national and international awards. 

Since 2014, Austria’s national public service broadcaster, ORF, has held a 25.1 % 
stake in Flimmit via its affiliated companies ORF Enterprise and ORS comm. 

https://www.flimmit.com/ 

73

Good practice report on access to financeOMC CASE STUDY 17  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Pocket Sky OG (Austria)

Pocket Sky is a Vienna-based company, founded in 2013 in order to fight sea-
sonal affective disorder and related illnesses, reduce jet lag and give people an 
extra energy boost – through the use of blue light. Pocket Sky has since built 
the world’s smallest wearable blue light device: an ultra-thin ‘light bow’ (worn 
like sunglasses). It is just 4mm wide and delivers the light of a clear blue summer 
sky direct to the user’s eyes. 

Millions of people suffer when light levels are low in winter periods. This can 
result in a low mood (‘winter blues’) or even in a serious disorder such as SAD. 
A proven solution is to provide additional light to the eyes. 

You can sit in front of a stationary bright lamp for half an hour – which restricts 
your mobility significantly – or you can use ‘wearable’ solutions which are still 
quite big and cannot be described as ‘pocket’ technology. This is why the team 
around Michael Geyer and Mark Wallerberger developed PocketSky, the world’s 
smallest energy light device. It can be used cable free with maximum comfort, 
and also be worn over optical eye-glasses. 

In 2013, aws impulse XS supported the first steps in the development of pro-
totypes and different shapes, test settings concerning ergonomics and design, 
software development, sky simulations, medical tests as well as the assessment 
of economical and relevant legal aspects (costs of materials, manufacturing, 
guidelines, etc.).

Pocket Sky went on to win third place in the Creative Business Cup 2014 for 
creativity in product design. The jury said the scalable business proposal had 
the potential help millions of people who suffer with the ‘winter blues’ or jetlag 
and that the device has excellent market potential.

http://pocket-sky.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

  GRANT (aws impulse XS/XL)

>  Both initiatives supported by Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH/aws

>  aws Creative Industries  (Austria)  supports  innovative  projects  in  Austria 
(products, services, procedures) in the context of the creative industries with 
non-repayable grants, i.e. projects that constitute a creative business innova-
tion or whose innovation is driven by creative industries. It targets SMEs in all 
sectors (established companies and start-ups). 

 In addition, it offers training and further qualifications especially for founders 
and start-ups in the creative sectors are offered. It also carries out specific 
awareness-raising activities that highlight the innovative power of the creative 
industries. 

    aws impulse XS supports highly-innovative projects in the early stages (activ-
ities relating to content and economic feasibility) and provides a maximum of 

74

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
70 % of eligible project costs, with an upper limit of EUR 50 000. Individuals 
can also apply for aws impulse XS funding. aws impulse XL supports highly 
innovative projects in the development and implementation phase (activities 
relating to development, first application, market transition), providing a max-
imum of 50 % of the eligible project costs, with an upper limit of EUR 200 000.

  http://www.awsg.at/ 

 CASE STUDY 18  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Larian studio (Belgium)

Larian studios was founded in 1996 by Swen Vincke, and is the largest games 
developer in Flanders (Belgium). Larian is mostly known for its ‘Divinity’ games, 
a series of fantasy role-playing games, starting with ‘Divine Divinity’ (2002), which 
immediately received international acclaim and is a cult-classic in the genre. 

The latest release, ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ (2014) was funded with the help of a Kick-
starter crowdfunding campaign. The original goal was to collect USD 400 000 
(EUR 377 000), but in the end nearly USD 1million was collected (almost 20 000 
backers). The game was launched in June 2014 on Steam, the largest online 
download platform for computer games. For over a month it was the most 
downloaded game on Steam, and over 1 million copies were sold (priced at 
USD 40-50) (EUR 38-47). The game also received critical acclaim. On metacritic.
com it received a score of 87 from both critics and users. Multiple reviews 
acclaimed ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ to be one of the best role-playing games of 
recent years.

According to Swen Vincke, a large part of the success was owed to the early 
feedback they received through their Steam ‘Early Access’ and Kickstarter 
communities, and said it was ‘almost a co-development’. This interaction with 
the  audience  also  lead  to  a  ‘word  of  mouth’  recommendations  that  were  
a crucial factor in the game’s success.

Larian released ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ independently (without the help of the major 
game publishers). They received funding from CultuurInvest on numerous occa-
sions. CultuurInvest is a Flemish governmental fund for the CCS that provides 
subordinated loans and equity participation. Despite this, Larian was still forced 
to borrow and take risks, but the great success of ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ brought 
a big boost. Larian made a good profit and has opened branches in Dublin,  
St. Petersburg and Quebec – a region where tax incentives are very lucrative for 
the gaming industries (such tax incentives are not available in Flanders).  

Larian also plays an important role in the Flemish gaming ecosystem by giving 
support to young game developers and sharing knowledge. Larian’s CEO was 
awarded the Flemish Cultural Award for Cultural Entrepreneurship in 2014.

The enhanced edition of ‘Divinity: Original Sin’ will be released in the autumn of 
2015 and will expand the game to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, OS X and Linux.

75

Good practice report on access to financeOMCOn the 12th of August 2015, Larian announced the development of ‘Divinity: 
Original Sin 2’. They returned to Kickstarter on the 26th of August, seeking 
USD 500 000 (EUR 471 000), a goal that was achieved within twelve hours! In the 
end,  over  USD  2  million  (EUR  1.9  million)  had  been  collected  (from  over 
42 713 backers). The goal is, as before, to have great interaction with the com-
munity in the final phases of the game’s development.

http://www.larian.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

LOAN

>  Supported by 

CultuurInvest (Belgium)

>  CultuurInvest is an investment fund for entrepreneurs in the creative indus-
tries. It stimulates the growth and economic independence of companies that 
offer cultural or creative products and services, provided there is a clear poten-
tial in the market. CultuurInvest does not grant subsidies but provides subor-
dinated loans and/or equity participation.

 CultuurInvest has already invested in 53 companies. Its total impact on the 
market is EUR 18.6 million. This includes EUR 9.2 million from CultuurInvest 
itself and EUR 9.4 million from third parties, mainly banks, other investors or 
the entrepreneurs themselves.

 CultuurInvest operates as a ‘rolling fund’. This means that the funds invested 
must flow back into the fund with a return. CultuurInvest grants loans to and 
participates in capital of businesses. In this way, companies can be structurally 
financed  via subordinated  loans for a longer  period.  The loans are always 
granted to companies, never to individuals. CultuurInvest does not require any 
personal guarantees from entrepreneurs – this clearly distinguishes the instru-
ment from a bank loan. 

 CultuurInvest invests in the following sectors: new media and computer games, 
the audiovisual sector and digital design, the music industry and concerts, 
design and fashion design, print media and graphic design, publishing and 
bookshops, musicals and the performing arts, distribution within the visual 
arts, communication and advertising, architecture, and heritage.

 http://www.vlaanderen.be/nl/ondernemen/kapitaal-en-krediet/ 
investering-een-creatieve-onderneming-cultuurinvest 

76

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
 
 
 
 CASE STUDY 19  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

TEMPORA (Belgium)

Tempora is a Belgian agency specialised in the design, development, promotion 
and management of cultural events and sites. It specialises in thematic, histor-
ical, cultural and artistic exhibitions and has a unique educational approach. 

