SmartFi

The main objective of the project is to improve the efficiency and minimize the risk of financial instruments for innovation for SMEs through the integration of designing thinking skills and processes into the design and management of the financial instruments in order to become user friendly. The project will create a full guide that will help funding agencies/innovation agencies and managing authorities to improve the performance using design thinking.

The toolbox/guide, entitled “Design Option Paper”, will help innovation agencies/ funding agencies to:

• Minimize investment risks of the financial instruments by developing a method that can be used during the investment decision phase of all the financial products
• Create user friendly financial instruments by using the tool Financial Instrument Blueprint that will be developed
• Understand what are the needs of their target groups (SMEs) by using “Persona tool”
• Map SMEs journey when participating in a Financial Instrument by using the “Business Journey Tool”
• Identify the level of SMEs satisfaction per type and stage of a financial instrument
• Find the gaps/ issues and improve the process/ structure of the Financial Instruments
• Learn to test the new financial instrument before the full launch in the market by using “Prototyping Methods”

The Peer learning activity will serve to learn from the best and to share good and bad practices regarding the performance of financial instruments.

The realized Design Options Paper will serve as a “guide” or a “handbook” to other organizations that design and/ or implement financial instruments for SMEs.

Specific objectives of the project are the following:

• Creation of the peer learning group (≥8 persons, from the 3 regions involved) in order to strengthen the competences in designing and implementing financial instruments that support SMEs Innovation, through the application of Twinning + methodology.
• Evaluation of good practices related to financial instruments. Each partner will collect and evaluate 3 case studies of Financial Instruments.
• Create a handbook on how to use design to increase the performance of the financial instruments for SMEs. The Handbook (DOP) will be based on Design Thinking methods and will include: the methodology, the tools, how to do it tips and guidelines, practical examples and insights.
• Establishment of a sustainable partnership among the partners to engage in more frequent peer learning activities. A Memorandum of Understanding will be undersigned by the partners in the final phase of the project; it should be a first step of an EU based network of partners aiming to foster, enforce and develop more efficient and user-friendly financial instruments to SMEs.

To achieve the overall and specific objectives, the project will facilitate the knowledge exchange among the participants on the following matters:

• Piloting the Handbook and the toolbox in each participating region for 1 local financial instrument for SMEs. Each partner will use the methodology and the tools that will be developed, in 1 financial instrument from their regional or national Operational Programme for Jobs and Growth.
• Improvement of administrative and ‘back-office’ aspects in the management of financial programmes for SMEs.
• Enhancement of qualitative procedures in identifying the needs of SMEs and the most suitable financial instruments. The tools will support the innovation agencies to discover the unseen needs and habits of SMEs in order to use them to improve their financial instruments but also to increase the efficiency of the financial instruments.
• Identification of “good practices” among innovation agencies and intermediary organizations that design and implement financial instruments for SMEs.

• Business and Cultural Development Centre - KEPA, Greece, (Lead Partner)
• Regional Development Agency in Bielsko-Biała (ARSSA), Poland (Partner)
• National Innovation Agency – ANI, Portugal (Partner)