Local financing to strengthen local entrepreneurship, pre-study

The purpose is to investigate the needs and conditions to create digital and physical meeting places where entrepreneurs from the area can seek investors who want to invest in the company's development. Financing of business development in rural areas is often difficult for both new entrepreneurs and for companies that want to grow. Increased distances to banks, and the banks' regulations on how they can engage, present greater challenges for entrepreneurs to meet today. Even more difficult, studies show, is it for women to access external capital to realize a business idea.

The project owners want to use this feasibility study to further investigate the conditions to promote investments with equity loans in limited companies similar to the model that Lokalfinansering Gotland has developed (www.gotland.lokalfinansiering.se) alternatively in collaboration with them, for a locally owned variant. We particularly want to study success factors for how women and young entrepreneurs can better succeed in attracting external capital and how investors can be influenced by making investments with a more norm-critical approach. 
 

When the project is completed, there should be a proposal on how to proceed to build a process with a digital service that can facilitate financing for more entrepreneurs in the Leader area. The feasibility study should also propose how an organization should be structured to own and manage the service, as well as how it should be financed in the development phase and subsequently in long-term operation. 

LAG board's justification

”The LAG board prioritizes the project as the feasibility study will produce the important materials needed to create a service that will facilitate financing for entrepreneurs, an area where there is a great need throughout the entire Leader area.”