fi-compass Showcase 2019 submission – watch four video stories from France: FOSTER TPE-PME

Watch time: 1min

This fi-compass Showcase 2019 submission includes four video stories about FOSTER. The Occitanie Region together with the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) created and financed the financial instrument FOSTER TPE-PME under the current ESIF programming period 2014-2020, for a financial size of EUR 153 000 000. This is an initiative to support SMEs financing needs in most sectors of the economy, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) through loans, guarantees and equity and the agricultural, agri-business and forestry sectors’ financing needs, which is co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) through guarantees.

The videos showcase the following final recipients which benefited from financial support through the FOSTER TPE-PME financial instrument:

Move in Med has been the first project receiving financial support from FOSTER. This company helps the medical professionals and the patients to enhance the health care coordination thanks to a web platform called INU. The patients’ medical data is therefore gathered in one single and safe place. The company received a loan, co-financed with resources from ERDF, which enabled them to double the work force in a few months and improved its competitiveness on the market.
Face Verticale has been created by three high-altitude mountain guides who had a vision to offer a graduate training programme for rope access technicians. In the video, Hervé Blanchard, General Manager of Face Verticale and CEO of Mecamont, states that the investment was used for the rehabilitation and transformation of an old water tower into a training place. This allows the company to welcome bigger groups and to recreate specific working environment such as an industrial chimney for instance. The project received a guarantee, co-financed with resources from ERDF.
Resilient Innovation is a small company from Montpellier in the Occitanie Region. The loan received under the FOSTER initiative, co-financed with resources from ERDF, allowed them to implement their project, which primarily focuses on developing a device to help people who have physical movement limitations due to neurological impairment. The purpose of the device is to send an auditory stimulation through a sort of headset placed on the person’s head so that he/she can synchronise better his/her movements.
Ferme de Briola is an organic farm located in Saint Julien de Briola, France. In the video, Loic Albert, owner of the farm, explains how the investment was used for the modernisation of the milking parlour, which improves the working conditions and the quality of the product, and reduces the milking time. The farm received a guarantee on the financial support, co-financed with resources from the EAFRD.