Founded in 1998, it is one of the major players on the European market. The com-
pany employs 30 people full-time and has many freelancers. Tempora delivers 
commissioned services and also produces its own exhibitions which run in many 
countries, allowing it to boost its reputation and win international tenders. 

These projects require significant capital. Tempora has obtained several loans 
from ST’ART. Tempora has also diversified to manage cultural and museum 
infrastructures, allowing it to benefit from regular income.

www.tempora.be 

 CASE STUDY 20  > A STORY OF A BENEFICIARY (unsuccessful):  

Akamusic (Belgium)

In 2008, Akamusic was one of the first musical album co-production platforms 
in Europe, following the successful crowdfunding platforms in the USA such as 
Kickstarter. 

Founded by Tournesol Production and Yswood, the company quickly raised 
EUR 400 000 to develop the project which started rapidly: in 2010, Akamusic 
was the largest producer of music in Belgium. ST’ART and Finance Brussels 
invested in the company and thus enabled Akamusic to open to Flanders, 
France and Germany.

In five years, the company has allowed launched 85 artists, raised EUR 4.5 mil-
lion from 40 000 online backers. However, the profitability of each project remains 
uncertain, so the model of the platform was reviewed. 

In early 2013, Akamusic bought out its shareholders and the company’s activ-
ities were frozen.

>  Source of funding 

LOANS

>  Both initiatives supported by ST’ART investment fund (Belgium)

>  ST’ART investment fund is a unique financial  instrument  in Brussels  and 
Wallonia and is the product of the joint efforts of the Wallonia Region and 
Wallonia-Brussels Federation to support the development of the creative econ-
omy. Today, the capacity of the fund is EUR 17 million and the shareholders 
are the Wallonia Region, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Regional 
Investment Company of the Brussels Region.  

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Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
 ST’ART focuses especially on SMEs, including not-for-profit organisations, in 
the CCS. The fund contributes to the creation of companies and the develop-
ment of existing structures in order, for example, to undertake new projects, 
create new products and access new markets. The fund provides financing 
through debt and equity.

 The goal is also to influence banks and private investors to invest in the creative 
sectors. ST’ART works closely with public bodies and regional investment 
funds. Therefore, ST’ART complements (but does not replace) existing sources 
of funding.

  http://www.start-invest.be 

 CASE STUDY 21  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Achtoons (Italy)

Achtoons is an innovative company, founded in 1999, specialising in animation 
as a language for film and television productions, educational films, documen-
taries, industrial films, commercials and music videos, with a growing focus on 
new technologies and creative cross-media. 

In 2004, Achtoons received financial support from a private investor from IBAN 
(Italian Business Angels network) and became a limited company (SrL), enabling 
it to strengthen its position in the international market and find new development 
strategies, especially in TV formats and web animation or short films. 

After being matched with the business angel, Acthoons attended a conference 
of venture capitalists in Boston for a second phase of financial support to 
develop its external and international market. To date, Actoons has developed 
productions with RAI Educational and has a partnership with Porchlight Enter-
trainment (USA) for distribution and Image Corporation Entertainment (Canada) 
for production.

www.achtoons.it 

>  Source of funding 

VENTURE CAPITAL

>  Supported by 

IBAN (Italian Business Angels network) (Italy)

>  IBAN (Italian Business Angels network) was established in1999 and now 
has 120 members and plays a specific role in the research and development 
of start-ups by funding early-stage initiatives, supporting entrepreneurship, 
innovation and research, promoting the best talent and ideas, and creating 
skilled jobs. It is very active in ‘benchmarking tours’ to more developed or 
emerging markets to identify the best ways to finance innovation. The average 
investment is about EUR 100 000.

  http://www.italianangels.net/

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 CASE STUDY 22  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Antikythera by Taiste (Finland)

Taiste is a digital design company and Antikythera is a digital art work com-
posed of over 200 poems written by poet Saila Susiluoto. The user can study 
the poems with a machine that resembles the mystic Antikythera mechanism 
from ancient Greece. The poems react to touch and movement in surprising 
ways and the user experience is interactive and game-like. Taiste built a unique 
poem engine, designed the user-interface which includes interactive functions 
embedded in the poems as well as the visual outlook reminiscent of the gears 
of the original machine.

Antikythera is a pioneering project as it uses mobile technology as an integral 
part of an artwork.

Financing from DigiDemo enabled the producer to take the risk to start such 
an artistically and technically ambitious and pioneering project and devote the 
necessary expertise to it.

http://www.taiste.fi/en/ 

>  Source of funding 

GRANTS

>  Supported by 

DigiDemo (Finland)

>  The aim of the DigiDemo programme is to promote the development of impor-
tant cultural content and service projects, to improve the R&D prospects of 
businesses in the field, and to respond to challenges concerning the cultural 
policies of a digitalised society. 

 Subsidies are awarded to companies or industry experts for R&D projects 
based on the above content types that aim to develop new kinds of narratives 
or services in the fields of culture and entertainment, utilise multiple channels 
and have a good chance of going into production. 

 Projects considered for subsidies are evaluated based on their innovativeness 
and capacity for production. Additionally, the projects’ potential for commer-
cial success nationally or internationally is also considered. 

 DigiDemo support is awarded from funds allocated to AVEK (The Promotion 
Centre for Audiovisual Culture) by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

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Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
 
 
4.5  Suppo rt for innovation

What’s needed? 

SMEs generally lack the capacity to manage innovation processes from the gener-
ation of an idea through to its profitability on the market. For creative start-ups, the 
challenge is that high-potential innovation is often a high-risk activity. On the other 
hand, many creative entrepreneurs are used to innovating as their core activity, 
without knowing the output or demand for their activity. However, support for creative 
SMEs’ innovation capabilities must include a strong focus on business aspects, 
market or growth potential, and returns on the investment in innovation.

As mentioned earlier in this report (see chapter 3.2.1), partnerships with larger cor-
porations and other B2B activities, where the creative SMEs engage in assisting 
companies outside the creative field with innovation processes, have been shown 
to be beneficial to both parties. Creative voucher schemes, where support is given 
to the interaction between SMEs in the CCS to share their creative competences, is 
an efficient way to improve the business skills of creative SMEs and hence their 
ability to access finance. 

Relevant Instruments: 
INNOVATION VOUCHERS and VENTURE CAPITAL

 CASE STUDY 23  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Printer sharing solutions (Germany)

Printer sharing solutions, a company based in Walldorf (Baden-Württemberg) 
offers an online platform for printer sharing, which enables the sharing of pho-
tocopiers and printers. It is similar to the carsharing model: the online platform 
suggests the closest available ‘points-of-print’ such as, for instance, nearby 
copy shops. It also converts the document to be printed into the necessary 
format and sends the encoded file to the selected printer. With support from 
an ‘Innovationsgutschein C’ innovation voucher, the company has conducted 
a name search, successfully applied for a patent, and launched its first promo-
tional activities.

