03/11/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission announced, on Tuesday 3 November, the launch of the ‘European Social Innovation and Impact Fund’ (ESIIF) aimed at linking social enterprises in the start-up phase with investors, in order to “close the financing gap” for these enterprises, the Commission explains. The fund - designed to benefit German companies working to solve problems in education, food, health or social services - will be backed by a guarantee provided by the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF). The ESIIF, which has a target volume of €20 million over 10 years, has already attracted capital commitments totalling €4.5 million and will issue the first loans to social enterprises by the end of 2020. (AC)