NESsT Venture Fund Portfolio in Central Europe

After having received pre-feasibility study, feasibility study, and business plan development support during the early stage, NESsT Venture Fund later-stage portfolio members receive an individually-tailored, multi-year venture financing and capacity-building package from NESsT to help start up or expand their social enterprise.

Click on the country names below to learn more about nonprofit organizations that are receiving later-stage support from the NESsT Venture Fund in Central & Eastern Europe to develop their social enterprises:

            - Croatia                        - Romania                            - Czech Republic             - Slovakia                   - Hungary            

To learn more about organizations that have exited our later stage click here.

To learn about other organizations we have worked with in Central & Eastern Europe in social enterprise planning and development click here.

1. Later-Stage Portfolio - Croatia                                   

The following organizations are currently members of  NESsT's later-stage portfolio in Croatia:


Organizacija za gradjanske inicijative (OGI)
(Osijek, Croatia)

Strengthening communities.

Click here to read the OSI Investment Brief.

Social Mission: OGI initiates and supports social
development processes in local communities through three programs: promotion of human rights, community development and support for nonprofit
organizations.

Social Enterprise: NESsT is assisting OGI to provide
specialized accounting and financial services to small and medium-size nonprofit organizations in the Slavonija and Baranja regions, helping them to improve the quality of their financial planning and
management capacities.


PRONI Centre for Social Education
(Osijek, Croatia)

Promoting youth education in post-war social reconstruction.

Click here to read the PRONI Investment Brief.

Social Mission: PRONI works to effect post-war social
reconstruction and decrease youth involvement with drugs and alcohol in Croatia by engaging young people in informal education and employment
opportunities. PRONI forges transnational partnerships to improve and expand its youth and information center networks to further promote reconciliation.

Social Enterprise: At Pirovac, on the Adriatic Coast,
PRONI offers commercial rental of their Residential
Centre for seminars, retreats and private recreational
use. PRONI also offers additional services such as
training and event facilitation.


RODA – Roditelji u Akciji
(Zagreb, Croatia)

Improving health through natural childbirth and maternal care.

Click here to read the RODA Investment Brief.

Social Mission: Through education, political advocacy, and active awareness campaigns, RODA works to bring
about widespread change in Croatian maternal care
and engender increased parental involvement in children’s lives. RODA promotes a society with more
responsible attitudes towards children, future parents
and families.

Social Enterprise: As part of its marketing strategy,
RODA educates stakeholders and the public on the
social, environmental, health, and finanical benefits of
using cloth diapers, as well as the advantages of natural childbirth and breastfeeding. Continued workshops and an expanded presence at parenting fairs will allow RODA to further promote the values of active parenthood and natural childcare.

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2. Later-Stage Portfolio - Czech Republic                  

The following organizations are currently members of  NESsT's later-stage portfolio in the Czech Republic:

z

Moznosti tu jsou
(Diakonie)

(Plzen, Czech Republic)

Improving social conditions for people with disabilities.

Click here to read the Diakonie "Investment Brief."

  

Social Mission: Diakonie works to create conditions for securing social services for mentally disabled people
and people in difficult life situations, including day care programs and housing.

Social Enterprise: Since 2005, Moznosti tu jsou (Diakonie) has operated the “Café and Tearoom Kacaba” in Plzen, which employs mentally disabled persons. The café plans to add a catering business
and transform it into a self-sustaining social enterprise in which at least 60% of the workers are mentally disabled.


Spolek Pratel
(Plzen, Czech Republic)

Improving social conditions for people with disabilities.

Click here to read the Spolek Pratel "Investment Brief."

    

Social Mission: Spolek Prátel seeks to improve the quality of life for low-income, at-risk youth in Frýdek–Místek through cultural, recreational and educational programs.

Social Enterprise: Spolek Prátel rents its theater and sports facilities and equipment to community groups (including sports teams, theater groups, families and
companies) for activities that are compatible with the organization’s social mission. It also runs a snack bar on its facilities that serves refreshments and snacks to visitors during events.


