Marc Impact Programme

High-Impact Enterprise Scaling Programme boosting finance-readiness and social impact

An international programme for organisations from Central and Eastern Europe (currently Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Serbia) to boost finance readiness and social impact.

Programme partners

Why Marc?

With 15 million people being at risk of poverty in Central and Eastern Europe, Marc empowers bold entrepreneurs to lead change. Backed by ERSTE Foundation, Erste Social Finance, SIMPACT and IFUA Nonprofit, Marc bridges critical gaps in funding and know-how, helping high-impact enterprises grow, adapt, and build a more inclusive, sustainable future.

Marc in numbers:

5 Countries

70 high-impact enterprises accelerated

2,5
million + EUR funding raised by Marc alumni

What does the programme offer?

To reflect on the market differences among countries, Marc partners with local players, who are responsible for the local programmes. However, all local programmes generally offer the following:

Growth camp and Group trainings

Several group trainings or a two-day long boot camp, where our Marc participants receive expert guidance and knowledge sharing on topics such as

Scalability, impact scaling: how to define, plan, measure, communicate and increase social or environmental impact
Financeability: support to attract external funding
Business modelling
Driving sales, marketing, etc.

As a result of our training scheme, participants will get:

A roadmap to financeability and scaling: showing where you are and how you can improve
Best practices in operating a high-impact enterprise

Individual Mentoring and Consultancy

One size doesn’t fit all. Support tailored to your needs, with a focus on your business success and growth
One-on-one mentoring for 3-5 months
Altogether 15-30 individual mentoring hours per participant
Mentors are selected to match development needs of participants

As a result of our mentoring, participants will get:

An individual development plan & status assessment
An external expert point of view on your challenges

Pitching and Funding opportunities

Our participant introduction brochure is distributed among regional and local Impact Investors
We help with pitch preparation through expert coaching
Our re:Marc event hosts pitches with the participation of Investors and loan providers
Opportunity to receive non-refundable financial support to take another step in scaling your impact

As a result of our mentoring, participants will get:

Tips and tricks for a dazzling pitch
Opportunity to receive non-refundable financial support to take another step in scaling your impact

CEE Impact Economy Ecosystem and Network

Long-term access to a community of like-minded impact entrepreneurs as well as other stakeholders of the impact ecosystem in seven CEE countries.
Regular Alumni events
Access to further knowledge sharing
Invitation to our annual re:Marc event

As a result of our mentoring, participants will get:

Introductions to potential partners, investors, and collaborators
Access to an extensive impact network

Who can apply?

We have only two major criteria:

Exemplary participants from Marc cohorts

Most participants fall into these categories, but if your enterprise creates impact differently, feel free to apply!

For detailed description of eligibility criteria:

Startups with impact

Marc is for you if you are a health tech or green tech Startup, or have education, culture, or any other social or ecological impact in the focus of your startup. If you are a dynamic enterprise/startup with hardware involved (not tech), and you generate social or ecological impact, Marc is also for you.

Nonprofit Organizations with a business arm

Marc is for you, if you lead a non-profit organisation, which runs a significant business, and aims to earn sustainable and growing business incomes.

Social Enterprises for employment

Marc is for you, if you lead an enterprise that employs people with disabilities. In some of our countries, you may be called WISE (Work Integration Social Enterprise). Social enterprises providing services also fall into a similar category.

Enterprises with Organic, Natural, Traditional values

Marc is for you if you operate in sustainable agriculture, organic farming or food production, or organic food sales or catering. If you produce goods with traditional methods or a small environmental footprint, Marc is also for you. But only if you are striving for financial sustainability and/or looking for ways to grow your impact!

Forprofit businesses building an impact arm

Marc is for you, if you lead a successful business who is looking to generate significant social or ecological impact. But only if you can prove your dedication to this new journey.

Are you interested?

Why choose our programme?

Tailored Impact Advisory — Built Around You

Get personalised, context-aware guidance designed to amplify your social and environmental impact, aligned with your growth journey.

"Marc is not for a startup or an enterprise. It is only for impact enterprises”

Access to relevant funding pathways and impact centric support instruments

We don’t promise investments — we help you get investment-ready, connect with the right ecosystems, and build the resilience to grow on your terms.

"We meet impact investors, not just VCs, and learn about SDGs and impact measurement—traditional startup or enterprise accelerators don't offer that."

Access to relevant funding pathways and impact centric support instruments

We don’t promise investments — we help you get investment-ready, connect with the right ecosystems, and build the resilience to grow on your terms.

"We meet impact investors, not just VCs, and learn about SDGs and impact measurement—traditional startup or enterprise accelerators don't offer that."

