Serbia

WB EDIF has seen very good take-up from both equity and debt instruments in Serbia. Under the first round of financing of the Guarantee Facility,  the EIF signed an agreement with Unicredit Serbia in 2014 and then another agreement with ProCredit Serbia in 2016 under the second round of EU financing attributed to the Guarantee Facility, due to the success under the first round.

The Fund Managers of ENIF and ENEF have also been actively investing in Serbian SMEs.

Under ENIF, the early stage fund, there have been investments in Drytools/Alchemy, a business as a software & project management tools for specialty chemicals industry; in CityExpert, a platform for publishing real estate opportunities; in WorkPuls, a productivity monitoring software for companies; and in CUBE, a business information and credit risk service company, Hunch Insight: an Ad-tech SaaS technology company that helps businesses deliver automated, optimized, and personalized ads to users on leading digital advertising platforms, Virtus Vita: a global dialysis & travel organization, Tradecore: a company providing large enterprises and new companies come to for ways to keep up with changes and optimize their businesses, to keep up with innovation, lower costs, increase revenue, and stay in compliance with changing rules and regulations, Content insights a company providing a software for gauging content quality to help editors assess as well as monitor their content on the web, in Agremo: an analysis platform for better crop management, in Molo: SaaS platform for the boating industry, in LeanPay: consumer financing Fintech start-up, in Videobolt: an online video-making platform and in ConveyIQ: an HR tech company, providing talent communication and recruitment optimization.

To see one of these companies in action watch our case study video for Drytools/Alchemy.

Under ENEF, the expansion stage fund, there have been investments in Delmax, a manufacturing and services company for car parts distribution’; in Gomma line, also operating in the same industry, in BG reklam: a company designing, developing and manufacturing permanent point-of-sale materials, in BG Reklam: a company designing, developing and manufacturing permanent point-of-sale materials and in Bel Medic: Serbian private healthcare provider.

On the Support Services side

• The EBRD’s Advice for Small Businesses  (ASB) has provided advisory support to 107 projects in total,  helping SMEs in Serbia to grow, enhance competitiveness and bankability. Two investee companies financed through ENEF have also been supported through ASB.
• Led by the OECD, the Small Business Act (SBA) assessment supported Serbia in improving SME policy making and enhancing the capacity of its policy makers in addressing related challenges,
• The World Bank Investment Readiness Program “Pioneers of the Balkans” provided mentoring to entrepreneurs to help them get access to external sources of funding,
• The World Bank Investment Readiness Programme trhough its PowerUp: Capacity Building for Early Stage Firms in the Western Balkans” supported several companies in Serbia
• Via the EIB, an ex-Ante Study on Financial Instruments for SMEs in Serbia was implemented, with supporting capacity building sessions held in Belgrade. An IP Toolkit was distributed to participants of the Workshop held in Science Techno Park Belgrade