Transitions Online (TOL)
(Czech Republic)

Promoting independent journalism.

Click here to read the TOL "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: TOL is a nonprofit media development organization dedicated to strengthening the
professionalism, independence, and impact of journalism in postcommunist Central and Eastern
Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union by working with journalists, media outlets, and other groups.

Social Enterprise: NESsT is assisting TOL to derive
income from subscription sales of its online magazine on expert analysis and news coverage of Eastern and
Central Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. TOL also provides training to young journalists in postcommunist countries.

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3. Later-Stage Portfolio - Hungary                              

The following organizations are currently members of  NESsT's later-stage portfolio in Hungary:


Bárka Alapitvány

(Budapest, Hungary)

Promoting integration of people with disabilities.

Click here to read the Barka "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: Bárka works to promote the social
integration and acceptance of people with intellectual and combined disabilities through community development, creative workshops, day programs and housing provision.

Social Enterprise: Building on their existing sheltered workshop, Bárka is launching a social enterprise to develop and market a high quality, designer product line of unique home decoration and gift items -
such as candles - created by people with intellectual disabilities.


Káva Kulturális Mûhely

(Budapest, Hungary)

Educating disadvantaged youth through theatre.

Click here to read the Kava "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: Expert in educational theater, Kava develops and implements workshops to teach disadvantaged children about serious social problems such as discrimination, drug use, and crime.

Social Enterprise: Kava sells interactive, drama-based trainings to private companies and the general public, addressing social issues and topics such as worker burnout, tension, conflict resolution, theft, gender,
company loyalty, and mission and vision.


Kek Madar

(Szekszard, Hungary)

Creating economic and education opportunities to marginalized people

Click here to read the Kek Madar "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: Kek Madar strives to create economic
and educational opportunities for unemployed and marginalized people, providing them temporary employment, job training and child care to help them transition to full-time employment and independent
lives.

Social Enterprise: Kek Madar runs a restaurant that provides training and employment for physically and mentally disabled people, while at the same time providing a nutritious dining alternative for families and disabled people. The social enterprise also
demonstrates an example of successful integration of people with disabilities, who can then go on to find employment in the open job market after working in the restaurant.


Zold Kor
(Hajduboszormeny,
Hungary)

Promoting an environmentally sustainable future.

Click here to read the Zöld Kör "Investment Brief".

Social Mission: Zold Kor, or Green Circle, "Friends of the Earth Hungary" works to establish a living,
liveable and sustainable future through environmental and nature protection activities.

Social Enterprise: NESsT is helping Zold Kor to develop its municipal paper waste selection and recycling system. NESsT is providing support in market analysis, human resources management, and
financial planning.

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4. Later-Stage Portfolio - Romania                              

The following organizations are currently members of  NESsT's later-stage portfolio in Romania:

ACSIS
(Bucharest, Romania)

Providing new parents with support and assistance.

Click here to read the ACSIS "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: ACSIS works to promote children's rights to grow up in their own families, preventing child abandonment by providing new parents with support and assistance.

Social Enterprise: ACSIS aims to empower at-risk mothers to become financially independent by means of employment and training in its textile toys production workshops. NESsT is providing support to enable ACSIS to expand its workshop activities and tap into the high-potential market of large companies that have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.


Alaturi de Voi
(Iasi, Romania)

Improving the life of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Click here to read the Alaturi de Voi "Investment Brief".

Social Mission: To improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS in Romania.

Social Enterprise: ADV employs youths in a protected workshop that provides photocopying and binding services, painting and computers in addition to manufacturing and selling quality hand-made crafts such as textiles, glassworks, and calendars.


Fundatia Cartea Calatoare
(Focsani, Romania)

Increasing the social integration of people with sight-impairment.

Click here to read the Fundatia Cartea Calatoare "Investment Brief".

Social Mission: FCC works to facilitate access to culture, education and employment for people with sight-impairment, and to increase their social integration through the use of modern technologies.

