2018 was another hugely successful year for Fintech in Lithuania and saw the country cement its status as one of Europe’s leading Fintech hubs. The sector expanded by 45% and saw big names in the industry like Revolut and Google receive licences from the Bank of Lithuania. In order to accurately quantify the sector’s successes so far, Invest Lithuania and Rise Vilnius conducted a detailed survey of the companies present in Lithuania at the end of 2018. This research has highlighted a number of important characteristics of Lithuania’s Fintech ecosystem and point towards some trends going forward. The first striking feature of Lithuania’s Fintech sector that the rese... More

SMART FDI ELIGIBLE ACTIONS: R&D development; Investments for company‘s creation or development of R&D infrastructure (pilot line included) Activities related to process and organizational innovations installation. GRANT AMOUNT: 50 000 - 3 000 000 EUR (Action 1). 50 000 - 6 500 000 EUR (Action 2). 50 000 - 500 000 EUR (Action 3). FUNDING INTENSITY:   Without partner Action Large company Medium company Small or very small company Research 1 action 50 percent 60 percent 70 percent Development 1 action 25 percent 35 percent 45 percent Creation or development of... More

A Georgian Furniture Cluster – the first formally established business cluster in Georgia – was officially launched on 27 October in Tbilisi. The establishment and development of this cluster is supported by an EU-GIZ project on ‘SME Development and DCFTA in Georgia’ implemented under the EU4Business Initiative. The Georgian Furniture Cluster (GFC) now connects 25 local SMEs in the sector of furniture production, who commit to working together to take advantage of market opportunities in Georgia and in Europe by achieving economies of scale. Specifically, GFC members commit to capacity building and development, establishment of a creative space through apprentices... More

The European Union is providing around €1.4 million to fund four Ukrainian start-ups under the Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation. According to EU4Business, three Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises have been allocated €50,000 to develop their concepts and plan out their business ideas. These three start-ups focus on ecological use of waste, 3D printing of metals and the creation of stand-alone mobile homes developed using 3D printing. Another company, which develops innovative products for global markets and is active in the microelectronics sector, received funding of €1.22 million to help implement its business plan under the second phase of ... More

Armenian entrepreneurs developing innovative products and services, ideas and solutions are invited to take part in a training on storytelling for crowdfunding campaigns. The event will take place on 5-8 December and will accommodate up to 12 start-ups and 5 marketing companies from Armenia. This training opportunity is organised through the EU-funded “Support to SME development in Armenia” (SMEDA) project, in cooperation with Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy and Goldsmiths University of London. The training will cover the start-up journey that businesses need in order to successfully obtain funding, with a particular focus on gearing up for crowdfunding. It aims to equip ... More