>  Source of funding 

INNOVATION VOUCHER

>  Supported by 

Innovationsgutschein C, Baden-Württemberg  
(Germany)

>  The creative voucher scheme Innovationsgutschein C was initiated in 2013 
by the State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It complements the existing 
voucher schemes ‘Innovationsgutschein A’ (e.g. for initial market research 
studies) and ‘Innovationsgutschein B’ (e.g. for more complex R&D services). 
‘Innovationsgutschein C’ provides micro-enterprises with co-funding (up to 
50 % and a maximum of EUR 5 000) for services to be purchased from the 
CCS. This includes, for instance, marketing activities for new creative products 
and services, e.g. trade fair participation, preparation and production of mar-
keting materials, as well as catalogues and instruction manuals and fees for 
trademark protection.

 https://mfw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/mensch-wirtschaft/mittel-
stand-und-handwerk/innovationsgutscheine/innovationsgutschein-c/

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MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  
   
 
 CASE STUDY 24  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

ROKOKO – art, entertainment and match (Denmark)

The Danish start-up Rokoko makes live animation theatre (animation) and has 
developed a motion-capture suit (called ‘Salto’) that makes it possible to ani-
mate movements for a far lower price than normal and without the use of spe-
cialised studios. Rokoko is also working with PLAI (Psychiatric Live Animotion 
Intervention), which is a project where animation works as a tool to treat children 
with autism. In 2013, Rokoko won the Danish part of the start-up competition 
for creative entrepreneurs, Creative Business Cup and came third in the inter-
national  finals.  The  venture  capital  fund,  North-East  Venture,  has  recently 
backed Rokoko with generous funding. 

The company plans to move to San Francisco in 2016. Rokoko also plans to use 
Salto to work on virtual reality projects, which companies such as Facebook, 
Sony, Microsoft and Samsung all focusing on at the moment. 

http://rokoko.co/ – http://north-eastventure.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

VENTURE CAPITAL

>  Supported by 

Creative Business Cup

>  Creative Business Cup empowers entrepreneurs in the creative industries, 
connects them to investors and global markets and strengthens their innovative 
capabilities to the benefit of industry and society. Through national partnerships, 
Creative Business Cup runs initiatives for entrepreneurs in the creative industries 
in 50+ countries and invites corporations to tap in to the creative and innovative 
skills of these startups. Some 5 000 start-ups participate each year in the national 
initiatives and the best are invited to the international finals, taking place in 
November in Copenhagen. 

 Creative Business Cup supports the potential for growth among creative entre-
preneurs and promotes the innovation-spillover effect to other industries by:
 ࡟  strengthening the business skills of entrepreneurs within the creative indus-

tries through workshops, mentoring and training;

 ࡟  building  and  maintaining  a  global  network  of  innovative  minds  and 

start-ups;

 ࡟  creating a platform for sharing experiences and business opportunities among 

creative entrepreneurs, investors, experts and mentors;

 ࡟  facilitating matchmaking between creative entrepreneurs and other industry 

sectors;

 ࡟  reaching out to, motivating and celebrating the entrepreneurs and give them 
skills to further their business development through the competition: the world 
championship for creative entrepreneurs.

 Creative Business Cup is a non-profit association and a global initiative for 
creative entrepreneurs wanting to take their business to the next level, public 
and private stakeholders working to improve creative entrepreneurship and 
investors looking for investment opportunities in the creative space.  

  http://www.creativebusinesscup.com 

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 CASE STUDY 25  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Be Entertainment Ltd (UK)

Be Entertainment Ltd is a Northern Irish digital media studio which develops 
and produces innovative story driven content for current digital media and emerg-
ing platforms. The company was started by the producer Triona Campbell and 
Nuno Bernardo, the creator of the hit TV and on-line show Sofia’s Diary. The show 
has amassed over 26 million views since its launch on Bebo.com in March 2008 
and is now the second highest rated TV show on Fiver (UK). Be Entertainment’s 
creator and producers have also produced Aisling’s Diary for RTE (Ireland) which 
premiered on RTE, a nominee for the 2008 Irish Film and Television Awards and 
the C21 Best Format awards. The series online web-episodes became the most 
visited part of the RTE.ie website and on TV achieved a 30-35 % audience share 
among the target demographic when broadcast on RTE 2. 

Be Entertainment also makes investments in and incubates projects in the media 
and entertainment space, both developing and co-developing TV and New  
Media Content. 

Through an Invest NI innovation voucher, BE Entertainment sought the Univer-
sity of Ulster’s expertise to combine animation and special effects with live 
action for a new drama series called ‘My Best Friend is a Ghost’, an Irish lan-
guage drama with supernatural and mythical elements.  

Animation and special effects of this nature is an area the company had yet to 
explore in its production portfolio and did not have the resources in-house 
which was a barrier to product development. Plugging the gap by working with 
the University to access this expertise, the company was keen to enhance its 
product offering. Convincing the audience of the authenticity of the supernatural 
forces is a huge issue to solve as this plays a vital role in audience engagement 
and enjoyment of the series. 

The University of Ulster’s Digital Content Development Officer worked closely 
with Be Entertainment on the development of their production, advising on 
script development and how composition and design can impact on budget 
management.  Character  elements  that  were  important  to  the  script  were 
explored while removing costly elements such as flowing hair and garments. 

While production was underway, design began on the main characters. Once 
designs were finalised the characters were modelled, painted and rigged in 3D 
for animation in Maya. Animation was swift knowing that the rendering process, 
where the 3d wireframe characters are developed into realistic full colour HD 
video frames would take nearly three days. Once rendered the 3D characters 
were composited into the live-action footage and edited into the show.

http://oi.ulster.ac.uk/information-for-business/support-for-business/ 
innovation-vouchers/case-studies 

>  Source of funding 

INNOVATION VOUCHER

>  Supported by 

Innovation Voucher Schemeb (Northern Ireland)

82

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING >  Businesses* in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can apply for 
vouchers worth up to EUR 5 000 to enable them to access Ulster University’s 
expertise and facilities. 

 The Innovation Voucher Scheme, run by Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland, is 
designed to help businesses tap into specialist knowledge to develop for-
ward-thinking solutions or ideas to expand, improve or create new products, 
services and processes. Businesses can be awarded up to a maximum of 
three innovation vouchers. Ulster University is a lead provider of Innovation 
Vouchers in Northern Ireland having delivered over 400 projects.  

 CASE STUDY 26  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

JSC ENEKA (Lithuania)

JSC Eneka is a Lithuanian company operating in the fields of manufacturing 
of wastewater treatment plants and trade of industrial filters. In 2013, the com-
pany has received an award for active cooperation between business and sci-
ence as they (in partnership with Vilnius Academy of Arts) implemented a project 
on the application of rotational molding technology for the development of new 
design solutions. The company has organised a one-week creative workshop 
called ‘NewIdea’. The success of the cooperation was linked to a uniquely 
creative approach, which involved a high creativity level and speed. During the 
week specific products were created – outdoor furniture prototypes and flow-
erpot prototypes for urban planting. 

JSC Eneka received an Innovation voucher for this project.

