ECOFUNDING
ECOFUNDING aims to create a new structure to promote investment and access to energy and eco-innovation funds in the MED area in a key moment for European strategic development where two factors occur: a major credit and investment crisis and an excessive dependence of the southern Europe economies on energy. Therefore, ECOFUNDING focuses its efforts on three main activity sections. The first set of activities aims to incorporate the results of other projects and policies developed in the MED area in the involved countries in a single instrument for financial support: the catalogue of public and private funds including all financing resources. To arrange these products, a transnational platform of global access services will be created, where other instruments to facilitate financial management and innovation of SMEs will be included: financial simulators, project search, search of green technology and supporting tools to develop business plans, among others. ECOFUNDING wants to achieve concrete results and reach enterprises. To this end, the project will set in motion SMEs consulting services to facilitate the management of the services offered in the platform. At the same time, innovative tools (not available in the market) will be designed allowing a significant advance in the state of the art: financial self-diagnose, bank rating calculator system and an online financial dossier. The project counts on experts in the energy sector and green business who will help companies to develop their business and investment plans: 360 SMEs will be diagnosed, 45 investment plans will be made and 20 companies will develop projects thanks to the financing obtaining. In addition, concrete actions have been planned to promote direct contact between investors and entrepreneurs organisation of 9 B2B events with the participation of 90 companies and launch of an online searching funding service at transnational level to boost business cooperation and to promote the access of local initiatives to transnational and EU funds. ECOFUNDING wants to be the first integrated platform of financial resources in energy and green business for SMEs in the MED region, hence the importance given to communication and capitalisation actions, including information activities and collaboration protocols with the most important networks at European level in the sectors covered by the project: European Enterprise Network and Energy Agencies Network. For the management and global communication of the project, ECOFUNDING has set up committees and specific operating rules in accordance with the programme rules and has planned a whole set of monitoring meetings to discuss the results of the project taking into account the participation of external partners that will provide knowledge and expertise.