Innovative Enterprise Week
21st of June 2019

21 June 2019
Venue: Politehnica University of Bucharest
Conference “Financial Instruments: the mainstream of European funding of innovation”

Financial instruments have a long history is some European countries’ investment support schemes through their National Promotional Banks and Institution, and they have come to play an important role in the EU budget as well. Indeed, financial instruments boast several benefits due to:
- The revolving nature of the funds: financial instruments enhance the sustainability of public investment as the funds allocated to the support schemes can be recycled for future use;
- The leverage effect: financial instruments leverage private and public funds, thus increasing the amount of money available;
- The incentives for better performance: by sharing the risk involved and the repayable nature of the financial instruments, project promoters demonstrate greater financial soundness.In addition, financial instruments may complement grant financing and other support to achieve Union policy objectives and contribute to Europe’s economic growth and jobs creation.

With the adoption of the proposal for the InvestEU Programme on 6 June 2018, the European Commission reinforced its commitment to the use of financial instruments. InvestEU will bring together the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the EU, making it more efficient, simpler and more flexible. The Programme will consists of three components:
- The InvestEU Fund will support four policy areas: sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation and digitisation; SMEs; and social investment and skills, with the ability to react to market changes and evolving policy priorities.
- The InvestEU Advisory Hub will provide technical support and assistance to help with the preparation, development, structuring and implementation of projects, including capacity building.
- The InvestEU Portal will bring together investors and project promoters via a user-friendly database.
Moreover, in contrast to its predecessor – the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) – the InvestEU Fund and the InvestEU Advisory Hub will be open to implementing partners other than the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, in order to ensure that the beneficiaries receive the best possible support with easiest access.

The objective of this day will be to:

  • Explore market failures and investment gaps in Europe and the potential of financial instruments to close them.
  • Share experience and lessons-learnt between practitioners on setting up and running financial instruments and between companies on how to take advantage of available funding.
  • Discuss the role of advisory services in strengthening Europe's investment and business environment.
Time
21st of June 2019
08:00-09:00
Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:00-09:30
Welcome address
• Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Unit Financial Instruments, DG RTD, European Commission
• Iliyana Tsanova, Deputy Managing Director of the European Fund for Strategic Investment
09:30-10:00
Presentation  of the pitching results
10.00-11.30
InvestEU Programme - Building on the successes of EFSI and existing financial instruments
Presentation: Agnieszka Skonieczna, Team Leader, Financing of innovation, competitiveness and employment policies, DG ECFIN, European Commission
Moderator: Eleodor - Mihai Mandreş, State Secretary, Romanian Ministry of Public Finances
• Iliyana Tsanova, Deputy Managing Director of the European Fund for Strategic Investment
• Shiva Dustdar, Head of Innovation Finance Advisory Division, EIB ( View presentation )
• Eric Regnery, Executive Director and Head of the Department “Central Services Promotion Business”, NRW.BANK
• Michael Collins, Chief Executive Officer, Invest Europe  

Panel G: The role of advisory support and capacity building in boosting R&I investments

Moderator: Florin Paun, Innovation Coach
• Ines Rocha, Director for Financial Products, SME Finance and Development, EBRD
• Simon Barnes , Head of Advisory Services, European Investment Bank
• Nicolas Sabatier, Advisor to the Director, DG RTD, European Innovation Council, European Commission
• Nils Schumacher, Chief Legal Officer, Indivumed ( View presentation )
• Dragos Pislaru, Member of the European Parliament 2019-2024, former Minister of Labor, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly
11:30-12:00
Coffee break
12:00-13:30
Panel H: Responsible research and innovation – Impact investments
Keynote: Roxana Damaschin-Tecu, NESsT

Moderator: Dragos Pislaru, Member of the European Parliament 2019-2024, former Minister of Labor, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly
• Roxana Damaschin-Tecu, NESsT ( View presentation )
• Nicolas Sabatier, Advisor to the Director, DG RTD, European Innovation Council, European Commission ( View presentation )
• Adalisa Vladacenco, Senior Investment Manager, European Investment Bank ( View presentation )
• Oana Craioveanu, CEO, Impact Hub Bucharest

Panel I: How guarantees help innovative start-ups, SMEs and midcaps (1 hour)‍
Keynote: Maja Tomanič-Vidovič, Director, Slovene Enterprise Fund

Moderator: Dragos Jaliu, Managing partner, Structural Consulting™ Group
• Ciprian Cristea, Head of Unit, COSME Financial Instruments, European Commission ( View presentation )
• Maja Tomanič-Vidovič, Director, Slovene Enterprise Fund ( View presentation )
• Karl Adams, Member of the Board of Directors, SOWALFIN ( View presentation )
13:30-14:15
Lunch break & Networking
14:15-15:15
Panel J: European, regional and national venture capital scene
Keynote:  Irina Anghel-Enescu, Managing Director, South Eastern European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association  ( View presentation )

Moderator: Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Unit Financial Instruments, DG RTD, European Commission
• Dan Mihaescu, Founding Partner, GapMinder
• Marius Ghenea, 3TS Capital Partners
• Michael Collins, Chief Executive Officer, Invest Europe  
• Herty Tammo, Founding Partner, Startup Wise Guys
• Vladimir Oane, Founder, uberVU
• Adrian Kamenitzer, Director for Equity, New Products and Special Transactions, European Investment Bank
‍
15:15-15:45
Closing Session & Wrap up –  taking innovation funding forward
• Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Unit Financial Instruments, DG RTD, European Commission
• Adrian Kamenitzer, Director for Equity, New Products and Special Transactions, European Investment Bank
• Adrian Curaj, Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding
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The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon
2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874796.

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