>  Source of funding 

INNOVATION VOUCHER

>  Supported by 

 Voucher Scheme by the Lithuanian Ministry  
of Economy

>  During 2014, Innovation vouchers (Lithuania) was a EUR 2 million instrument 
to promote innovation in SMEs, which included such activities as research 
(industrial or applied research), technological development (experimental or 
development, design and technological works), and technical feasibility studies. 
According to the scheme, de minimis support is provided for SMEs that are 
starting up or already carrying out innovative activities. 

 Under the scheme, the SMEs receive fixed, targeted financial support to buy 
services from research and academic institutions. The appeal of the innovation 
vouchers scheme is related to its simplicity and low administrative burden 
both for beneficiaries and administrators. The maximum value of a project is 
EUR 5 792, and the instrument offered an innovation voucher with de minimis 
amount of 80 % or EUR 4 633, while the rest of the de minimis aid is covered 
by the company at its own expense. The instrument was not CCS-specific, 
but it did not exclude the sector. There are no open calls at the moment, but 
the scheme will be continued.

  http://www.mita.lt/en/general-information/innovations/innovation-vouchers/ 

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4.6  Financing  Intellectual  Pr ope r t y

What’s needed? 

There are currently few financing instruments dedicated solely to financing the devel-
opment and commercialisation of IP rights, although they are not excluded from 
other types of financing instruments. As the mapping exercise showed, content/IP 
rights are underserved as regards capital and other support. This is in stark contrast 
with the availability of both for ICT and technology platforms. As explained in Sec-
tion 2.2., intellectual property is a key driver of growth and a source of added value 
and revenue, but due to several unresolved issues, the financing of IP rights and 
IP-based businesses is still in its infancy. However, promising instruments corre-
sponding to the concrete needs of CCS companies in relation to commercialising 
their IP rights are emerging. 

As the use of IPR financing becomes more widespread, there will undoubtedly be  
a need for public-private partnerships that have the necessary expertise and are 
prepared to increase the initial investment capital. Public investors will also need to 
be willing to agree to asymmetric profit distributions in favour of private investors.

In the rare cases where IP rights financing does exist, it invariably takes the form of 
equity financing and often involves establishing a special purpose vehicle (SPV).  
An SPV is a joint venture between the IP rights creator and financier, where the IP 
rights subject to financing are transferred. The shares of the original rights holder 
may also be used as collateral. Obviously, the use of SPV is only applicable with 
respect to venture capital and business angels and does not lend itself to e.g. tra-
ditional debt financing.

An SPV is a particularly useful tool for investing in IP rights because the investor 
expects to make a profit mostly from the revenues generated by the financed IP 
rights, not simply by increasing the value of the company and then making a profitable 
exit. In this model, IP rights are not transferred to the financier (which may risk the 
smooth  functioning  of  the  creator  of  the  IP  rights)  as  collateral,  but  shared  by  
the creator and financier, whereby both have a shared interest of making the venture 
as profitable as possible.

It would appear that the chances of success for this type of financing can be increased 
by ensuring a healthy flow of ideas, i.e. a pool where the financier can make early 
stage investment to help harness interesting ideas, and then pick the most promising 
ones and make more significant investments in those while avoiding, already at the 
product development stage, making investments in ideas that do not seem to work. 
Between product development and market roll-out, other types of financing such as 
mezzanine loans can be used to help the production phase. In other words, it implies 
setting up an incubator-like function in addition to traditional financing.

Relevant Instruments: 
LOAN, VENTURE CAPITAL, TAILORED IP SCHEMES and GUARANTEES

84

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING  CASE STUDY 27  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

SUBZERO FILM ENTERTAINMENT (Finland)

Subzero Film Entertainment was established in 2012 by producer Petri  Jokiranta 
and director Jalmari Helander. Under their ‘Subzero’ banner, Jokiranta and 
Helander concentrate on developing high-concept genre projects for Helander 
to direct and Subzero to produce. 

Subzero´s first production, Big Game (2015), was released in every major territory. 
As a EUR 8.5 million budget film, it was at that time the most expensive film ever 
made in Finland and has a cast including Samuel L. Jackson and Jim Broadbent. 
By the end of 2013, the Finnish investor Visionplus Fund I made a revenue-based 
investment of EUR 900 000. This sum financed part of the production of the film. 
By July 2015 Visionplus Fund had recouped 110 % of its investment, and the fund 
also has a ‘back-end share’ of the film´s future revenues. Total sales of the film 
have already exceeded EUR 10 million.

>  Source of funding 

LOAN

>  Supported by 

Visionplus Fund (Finland)

>  Visionplus Fund (Vision+) is managed by Visionplus Management Ltd., capital 
fund  management  company  and  co-investor  in  Vision+  Fund.  Rather  than 
providing venture capital or initial seed finance, the fund invests in the intel-
lectual property rights of digital products and retains negotiated rights on their 
related revenues and income. Entrepreneurs receiving an investment are able 
to keep their IP rights. Vision+ receives royalties from the product revenues 
from product commercialisation, support and investment.

 Target sectors include: digital consumables, games and applications, online 
services and related areas, and multi-platform digital products. The fund has 
no geographical limitations for investments. 

 Investment decisions are made on the basis of projects being in the pre-com-
mercial phase and market-driven, with multi-channel opportunities, the pre-
vious experience of both the management and design teams and the long-term 
revenue  stream potential.  Vision+  funding  is  targeted for  final production, 
commercialising and marketing of the products and creating cash flow. The 
fund supports entrepreneurs with its special skills and connections.  

  http://www.visionplus.fi/ 

85

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
 
 CASE STUDY 28  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Auddly (Sweden)

The music industry is under irreversible change. The digital landscape allows 
people to consume more music in ways that have never been seen before.  
The music industry hasn’t fully evolved to adapt to these changes and has, in 
many ways, become a bystander. Distribution problems, unclear roles, copy-
rights issues, and communication mishaps are some of the many challenges 
that the industry is facing.

Auddly is an independent global hub for collecting all the important information 
associated to a work, including who wrote it, their splits and publisher affilia-
tions, as well as who produced and played on the recordings – everything that 
is needed for a fair and transparent allocation of rights and payments to all 
parties involved. There are many different organizations and companies that 
are wholly dependent on the correct data to be able to fairly, accurately and 
transparently compensate rights-holders.

Auddly  provides  a  platform  for  creators  and  administrators  to  easily  and 
smoothly work together, which in turn ensures that the correct data is collected 
from those who know the real truth about the creative process– the creators. 
A ‘clean’ and accurate registration is a result of it.

