The funding is to be invested alongside private investors and will support Croatian SMEs, small midcaps and midcaps’ access to growth and expansion equity capital. EIF and HBOR contribute EUR 35 million each to this jointly developed programme, which is expected to catalyse additional private-sector investments into funds and companies.

The objective of CROGIP is to support Croatian SMEs, small midcap and midcaps, to attract private equity investment to Croatia and to build local capacity by supporting fund managers which focus a significant part of their investments into Croatian companies.

EIF will manage and deploy CROGIP, through fund investments into private equity funds, and co-investments alongside funds and private investors on market terms. The programme is not restricted to any particular sector.

Part of the investment programme is dedicated to local market development and capacity building. As part of CROGIP, EIF will manage a separate selection process which will target teams that are established in Croatia and who are focusing their investment activities in Croatia. Please see the link below to apply:

Closed call for Croatian focused financial intermediaries

This financing programme is launched by EIF under the EIF-NPI Equity Platform and the Investment Plan for Europe in cooperation with EU National Promotional Institutions. HBOR became a founding member of the EIF-NPI Equity Platform’s General Forum in September 2016.

Are you a fund manager interested in partnering with us under the Croatian Growth Investment Programme?

Both fund investments and co-investment capital is provided by EIF to selected fund managers with positive track records, and further based on the criteria as demonstrated below. Additional criteria may apply in each case.

As EIF’s local partner, HBOR can provide local support and reference to fund managers who are seeking to increase their presence in Croatia. Interested fund managers can be in touch with EIF to inquire about facilitation of such contact.

Fund investments:

Fund managers interested in being considered for a fund investment can submit their fund proposal to EIF. Proposals are being considered on a continuous basis.

In order to be considered for funding under the CROGIP, the investment fund must:

Be managed by a team with a proven track record;
Have a strategy focused on growth and expansion investments (including acquisition, buy-and-build, and replacement capital strategies that include capital increase in the portfolio companies);
Provide a majority of equity or quasi-equity funding to portfolio companies;
Target to invest at least 70% of amounts drawn down from all investors in the Fund in companies that are established in Croatia and:
1. Have Croatia as country of its main operations; and/or
2. Receive an investment aimed at establishing or developing a long-term presence in Croatia (i.e. indicated by significant workforce in Croatia or otherwise, in any case excluding the operation of retail facilities (e.g. shopping mall);
3. Be an SME (EC definition), small mid-cap or mid-cap (up to 3000 FTEs); and
4. Not be in the Early Stage (i.e. Seed and Start-up investment stages as defined by Invest Europe, such definition as updated from time to time).

Additional criteria may apply, and will be provided by EIF upon review of the investment proposal.

Other than the continuous selection process, a specific selection process for local teams will be launched in March 2019.

Co-investments:

EIF will provide co-investment capital to selected fund managers who:

Have an established relationship with EIF;
Have a positive track record;
Are proposing a co-investment in a new or existing portfolio company of their main investment fund, in which EIF is an existing investor.

The co-investment capital will be provided through a co-investment vehicle, which is set up and managed by the fund manager. The fund manager will invest in the target company from the co-investment vehicle alongside an investment from the main investment fund. The size of investment will be assessed in each case. There are no pre-defined maximum or minimum amounts.

Interested fund managers should submit to EIF a co-investment proposal targeting an identified target company through their existing EIF relationships or contact EIF for further information.

Should the investment proposal meet the criteria listed below, EIF will conduct an initial screening to determine eligibility before proceeding.

The target company must:

Be an SME (EC definition), small mid-cap or mid-cap (up to 3000 FTEs);
Be seeking private equity financing (i.e. the company must be beyond seed and start-up stage);
Have strong growth prospects;
With respect to location of the enterprise, it must be established in Croatia and:
1. Have Croatia as country of its main operations and/or
2. Receive an investment aimed at establishing or developing a long-term presence in Croatia (i.e. indicated by significant workforce in Croatia or otherwise, in any case excluding the operation of retail facilities (e.g. shopping mall) and/or
3. Have other significant links to Croatia, as substantiated by the Investment Fund Manager.

Additional criteria may apply, and will be provided by EIF upon review of the co-investment proposal.

Contacts and submission of investment proposals

If you are a fund manager, please read more about how to submit your investment proposal to the EIF or be in touch with your existing EIF relationship manager.

If you are a company interested in the funding described above, please refer to investment funds in EIF's portfolio, a list of which can be found here.