Seed Capital, Development and Orientation Fund (FARO)

COUNTRIES

Seed Capital, Development and Orientation Fund (FARO)

This fund will contribute to financing feasibility studies for innovative projects identified in partnership with OSEO and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Group. It also appeared necessary, as part of Union for the Mediterranean actions to support SMEs, to create a tool to support initiators of innovative small-scale projects, especially intended for diasporas, bi-national operators and, more generally, all those that share the will to serve the common interests of both sides of the Mediterranean.

Objective

This fund aims to finance feasibility studies for innovative projects identified in partnership with OSEO and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Group, which notably support the decision-making processes of donors and other pre-existing institutions.

How it works

The Fund allocates grants for a maximum of €20,000 to finance feasibility studies in order to make projects eligible for a pre-existing financial instrument. The grant is limited to 50% of the total cost of the feasibility study (excluding transport and accommodation costs).

These grants will not be repayable. However, the promoter will be asked to make a contribution on a voluntary basis to the operating costs for the network of entrepreneurs if his study has allowed him to benefit from financial support from an existing financial institution. Each promoter may only benefit from FARO support once.

FARO beneficiaries will be operators that are not already eligible for other financial support from France or community members in the region. They must provide evidence that they have been unsuccessful in their applications to the different donors.

All project initiators that request financial support from FARO will be required:

to demonstrate that the program brought about by the project will contribute to Mediterranean integration by involving operators that are established there, and come from at least three Mediterranean countries, with at least one a resident of a Southern Mediterranean country, including Turkey. There must be no direct relation with the relevant participants;
to be a legal entity with its headquarters located in the European Union;
to present a project which meets the defined eligibility criteria, particularly on the basis of criteria used by OSEO to qualify the innovative nature of the project,
to demonstrate that the program brought about by the project will have an economic, social and/or environmental impact in a Southern Mediterranean country;
to highlight the innovative nature of his program;
to give evidence of his capacity to cofinance the project.