Boosting jobs, growth and investment is one of the main priorities of the European Union. Inline with this goal, the European Commission considers entrepreneurship to be a powerful tool ingetting Europe growing again and increasing the number of jobs without creating new debt.

Social entrepreneurs and social enterprises are drivers of change that operate on the basis of viable business models. Social enterprises develop innovative approaches, models or practices for resolving societal challenges in an entrepreneurial way to promote inclusive, socially fair and environmentally sustainable economic development and social change. Their economic operations cover a broad spectrum of activities including,among others, social and economic integration of services for vulnerable and most-at-risk persons, social services of general interest, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and wastes, or producing renewable energy.

Thus, social enterprises can help meeting the Europe 2020 targets for employment, R&D / innovation, climate change / energy, education and poverty/social exclusion

However, lack of or poor access to finance is still perceived as one of the most significant barriers for starting up a social enterprise, ensuring its sustainability and growth. The funding system for social enterprises is underdeveloped in relation to the one used by other businesses and the demand of social enterprises for capital is not met in most parts of Europe.

• To contribute to the development of a social finance market by enabling more social enterprises to take on repayable finance for developing and scaling up their innovative business model.
• Disseminate examples of new feasible, suitable and reliable financial instruments, hybrid finance packages, and investment and financial funds in social enterprises throughout Spain and Europe.
• Encourage networking between the main actors of the social finance market in Europe, public administrations, and social entrepreneurs, etc., and also, learn from different models and good practice in developing and enhancing social finance across the Union, through organized sharing and disseminating of expertise and experience, and through presenting practical examples that demonstrate how to effectively invest in or complement suitable financial products.
• Disseminate successful social entrepreneurship and social innovation experiences implemented in the most sparsely populated European areas.