Their solution is unique in its kind and a perfect example of how a new structure 
and innovative technology will significantly improve the situation for songwrit-
ers, producers/musicians, artists and publishers.

https://www.auddly.com/ 

>  Supported by 

ALMI Invest (Sweden)

>  Auddly was founded by Niclas Molinder and Joacim Persson 2012. Both Niclas 
and Joacim have worked in the music industry as songwriters and producers 
for  more  than  15  years.  During  the  first  year  Auddly  was  financed  by  the 
founders. When more capital was needed the Swedish State-owned invest-
ment  company  ALMI  Invest  invested  venture  capital  together  with  the 
extremely successful songwriter/producer Max Martin. To be able to influence 
the music industry internationally and get in touch with the right people, it was 
a conscious choice to offer successful music creators with a strong position 
in the industry the opportunity to invest. In the second round in mid-2014, 
Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and Avicii manager Ash Pournouri joined the owner 
team.  
A big difference between having music creators as investors instead of tradi-
tional business angels and venture capital companies is that the main purpose 
is not the business side, but a desire to improve conditions in the industry in 
the long term.

  http://www.almi.se/Almi-Invest/ 

86

MATCHING  TH E NE ED S O F T H E  CCS  C OM PAN IES  W ITH I NN OVATIVE FUN DI NG 

 CASE STUDY 29  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

MB Mickaus Creative Studio (Lithuania)

MB  Mickaus  Creative  Studio,  a  founder  of  Aqua  Lingua  studio,  created  
a system that enables the transformation audio information into visual picture 
which has both artistic and aesthetic value. Every word or sound makes unique 
water pictures that reveal universal harmony. Each image is as unique as human 
voice and the phrase. The colour of the image depends on different lighting and 
the shape depends on the sound’s resonance effect on the water. 

In order to protect this invention, the company has applied for an international 
patent, and is applying for a patent in Germany, the UK, and USA. MB Mickaus 
creative studio used a scheme for the protection of industrial property rights 
and received support for this particular project.

http://aqualingua.org/

>  Supported by 

 A scheme for protection of industrial property 
rights (Lithuania)

>  A  scheme  for  protection  of  industrial  property  rights  (Lithuania)  is  
a EUR 0.159 million national instrument designed to provide financial support 
for the protection of industrial property rights that covers the patents of inven-
tions and design at the European and international level. The national support 
is focused on acquiring a European patent or a patent issued under the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty, and on registering a Community design or a design regis-
tered under the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. Companies and research 
organisations from Lithuania are eligible. This instrument offers grants up to 
EUR 28 962. The latest call was closed on the 1 October 2015, but there are 
plans to run the scheme again.

 http://www.mita.lt/lt/inovacijos/intelektine-nuosavybe/kvietimai/ 
(information about the call in Lithuanian only)

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87

 
 
4.7  Social investme nt in  arts

What’s needed? 

Investment in arts and culture creates social as well economic returns. Increasingly, 
the arts are recognised as part of a wider cultural ecosystem with spillover benefits 
for society and the economy. There is in need in the arts for access to new sources 
of financing that will support innovative projects and developments, which comple-
ment both intrinsic and extrinsic aims. 

Relevant Instruments: 
GRANTS, CROWDFUNDING, DONATION 

 CASE STUDY 30  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

GRANDMA/GRANDPA-PROJECT (Austria)

Educational support for children with a migrant background 

With its cross-generational approach, the project aims to provide individualised 
educational support for disadvantaged children, particularly to improve their 
language skills. Inspired by a group of experts in education, psychology and 
intercultural awareness, senior citizens find new ways and opportunities to 
deploy the richness of their life experience by helping children to advance their 
personal development as well as their social inclusion in the long-term. The 
beauty of the project lies in the fact that the learning experience is mutual and 
for the benefit of all involved. Moreover, the initiative promotes a culture of 
respect and of support. Together with great ambition of senior citizens and with 
financial support, made available by the crowdfunding platform www.respekt.
net, it is now possible to offer a valuing and safe educational environment for 
disadvantaged children to transform their lives. 

Organisational background
In 2009 a group of committed people from ‘NL 40’ (an association supporting 
people in their desire for health, communication, integration, arts and culture, 
www.nl40.at) launched a pilot-project for four children. In 2010, the initiative 
was nominated for the Austrian award for Integration and was ranked among 
the four best projects. Based on this experience, and on a successful start-up 
phase, the initiative was able to win the support of 14 senior citizens by 2011.

Budget
The recent crowdfunding campaign allowed the team to take the next step and 
to continue their work and to further promote their goals. EUR 7 000 of the total 
budget (of EUR 37 552) was made available via the crowdfunding platform www.
respekt.net. 

http://www.respekt.net/projekte-unterstuetzen/details/projekt/140/ 
http://www.nl40.at 

>  Source of funding 

CROWDFUNDING

>  Supported by 

Respekt.net (Austria)

88

MATCHING THE NEEDS OF THE CCS COMPANIES WITH INNOVATIVE FUNDING >  Respekt.net – Crowdfunding for a better society (Austria)

 www.respekt.net, founded in 2010, is Austria’s first donation-based crowd-
funding platform for a better society. It is a marketplace for committed people 
and their ideas.

 A good idea can be submitted quickly and easily as a project and then be 
published on the platform. Users have three options: they can donate time, 
money or knowledge. Anyone can submit a project – no matter if you are an 
individual, a group of students or a not-for-profit organisation.  

 The Crowdfunding platform www.respekt.net works according to the ‘all or 
nothing’ principle. That means that the project initiators only receive the money 
donated if a project is completely financed (the target budget is attained). This 
principle  is  intended  to  increase  the  likelihood  of  the  project  being  imple-
mented successfully.

 Thematic categories include democracy and civil rights, refugees and immi-
gration as well as respect and diversity. The platform succeeded to mobilise 
considerable funding reaching more than EUR 1 million in September 2015. 
The platform has been running for almost five years and has seen a sharp 
increase in donations recently (up to EUR 50 000 a week). Over 230 projects 
have been successfully funded so far.

  http://www.respekt.net

89

Good practice report on access to financeOMC 
 
 
 
 
 
 CASE STUDY 31  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Restoration works of the Duomo di Milano 

International Patrons of Duomo di Milano Inc. is a newly incorporated Amer-
ican public charity, founded in 2014. Its aim is to fundraise and provide financial 
support for the Duomo di Milano in Italy. It aims to raise international public 
awareness about the needs of the Duomo di Milano by collecting donations to 
support the conservation, restoration and valorisation of this cathedral. 

The charity raised over USD 160 000 (EUR 150 000) between 2014 and 2015 (far 
exceeding its initial goal of USD 150 000) through a crowdfunding campaign on 
ForItaly (www.foritaly.org), an Italian crowdfunding platform exclusively dedi-
cated to support Italian cultural heritage. In particular, for this campaign opted 
for a reward-based model.

The funds raised were used to support the continuous restoration works of 
the Duomo di Milano and the safeguarding of the spire dedicated to Saint 
Frances Cabrini. 

This campaign was particularly innovative and exemplary, being the first cam-
paign held in the USA for this cultural institution. A unique trait that made 
successful this project was the fact that it involved a significant number of 
backers online and, at the same time, some big donors and philanthropists 
off-line.  The  project  was  also  supported  by  the  National  Italian  American 
Foundation. 

All donors were rewarded with an ‘Italian experience’, ranging from a small object 
or an Italian gourmet product, to unique services or an exclusive tour of Milan. 