Social Enterprise: FCC employees and volunteers will capitalize on a year’s experience producing audio books in DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) format to significantly expand its selection of feature-rich, navigable recordings and sell them to public libraries and individual customers.  Additionally, FCC will sell the necessary devices and software to public libraries that are required by law to accommodate disable readers.  Possible future expansion of the enterprise includes the production of audio guides for museum tours.


Fundatia Noi Orizonturi
(Hunedoara, Romania)

Enhancing the sustainable development of society.

Click here to read the Fundatia Noi Orizonturi "Investment Brief".

Social Mission: To promote moral values and advance social and vocational competencies amongst young people as a strategy for sustainable development of society. Noi Orizonturi’s main programs to achieve this mission are "Life" children's camps and ''Impact" youth clubs. "

Social Enterprise: Development of a 20-person chalet property in the picturesque resort of Straja in the Meridional Carpathians for year-round tourism.  The chalet provides accommodation and thus wintertime access to nearby ski resorts and a base for summer hiking excursions


Fundatia Romanian Angel - RAAF
(Bucharest, Romania)

Improving the life of youth and families with chronic illnesses.

Click here to read the RAAF "Investment Brief".

Social Mission: RAAF works to improve the quality of life for youth and families living with chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, who face discrimination and social exclusion. It has more than 15 years of experience in public health, delivering social, medical and educational services.

Social Enterprise: RAAF launched a non-mission related enterprise, in which they offer a course for pregnant women and couples on maternal and neonatal health care, as well as produce and sell educational DVDs to future parents.  RAAF aims to train 2500 couples in 2008 and 2009.

 

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4. Later-Stage Portfolio - Slovakia                               

The following organizations are currently members of  NESsT's later-stage portfolio in Slovakia:


Bambino Mother’s Center
(Poprad, Slovakia)

Supporting mothers for healthy babies and families.

Click here to read the Bambino Mother's Center "Investment Brief."

Social Mission: Bambino supports families and children by offering education and self-help classes for pregnant women, mothers and fathers.

Social Enterprise: The "School of Healthy Motherhood" provides fee-based courses on natural child delivery and parenting, addressing a serious need in Slovakia. Bambino's courses provide access to information on raising a healthy family - essential but largely unavailable to parents and soon-to-be parents - thereby contributing to the improvement of obstetrics in the region.


Vydra
(Cierny Balog, Slovakia)

Promoting sustainable rural development.

Social Mission: Vydra is committed to preserving
local traditions, culture and the environment in the rural microregion of Cierny Hron through education and sustainable development.

Social Enterprise: Vydra operates a tourist camp and café. Its second social enterprise is the operation of three tourist information centers that provide referrals, sell tourist packages and local souvenirs.
The tourist packages offer lodging, food services, and eco-tourism activities such as visits to "Open Air Forest Museum", rides on historic railroad, nature walks, horseback riding, eco games and cultural
presentations. Vydra also plans to convert its offices so they can be used for accommodations and activities.

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Click on the country below to download short profiles of the NESsT Venture Fund later-stage portfolio for that country:

Croatia               Romania       Czech Republic    Slovakia                    Hungary            

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NESsT Venture Fund Portfolio News Highlights

In Hungary, Czech Republic NESsT awards social enterprise competition winners

In Hungary, Czech Republic[Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic] NESsT and Citi announced the winners of the NESsT-Citi Social Enterprise Competition 2007-2008 in Hungary and the Czech Republic. This initiative supports the creation of social enterprises in Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia in order to increase self-sustainability of civil society organizations (CSOs). »more

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NESsT supports Kava to fight social problems in HunNESsT supports Kava to fight social problems in Hungarygary:

"This social enterprise changed our lives"
[Budapest, Hungary] NESsT is supporting Dramatrening, the social enterprise of Budapest-based nonprofit Kava Cultural Group, to bring theater techniques to businesses in an effort to change attitudes and behaviors of employees towards critical social issues in Hungary. »more


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