Facilitating early-stage financing for innovative enterprises:
UNECE experts meet in Moscow on 23 May
Geneva, 20 May 2008 -- International experience has shown that innovative enterprises often encounter difficulties when raising finance for starting and expanding their business. In countries with transition economies, in particular, commercial banks frequently reject project proposals by small and medium-sized companies because of inadequate collateral, uncertain cash flow prospects and insufficient clarity of business plans of applying companies. Barriers to bank financing are particularly high for those start-ups whose competitive strength is based on research and development, and innovation. In order to raise finance externally, they need to present compelling proposals to would-be investors and lenders, understand the various financing options available, their implications for the future financial status of their enterprise and the best ways to present the information required by financial intermediaries.
These and other issues of enterprise “investment readiness” will be discussed at the Applied Policy Seminar “Early-Stage Financing and “Investment Readiness” of Innovative Enterprises” co-organized by the All-Russian Organization of Small and Medium Business “Opora Russia” and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on 23 May in Moscow.
National and international experts will address topics of major importance to early-stage financing of innovative enterprises: sources of external funding for these enterprises, which include specialized financial intermediaries such as business angels and venture capitalists, and conditions rendering these enterprises attractive for external investors (convincing business plan, reliable assessment of the available tangible and intangible assets, good understanding of market trends and demand for goods and services to be produced, etc). The Seminar will also discuss the role of central and local governments in facilitating the early stage financing of innovative enterprises, and reflect on ways and means of improving the regulatory and institutional environment in this area.
Good practices identified at the Seminar are expected to facilitate policy measures aimed at reducing barriers to early-stage financing of innovative enterprises, and feed into the future capacity-building activities in transition economies of the region.
The Seminar will be held at ROSPATENT, Berezhkovskaya Naberezhnaya, 30, Building 1, Moscow on Friday 23 May 2008, 9.30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Iouri Adjoubei
Economic Affairs Officer
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 2488
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
or
Mr. José Palacin
Economic Affairs Officer
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 1643
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
UNECE Economic Cooperation and Integration Division
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Website: http://www.unece.org/ceci/eed.html.
Ref: ECE/ECID/08/P04