The campaign was a ground-breaking and successful way, not only to finance the 
restoration works of the Duomo di Milano, but also to develop and cultivate a commit-
ted network of international supporters worldwide, thanks to the online activities. 

http://www.duomopatrons.org 

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MATCHING  TH E NE ED S O F T H E  CCS  C OM PAN IES  W ITH I NN OVATIVE FUN DI NG 

 CASE STUDY 32  > STORY OF A BENEFICIARY1  

Vasistas theatre group (Greece)

Vasistas theatre group was able to support a tour of its biggest production to 
date, ‘BLOODS’, in Greece and abroad, thanks to organisational, financial and 
communication support from the Onassis Cultural Centre. 

After its launch in Athens in 2014 at the OCC, ‘BLOODS’ has been performed 
in two major Greek cities, Patras and Thessaloniki, and in Paris. 

Thanks to its presence in Paris and the publicity this generated, more shows 
were booked for 2016 in Reims and Aix-en-Provence in France. For these 
shows, the OCC will continue supporting Vasistas theatre group, by providing 
organisational as well as financial and technical support. 

The Onassis Cultural Centre also covers the show’s subtitling costs, including 
fees for a subtitling specialist who accompanies the group every time the pro-
duction is performed abroad. 

Lastly, the group has access to a large amount of communications material 
created by the OCC’s marketing department, including promotional videos, 
photos, press releases and texts translated into English and French, and also 
printed programmes, posters and web-banners. This material can be used for 
promotional purposes. 

http://www.vas.eu.com/ 

>  Source of funding 

DONATION

>  Supported by 

The Onassis Cultural Centre (OCC)

>  The Onassis Cultural Centre (OCC) hosts and produces events and actions 
across the whole spectrum of the arts from theatre, dance, music and the 
visual arts to the written word, with an emphasis on contemporary cultural 
expression, on supporting Greek artists, on cultivating international collabo-
rations  and  on  educating  children  and  people  of  all  ages  through  lifelong 
learning.

 The OCC funds new productions by young and established Greek artists and 
groups with the intention of presenting their work within its own state-of-the-
art facilities, but also in other locations in the city of Athens and elsewhere 
(e.g. in prisons). It has a proposal submission procedure enabling interested 
parties to propose their work for inclusion in the OCC programme.  

  http://www.sgt.gr 

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91

 
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ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING 
FUNDING SCHEMES 

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ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING FUNDING SCHEMESA S SE S S MENT  OF EX IST IN G F UND I NG S CHE M ES

What methodology should be used to assess the quality  
and impact of the funding schemes?

There are a number of general and specific funding schemes across the EU which 
are intended to improve access to finance for cultural organisations and creative 
SMEs. What is lacking, however, are quantitative data (e.g. on the funds and resources 
needed, success rates, default rates, employment rates) and a qualitative analysis 
of which schemes are effective and which are not, and the reasons for this. To be 
successful, fund providers must understand the problem (e.g. market failure), the 
target group and its needs. A stronger focus on the users of schemes would enable 
more detailed analysis of the impact of the schemes (i.e. the effect of such schemes 
on growth, employment and business viability).

An assessment of funding practice should: 

•  consider the aim of the scheme – intended results or issues to be addressed; 
appropriate indicators for measuring the results; level of business to approach 
(e.g. start-ups, growing companies, SMEs);

•  adopt a holistic approach – examine the entire business value chain (entrepre-

• 

neurship, education institutions, start-ups, bigger companies); 
look at investment in capacity-building for CCS businesses and the financing 
institutions.

When assessing existing funding schemes, related risks must also be taken into 
account. First, it is unlikely that any single scheme will meet all the requirements, 
that is to say there is probably no ‘perfect’ scheme that will address all the challenges 
facing the CCS. Second, we must take care not to ‘ghettoise’ the CCS, i.e. create 
special solutions just for the creative industries when this is not really necessary.

Funding across sectors

Funding for culture and creativity tends to blur the lines between sub-sectors, partly 
because of digital convergence tendencies, but also because of the mixture of public 
and private finance. Despite the tendency towards digital convergence, the differ-
ences between sub-sectors should not be underestimated. There are differences in 
size, attitudes and scope, which make it fundamental to understand the specificities 
and expectations of each sub-sector.

However, there are also some common areas between sub-sectors, such as the 
changing nature of creative industries, which can affect the business plans of creative 
companies. The CCS need to be prepared to embrace and incorporate change that 
may be difficult to predict in a precise or quantifiable way (such as the level of suc-
cess and the range of opportunities and subsequent project opportunities that could 
result from a particular production or project). It is therefore important to examine 
how financing tools deal with the changing nature of cultural and creative business 
projects and assets.

It is equally important to observe the way subsidies and loans provided by the state 
mix with other financial instruments, while taking into account the fact that there may 
often be significant differences in the logic behind these financing models.

95

Good practice report on access to financeOMC5Interconnecting the schemes

Understanding the possible interconnections between various schemes is essential 
for creating a functioning ecosystem for the CCS. The current situation is that there 
are many ‘knowledge facilitators’ and supporters of economic activity, but they are 
not interconnected in an organic way and sometimes there is also overlap between 
them.  In  other  words,  there  is  information  asymmetry  within  the  ecosystem.  
To address this situation there is a need to highlight, promote and support initiatives 
that support qualified coaching in business development, experienced investment 
managers, and capital and networks.

As the mapping carried out by the EENC and the examples of good practice referred 
to in this report demonstrate, all main the financing models are available to compa-
nies in the CCS. Similarly, there are financing instruments available for every phase 
of production and stage of a company’s lifecycle. Some instruments are general, 
but some are specifically aimed at CCS companies.

The overall assessment of financing instruments shows a positive trend. There are 
more financing instruments available for CCS companies than ever before. As regards 
instruments that do not specifically focus on CCS, it is quite clear that they have 
developed expertise in CCS-related matters that enable them to make financing deci-
sions. The emergence of CCS-specific financing instruments is also encouraging.

While the existence of a growing amount of financing instruments is most welcome, 
it does not automatically translate into better access to finance for the CCS. As noted, 
there are still serious problems in the information flow between CCS companies and 
financiers as well as in their ability to find a ‘common language’.

Furthermore, and a bit paradoxically, the amount of different financing instruments 
can make it difficult for a company seeking funding to find the most appropriate one. 
Therefore, the fragmentation of financing instruments in terms of their geographical 

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ASSESSMENT  OF EX IS TIN G  FUN D I NG  S CH EM ES

area, sector, scope and funding arrangements is a fact and gives rise to the need 
for different intermediaries or brokers. Brokering schemes have proved useful, but 
sometimes their terms and conditions deter CCS companies from seeking such 
assistance. 

The availability of financing instruments also varies between Member States. In some 
countries there are dozens of suitable instruments, whereas in others there are very 
few instruments that are appropriate for companies in the CCS.

Public support measures

Public support for the CSS includes several types of instruments. Different voucher 
schemes are operated in a number of Member States. They usually take the form of 
relatively modest grants for SMEs to purchase innovation-related services from other 
companies. When vouchers are used to buy services from CCS companies, the expe-
riences are generally positive. On the one hand, the creative contribution from com-
panies in the CCS helps make products and services more attractive, and on the other, 
vouchers help boost cooperation and B2B markets. Some voucher schemes can be 
used by CCS companies to acquire external business/strategic advice.