Check out our mentors

One size does not fit all. Our mentors offer you tailored individual coaching, and we are selecting them for you to match your development needs.

Main stages of the program:

June 2026 onwards

Ongoing alumni activities and closing the current Marc cycle. Preparing and starting the new round of the programme

Download our yearly report

In this report, you may read about Marc accomplishments and Impact.

Success stories

Please take into consideration that often we can’t state concrete details due to confidentiality reasons.

Help Autism developed a social franchise during the Marc bootcamp, then secured a €1M loan and already signed two franchise agreements, as their impact goal is that in 5y to help as many kids as they have helped in the last 15 years.

Help Autism

Minimist successfully secured 350,000 EUR in pre-seed funding, which has been allocated to support the development of its innovative technology and to facilitate its plans for international scaling, while also achieving being a finalist in the prestigious Austrian Startup Cup competition.

Minimist

ByeAgain has now successfully secured the necessary funding from Erste Social Banking in the form of quasi equity to scale their operations and meet the demand emerging from ongoing commercial partnerships.

ByeAgain

As a result of Marc, PiciordePlay sdeveloped a clearer and a more compelling project narrative, which they now use in funding proposals and stakeholder communication. Notably, they received a pre-approval for a social impact loan from BCR Social Finance.

PiciordePlay

With the help of Marc, Rugaminte strengthened their fundraising approach and secured new funding opportunities through more strategic and targeted proposals. The development of their Theory of Change significantly enhanced how they communicate their mission and results to stakeholders/partners.

Rugaminte

Merova Health was distinguished as one of the top six startups out of a competitive poolof 360 participants at NN Social Innovation Award, where it not only captured the admiration and support of NN employees but also earned a grant of €10,000.

Merova Health

SSH Systems successfully secured a European Union grant of 500,000 EUR, which has been allocated to entering international markets with their innovative product, the "SSH boards," while also supporting comprehensive promotional activities to enhance their global presence and market reach.

SSH Systems

Independo received the prestigious recognition of being named the Top Edtech Startup of 2024at Trending Topics Awards, while also being declared a winner of the WSA Young Innovators Award, further solidifying its position as a leader in educational technology innovation.

Indipendo

Jobs4All has successfully secured financial support from NESsT, an organization dedicated to providing funding and resources to social enterprises, further enabling the company to advance its mission and expand its impact.

Jobs4All

Curtea Culorilor successfully obtained a grant of 100,000 EUR, along with valuable pro-bono support, to aid in the development and construction of their pasta workshop, which aims to scale their impact and expand their business operations.

Curtea Culorilor

MATR received recognition at the CIRCULAZE Night & Summit 2024, where it was celebrated as one of the leading startups making a significant impact in advancing and shaping the future of the circular economy.

MATR

Social Cooling achieved notablerecognition by being named a winner of the Greenstart 2024 program, while also earning the distinction of being a finalist in the highly competitive Austrian Startup Cup, showcasing its innovative contributions and growing impact.

Social Cooling

iFresh successfully secured a financial boost in the form of a 60,000 EUR loan, which is allocated to support both its infrastructure development and working capital needs in order to reach its ambition of increasing the number of local producers they collaborate with.

iFresh

Academia Clar wasawarded a state grant amounting to 70,000 EUR, which will provide significant financial support to finalise its business model and provide psychological tools to more people working with people to contribute to healthier interactions. (RO)

Academia Clar

EnergyTrack successfully obtained a workingcapital loan of 50,000 EUR from EBOe, which will play a crucial role in supporting the enterprise’s ongoing operations and financial stability, enabling a more energy-efficient economy.

EnergyTrack

EcoVolve

Within the EcoVolve project (Full project name: EcoVolve: Evolutionizing Ecosystems for Social Enterprises in the CEE Region, Project number: 101188814) funded by the European Union the consortium partners are IFUA Nonprofit Partner, SIMPACT, Erste Social Finance, Erste Group Bank and Impact Europe. Our goal is to develop innovative financial instruments and capacity-building programmes for Social Enterprises and Impact Startups – businesses that create positive social or environmental impact.

EcoVolve strives to address the needs of early-stage social finance markets in selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. We are working to build a more supportive ecosystem by addressing both the supply side (through the development of new impact-linked financing tools and the setup of an impact fund) and the demand side (through tailored capacity-building programmes for social enterprises).

New innovative financing structures tailored to the needs of young social finance markets, encompassing impact-linked financial instruments and provision through newly established impact fund (supply side) and related capacity-building services for social enterprises (SEs) (demand side) will be developed.

What will be the major outcomes of EcoVolve?

Impact-linked financing for social enterprises
A new impact fund structure
A practical, hands-on capacity-building programme rolled out across more countries in the region.

For further information and publications