The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Union launch the new phase of the Climate Innovation Voucher scheme as part of the FINTECC programme, aimed at increasing SMEs’ competitiveness to develop and implement climate technologies. After successful implementation in Ukraine since 2017 with EUR 1 million of grant funding, the programme continues to support the country offering grants to ecosystem for clean-tech SMEs.
The Climate Innovation Vouchers (CIV) project is a component of EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme, supported by the EU through its EU4CLIMATE initiative. In 2017, Ukraine became the first country to benefit from the EBRD Innovation Vouchers Scheme.
The next round of applications for CIV opens for Ukrainian innovators on April 22nd, 2021. The next CIV phase allocates EUR 1 million in EU grants for Ukrainian companies. Small and medium-sized businesses can receive up to EUR 50,000 to develop climate innovations and green technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy consumption.
SMEs legally registered in Ukraine at least 1 year before the project submission date could cover up to 75% of expenses for development of new green products or approaches. Applications, key selection criteria, registration for service providers will be available electronically on website: https://climate.biz/. The event on 22 April will focus on presenting the rules and procedures of the CIV scheme and share results of previous beneficiaries under the programme.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has appointed the Greencubator-led consortium to support implementation of next phase of the Climate Innovation Vouchers.
The CIV scheme’s initial stage has generated success stories across many industries, from sustainable mobility to resource-efficient metallurgy. 216 companies in Ukraine applied for the Climate Innovation Voucher during the first phase of the project implementation, and 26 won grant funding.
The CIV scheme has contributed to the creation of some core technologies at the heart of many Ukrainian green innovations. The project has provided grants and support to companies like the maker of Guinness record-winning e-bikes Delfast; developer of energy-generating solar blinds SolarGaps; producer of energy-saving recuperators PRANA; operators of e-mobility solutions TOKA, GO TO-U and Autoenterprise; creator of the portable food safety lab for field detection of mycotoxins in crops BIOsens; developer of metal 3D printing technology using titanium wire xBeam3D, etc.
10 CIV beneficiaries became a part of the Green Expedition media project implemented by Ukrainer in cooperation with Greencubator. The list of winners of phase I is available here: https://climate.biz/winners/?lang=en.
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The EBRD is the largest international institutional investor in Ukraine. To date, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost €14.6 billion through 488 projects since the start of its operations in the country and €3 billion through 142 projects in 2020. The Bank has ambitions to become majority green bank by 2025.
The European Union supports FINTECC in the Eastern Partnership countries as part of its EU4CLIMATE initiative with a contribution of €15.4 million in grant support, including to the Climate Innovation Voucher Scheme in Ukraine. EU4CLIMATE aims to assist EaP countries in implementation of their climate commitments and introduction of climate-sensitive policies and actions. Find out more here: euneighbours.eu; eu4business.eu.