Repayable contributions, currently in use in Catalonia, are an innovative public sup-
port tool. They are an interesting hybrid between traditional public support and 
commercial debt financing. They are an interesting example for governments who 
are looking into diversifying their CCS-related financing toolkit.

Some Member States and regions have set up organisations that offer a wide range 
of instruments. These include different financing schemes and/or expert advice tar-
geted at CCS companies. Given the fragmentation of financing instruments, these 
one-stop-shops have proven very useful as they provide assistance that is easy to 
find and up-to-date.

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97

Debt finance

Debt finance is the form of funding that is least used by CCS companies. The reasons 
for this relative lack of debt financing were explained in Chapter 3.2 and include 
limited investor understanding of CCS, the need for sustained cash flow and the 
issues with collateral, which in some countries are compensated for by means of a 
guarantee scheme.

There are, however, loans provided by public or publicly-funded agencies that are 
used by CCS companies. Invariably, such loans have low interest rates or are inter-
est-free and do not require collateral.

Equity finance

Equity finance in its different forms is often popular with CCS companies, just as it is 
with many start ups and scale-ups. There are many good examples of equity finance 
(such as venture capital, seed capital, crowdfunding and risk mitigation schemes). The 
appeal of different forms of equity finance to CCS companies lies in the fact that con-
ditions for financing are not fixed but are typically based on the perceived potential of 
the company to succeed, or its products generating significant revenues.

Crowdfunding

In the case of crowdfunding, fan interest and loyalty plays an important part. Com-
bining crowdfunding and other types funding is an interesting, and relatively new, 
development. There are schemes which provide equity funding or loans to companies 
whose products are successful in crowdfunding, thereby complementing the financ-
ing received through crowdfunding. In such models, the crowdfunding phase enables 
investors to receive direct feedback from potential customers, i.e. ensure a demand-
based approach, which should lower the risks involved.

Risk mitigation schemes

There are still only a few risk mitigation schemes but those that exist seem to be useful. 
They should improve access (especially to private finance) by significantly mitigating 
risk. In Spain, for example, the scheme in place for CCS has a default rate that is less 
than half the banking sector default rate for SMEs. Of course, a financier will not provide 
finance unless it deems the company seeking finance to be ‘bankable’.

Alternative forms of funding

Alternative forms of funding are usually intended for non-commercial organisations 
and projects which serve the public good. In addition to well-established sponsorship 
and corporate giving, there are examples of venture philanthropy. The idea of venture 
philanthropy is to make use of the donor’s knowledge and expertise so as to yield 
highest possible impact for charitable investment.

In the areas of cultural heritage and the visual arts, innovative public-private schemes 
are of special note.

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ASSESSMENT  OF EX IS TIN G  FUN D I NG  S CH EM ES

Chapter 4, ‘Matching the needs of the CCS companies with innovative funding’, 
provides the perspective of CCS companies by presenting 32 case studies of com-
panies that have received funding as well as descriptions of the respective funding 
schemes. By providing the companies’ point of view, the section emphasises the 
need to match the needs of creative companies with those of the financiers and to 
show the impressive wealth of goods and services whose development, production 
or market entry has been facilitated by innovative financing instruments. 

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CONCLUSIONS 

The economic importance of the CCS is well-documented, as is their contribution 
to smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. This is because economic production is 
increasingly dependent on creativity, intellectual property and intangible assets. 
Companies in the CCS are spearheading an economic transformation. They rely on 
and employ the EU’s cultural and creative talent, and are revitalising the sector.

The number of general and CCS-specific financing instruments available to CCS 
companies is growing. CCS access to finance is therefore improving. But this is not 
to say that it is straightforward.

In the course of its work, the OMC Group identified the following key challenges 
faced by CCS companies when trying to access finance:
• 
• 

fragmentation of financial instruments;
informational asymmetry in the financial ecosystem (and thus a need to improve 
mutual understanding between CCS companies and financiers);

•  differences in the maturity of the financial ecosystem for CCS in different Member 

• 

States (meaning limited access to finance in some Member States);
financiers’ concerns (justified or unjustified) about the relevant market’s size and 
appeal in relation to the product or service in question, and about the robustness 
of CCS companies’ business skills and business plans;

•  various unresolved issues regarding IP (ranging from how to value it, and dealing 

with its inherent risks to flaws in securities law).

When examining CCS access to finance, the OMC Group appears to have uncovered 
an existing inertia in how financial instruments react to new modes of economic 
production. Most financing models are very clearly designed for manufacturing or 
the production of goods. This is reflected in how financiers perform due diligence, 
evaluate assets and in the type of collateral they are prepared to accept.

Similarly, in some EU Member States, the legislation regulating securities does not 
recognise copyright or other forms of IP rights as a form of security. This effectively 
excludes certain types of IP rights from being considered a security interest. In such 
cases, the legislation is seriously out of step with the economic reality and may 
actually hinder the development of the most dynamic sectors, such as CCS.

Somewhat paradoxically, in Member States where there are many potential financial 
instruments, CCS companies often consider the market to be too fragmented and find 
it difficult to identify the most appropriate instruments. This has led to the emergence 
of information brokers, but there is some dissatisfaction with the terms they impose.

While public financing instruments themselves need to be adapted to the needs of 
IP-based businesses, governments can, and should, provide leverage via private 
financiers such as business angels, venture capital firms and banks. This is especially 
important at a time when austerity measures are restricting public spending. Where 
governments have taken an active role as intermediaries, either directly or through 
incubators or accelerators or together with other intermediaries, they have helped 
to resolve communication and information asymmetry in the financial ecosystem. 
Obviously, public-private financing instruments and guarantee schemes have also 
proved effective tools for engaging with private financiers.

To improve access to finance for the CCS, these underlying issues need to be iden-
tified and tackled. Resolving the above-mentioned challenges benefit many other 
sectors and businesses in addition to the CCS that are unable to rely on tangible 
assets and/or large-scale manufacturing facilities. This will therefore play a vital role 
in delivering the expected outcomes of the Europe 2020 strategy.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Recent studies and policy documents confirm that companies in the CCS have the 
capacity to generate growth and stimulate innovation in the economy as a whole 59. 
There are a number of highly innovative companies in the CCS that could have a strong 
and positive impact on Europe’s economy. Cultural and creative sectors are expected 
to become one of Europe’s most dynamic sectors, and CCS companies also contribute 
to innovation and growth in many other sectors. Since the CCS have so much to offer 
Europe, decision makers should ensure that one of the key obstacles to growth – 
access to finance – is addressed. SMEs in the CCS are struggling to unlock their 
growth and innovation potential and face additional challenges in relation to digiti-
sation, business development and the exploitation of assets of intangible value.

To tackle the issues that prevent companies in the CCS from accessing finance, the 
OMC Group recommends that the Commission and Member States take the follow-
ing action, within their respective remits:

•  Test and implement new and innovative financing schemes.

Many CCS companies have the same financing needs as companies in other sectors, 
as they have similar problems, but many CCS companies do not have access to 
more generic financing schemes. New financial instruments should be put in place, 
building on new and emerging financing sources such as microcredits, repayable 
contributions, and crowdfunding.

