The Social Innovation Factory is a support structure for early-stage businesses support that also raises awareness about social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The chapter describes the organisation’s objectives, rationale and activities. It presents the challenges faced in implementing its programmes and the impact achieved to date. It concludes with the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

SAW-B is a federation of social economy actors, as well as a research and training centre, offering integrated support to social enterprises and shaping, through lobbying activities, an institutional landscape favourable to their development. This chapter presents the organisation’s objectives, rationale and main activities, along with the impact achieved and the challenges faced. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this initiative to other contexts.

The National Strategy for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship aims to establish an enabling and coherent policy framework for social-enterprise development in Croatia. This chapter describes the Strategy’s objectives, rationale and activities. It presents the challenges faced in its implementation and the impact achieved so far. It concludes with the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

Copenhagen Project House (KPH) is a local incubator facilitating the entrepreneurial process from idea to action. The underlying business model of the KPH incubator rests on a robust multi-partner mentoring scheme and strong partnerships. This chapter describes KPH objectives, rationale and activities. It also presents the challenges faced in implementing the scheme and the impact achieved. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

Alter’Incub is the first regional incubator driving the creation of social enterprises in France. It develops a multi-stakeholder response to unmet local needs and establishes an enabling the ecosystem for social enterprises. This chapter presents the objectives and rationale behind Alter’Incub’s creation, along with its main activities and impact. It discusses the challenges faced when implementing the support structure, the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this approach to other contexts.

The French Law on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), adopted in 2014, provides an enabling and encompassing regulatory framework to better support traditional SSE organisations and new social enterprises. This chapter describes the objectives and rationale of the Law, along with its main measures. It identifies some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have come to light, despite its recent implementation. Finally, it features some lessons learnt and conditions for potential replicability.

The Financing Agency for Social Entrepreneurship (FASE) is a financial intermediary providing hybrid financing to social enterprises. It uses a highly tailored, “deal-by-deal” approach in order to design innovative financing schemes that match the needs of social enterprises and impact investors. FASE objectives, rationale and key activities are presented together with the challenges faced in implementing the scheme and the impact it has achieved to date. Lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to another context are also included.

PHINEO is an intermediary providing market intelligence relevant to non-profit organisations and social enterprises seeking financing, as well as to social investors seeking a project. It also raises awareness of impact measurement as a useful function in substantiating and improving non-profit activity. This chapter describes the objectives and rationale of this intermediary, along with its key activities. It presents the impact it has achieved and the challenges it has faced. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for potential replicability in other contexts.

Clann Credo is a social-finance provider that mobilises private capital and provides retail loans to social enterprises. It aims to increase access to finance and strengthen the social investment market in Ireland. This chapter describes the organisation’s objectives and rationale, and provides an overview of its key activities. It also presents the impact and challenges faced, and features a discussion of the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

JEREMIE European Social Fund Social Finance is a financial instrument designed to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises and social enterprises in Sicily through a microfinance scheme. It aims to support the creation and development of organisations that promote the economic empowerment of vulnerable workers by facilitating access to the labour market. This chapter presents JEREMIE’s objectives, rationale and key activities, together with the challenges faced in implementing the scheme and the impact achieved. It also features the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

The Social Impact Factory is a business-support structure that aims to spur social enterprise creation and embed more socially responsible behaviours in businesses. It fosters multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral partnerships to tackle social challenges. This chapter describes the organisation’s objectives, rationale and activities. It also presents the challenges faced in implementing the structure and the impact achieved. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to other contexts.

ES Fund TISE is a pilot programme providing loans to social enterprises coupled with free advisory services. The programme aims to increase social enterprises’ access to finance, which is necessary to the expansion of their activity. This chapter describes the programme’s objectives and rationale, together with its main activities and structure. It presents the challenges faced in implementing the scheme and the impact achieved. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to other contexts.

Portugal Inovação Social acts as a market catalyst promoting the social investment sector in Portugal through the mobilisation of EU structural funds. Its funding programmes support innovative financing instruments tailored to the needs of both social enterprises and investors. This chapter describes the institution’s objectives, rationale and activities. It also presents the challenges faced, the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to other contexts.

The Barcelona City Council Decree for Socially Responsible Public Procurement was designed to tackle the city’s increasing unemployment, in particular of people with the most pressing socio-economic needs. Through a participatory process, binding social clauses for public procurement contracts were developed and adopted to facilitate social enterprises’ access to market. This initiative describes the Decree’s objectives and rationale, as well as its features. It presents the challenges faced in developing and implementing the Decree, and the impact it has achieved so far. It also includes lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

El Hueco is a co-working space and social-enterprise incubator. It aims to create a favourable environment for the creation and development of social enterprises, particularly in sparsely populated areas (SPAs) such as the Soria province of Spain. This chapter describes the organisation’s objectives, rationale and activities. It presents the challenges faced in implementing the structure and the impact achieved. It concludes with the lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to other contexts.

The Big Potential programme provides grants for investment readiness support, and raises awareness of investment approaches for voluntary, community and social enterprises in England. This chapter describes the programme’s objectives, rationale and activities, the challenges faced in implementing the scheme, and the impact achieved. It includes lessons learnt and conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

The Partnership for Supporting the Social Enterprise Strategy is a multi-level framework, designed and supported by the Scottish Government. It aims to develop the capacity of social enterprise intermediaries to provide a holistic “peer support” network, and enhance the sector’s collective influence and contribution to policy development. This chapter describes the Partnership’s objectives, rationale and activities, as well as the challenges faced in implementing the scheme and the impact achieved so far. It concludes with the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

Specialisterne and SAP have established a partnership that aims to harness the special skills of people with autism, and provide them with training and work-integration opportunities. To this end, they have implemented the “Autism at Work Programme”. This chapter describes the partnership’s objectives, rationale and key activities, together with the challenges faced in implementing it and the impact it has achieved to date. It concludes with the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

Junior Achievement Europe (JA Europe) designs and implements educational programmes that aim to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and skills among students. This chapter describes the objectives, rationale and activities of JA Europe. It presents the challenges faced in implementing its programmes and the impact achieved to date. Finally, it highlights the lessons learnt and the conditions for transferring this practice to another context.

NESsT supports and invests in social enterprises that use market-based solutions to create opportunities for viable employment and income generation in Central and Eastern Europe, and South America. The description presents the objectives, rational and key activities of NESsT. It also discusses the challenges faced and the conditions for transferring it to another context.