500 business entities successfully applied for the Fifth Call for Proposals from the Challenge Fund for Innovative Business Ideas, which closed on 15 April 2020. Initial funding of up to 750.000 EUR is intended for mature businesses, as well as startups with innovative ideas, products, or services that can lead to lower unemployment, increased competitiveness, and sustainable socio-economic development in BiH.

And this time, selected beneficiaries from the startup category, registered for at least 6 months, can receive a maximum grant of up to EUR 10.000, while beneficiaries from the category of mature businesses up to 250 employees, who have been in business for more than two years, can count on support up to a maximum of 30.000 EUR. Applicants must provide a minimum own contribution of 50% of the total value of the proposed project. The project implementation period cannot exceed 12 months. The first stage of evaluation of the submitted applications is underway, while the minimum number of points that the project must earn to go to the second stage of evaluation is 60. After the evaluation process, a final selection of ideas will be made and will be supported by the Challenge Fund grant.

As many as 2.074 business entities from BiH and Sweden have applied for the previous 4 public calls. So far, 63 beneficiaries have implemented the project and the implementation of which has been earmarked for around 1,4 million EUR. 

Over 300 new jobs have been created by their realization. The implementation of 70 projects is underway, with some 1,6 million EUR foreseen for the Challenge Fund.

The realization of the project so far has shown that Bosnia and Herzegovina has significant innovative potential and that improvements and improvements of business processes, creation of new products and services are possible in all sectors and all business entities. Supported ideas include those in the IT field, such as innovative hardware and software for smart installations, an innovative web platform for marketing domestic products, but also projects that innovatively dispose of waste from primary production, thus contributing to the conservation of the environment and at the same time creating new products.

The Challenge Fund also supported the introduction of new technologies in the food processing, metal and wood industries, such as innovative shotgun technology or the construction of a brand new sheet metal bending machine, as well as projects that improved the manufacturing process and created new innovative products that found a place and on the market of Sweden, Germany, Norway, Romania, Slovakia ...

The Challenge Fund was established within the Challenge to Change project - a C2C totaling around 5 million EUR financially supported by the Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation - Sida / Embassies of Sweden in BiH, implemented over five years by the Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency SERDA and the Development Agency of the Republic of Srpska (RARS). A partner in the project is the Region of Ostergotland, Eastern Sweden.