Our flagship programmes are designed to address the finance and advisory needs of various groups of businesspeople, helping them grow and transform.
Women in Business
The EBRD's Women in Business programme is one of the Bank’s most celebrated initiatives, aimed at recognising and addressing the challenges faced by women-led businesses across our countries of operations. The programme promotes access to finance and a shift in the way in which local financial institutions serve women-led SMEs: providing them with introductions to business networks, know-how, and role models, to give them the support they need to take their businesses further and help to create an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship more broadly.
Blue Ribbon
The EBRD's Blue Ribbon programme delivers tailor-made financing and sector-specific advisory solutions – covering operational, management, and financial advisory – to high-growth SMEs over the course of five years – helping the SME make the right choices in the best possible way. Blue Ribbon is delivered across all EBRD countries of operations on an invitation-only basis.
Star Venture
The EBRD's Star Venture programme targets promising start-ups, accelerators and consultants, by leveraging a dedicated network of mentors and advisers to channel a whole range of bespoke advisory services; industry best practices; workshops; and mentoring and technical assistance, helping them to unleash their full potential.
Youth in Business and Skills in Business
The EBRD’s Youth in Business programme enables young entrepreneurs to access critically needed financing and technical assistance to grow their small businesses via dedicated credit lines to banks and microfinance institutions for on-lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises run by young entrepreneurs. The credit lines are complemented by technical assistance to partner banks to strengthen their lending capacity. In addition, young business owners and managers will have access to advice to increase their productivity and scale up their enterprises.
The Bank has a parallel Skills in Business credit facility with local banks, which aims to tackle the skills shortages and high employee turnover that hinder growth. Eligible small businesses that receive financing will also benefit from advisory support to recruit, train and retain staff and attract talent.
The Skills in Business advisory component is also available via the EBRD’s Direct Financing Framework and Risk-Sharing Facility across the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, supported by funding from the Small Business Impact Fund (Donors to the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund include Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the United States of America), and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
Business Development and Matching
The EBRD's Business Development and Matching programme mobilises SMEs in particular sectors to developed markets where SME owners and executives can meet potential overseas partners and expand their businesses through arranged 1:1 matching meetings and participation of international trade shows.
The Blue Ribbon programme offers a range of tailor-made advisory services and financing options for selected companies.