•  Improve access to finance through better business support. 

CCS companies need better support in developing business skills to improve their 
ability to approach and convince external investors 60. 

•  Encourage partnerships with companies in other sectors.

It is important to develop the B2B market between CCS companies and companies 
in the wider economy as this can be a catalyst for cross-sector innovation. This can 
be encouraged, for example, with innovation voucher schemes that improve access 
to markets and finance. It would also require SMEs in the CCS to improve their 
business skills and learn to identify innovation challenges in other industries and 
society in general.

•  Improve access to finance through investor awareness.

New ‘best practice’ and joint promotional initiatives involving public and private 
investors should be used to increase their’ awareness and understanding of the 
investment and business opportunities offered by CCS companies. 

•  Provide better data on the CCS and companies in those sectors.

It is difficult to measure the impact and dynamics of the CCS. There should therefore 
be support for initiatives and cooperation aimed at collecting relevant and accurate 
data about the CCS, both as sectors in their own right but also as drivers of innovation 
and growth in the rest of the economy. In relation to better data and increasing 
awareness of best practice, CCS companies need a stronger platform (at national 
and European level) to help improve access to finance for those sectors. 

Good practice report on Access to Finance OM C

105

59
European Commission Communication 
COM (2012)537: Promoting the cultural and 
creative sectors for growth and jobs in the 
EU and Communication COM (2010) 183: 
Unlocking the potential of cultural 
and creative industries.
60
Only a minority of creative SMEs have a clear 
business strategy, which is usually essential 
for accessing finance. 

7•  Harness the use of IP rights as assets and collateral.

As modes of economic production are constantly changing and new financing tools 
and practices are emerging, it is important to find ways to harness the use of IP as 
an asset and collateral. Notably, steps should be taken to:

  >  help identify and assess the value of IP rights: 

- 

- 

 engage with IP-based companies and financiers to promote the develop-
ment and use of identification and valuation tools;
 at EU level, exchange information about and experience of using such 
tools  and,  if  possible,  consider  aligning  these  tools  to  make  them 
interoperable.

  >  mitigate the risks associated with IP assets:

- 

 promote  the  availability  of  insurance  products  that  protect  financiers 
against litigation and, in particular, that insure the value of IP rights by 
underwriting the value of a portfolio of rights.

  >   ensure that securities legislation does not unnecessarily impede access 

to finance for CSS companies or other IP-rich companies:
- 

 review the legislation with a view to enabling relevant forms of security 
over IP rights.

  >   help enforcement strategies:

- 

 monitor market developments concerning the emergence of IP exchanges 
and, if considered useful, encourage the establishment of European IP 
exchanges.

  >   clarify international issues:

- 

 take the specificities of lending against IP into account in international 
cooperation in the field of secured transactions, especially at UNICITRAL.

- 

  >   increase the ‘bankability’ of IP and the recognition of its full value as an asset:
 work with financiers, insurers and financial intermediaries to explore the 
feasibility of and measures needed to support the development of a sec-
ondary market for IP rights.

106

RECOMMENDAT I ONS

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Working Group of EU Member States Experts (OMC) on Cultural and Creative Sectors 
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IDEA Consult (2012). ‘Study on the financing needs and use of additional financing 
instruments in the arts’, study commissioned by the Flemish regional agency Arts  
& Heritage. 

IDEA Consult (2013). ‘Survey on access to finance for cultural and creative sectors. 
Evaluate the financial gap of different cultural and creative sectors to support the 
impact  assessment  of  the  Creative  Europe  Programme’,  Brussels:  European 
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IDEA Consult (2014): Analyse des liens entre l’industrie wallonne, les services à haute 
intensité de connaissances et les industries créatives et culturelles, dans une per-
spective de chaînes de valeur. 
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IFF Research Ltd (2011). ‘Access to Finance for Creative Industry Businesses Report’, 
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Culture, Media and Sports). 
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[Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

IMO – Institute for International Relations for the European Parliament’s Committee 
on Culture and Education – Directorate General for Internal Policies Policy Depart-
ment B: Structural and Cohesion Policies – Culture and Education (2010). Encour-
aging private investment in the cultural sector. 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/cult/dv/
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[Accessed 10 November 2015].

Inkei, Péter (2001). ‘Tax incentives for private support to culture, The Budapest 
Observatory’, MOSAIC. 
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CULT_MOSAIC%282001%2913_EN.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

KEA (2006). ‘The economy of culture in Europe’, study commissioned by the EC. 
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/library/studies/cultural-economy_en.pdf 
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112

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KEA (2009). The Impact of Culture on Creativity, study commissioned by the EC. 
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creativity [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

KEA (2010). ‘Promoting Investment in the Cultural and Creative Sector: Financing 
Needs, Trends and Opportunities’, Nantes: ECCE Innovation challenges – Nantes 
Métropole. 
http://www.keanet.eu/docs/access%20to%20finance%20study_final%20
report_kea%20june2010.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

KEA (2012). Measuring economic impact of CCIs policies. How to justify investment 
in cultural and creative assets. 
http://www.keanet.eu/docs/measuring-economic-impact-of-ccis-policies_final_
creare.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

KEA (2015). ‘The Smart Guide to Creative Spill-Overs. To Assist Cities Implementing 
Creative Spill-Overs’, KEA European Affairs. 
http://www.keanet.eu/wp-content/uploads/SMARTGUIDE-FINAL-PDF.pdf?4f4e-
b7&4f4eb7 [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

Kerrigan, Charles, Ruth Marken and Anne Chitan, ‘TMT Finance: Part I’, Butterworths 
Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, March 2015, p.172; ‘TMT Finance: 
Part II’, Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, June 2015, 
p.370; ‘TMT Finance: Part III’, Butterworths Journal of International Banking and 
Financial Law, September 2015, p. 520.

Kerrigan, Charles, Anne Chitan and Alasdhair McDonald, IP Assets Protocol. 
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Keuper, Frank, Dieter Puchra and Stefan Röder (2008). ‘Creative industries need 
Creative finance – innovative financing solutions for the film industry’, Steinbeis 
Hochschule-Berlin and Investitionsbank Berlin. 
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Klamer, Arjo, Lyudmilla Petrova and Anna Mignosa (2006). ‘Financing the arts and 
culture in the European Union’. Brussels: European Parliament. 
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Culture_in_the_EU.pdf  [Accessed 10 November 2015]. 

Klamer, Arjo, Lyudmilla Mignosa and Lyudmilla Petrova (2010). ‘The relationship 
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114

BIBLIOGRAPHYWebsites

A Beginner’s Guide to EU Funding 
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/funding/index_en  

European Commission, DG Education and Culture 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm 

European Commission portal on access to finance 
www.access2finance.eu    

Policy Learning Platform of the European Creative Industries Alliance (ECIA)  
http://www.eciaplatform.eu/ 

The Enterprise Europe Network 
http://een.ec.europa.eu/ 

Creative Europe Programme 2014-2020 
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/index_en.htm 

Horizon 2020
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/

Programme for the Competitiveness of the Enterprises and small and mediums-sized 
enterprises – COSME
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/cosme/ 

Smart Specialisation Platform S3
http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/home 

115

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