The “Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations” (CDC), the Tunisian Association of Capital Investors (ATIC), Smart Capital and Tunisian Startups are launching “SAVE”, a 3 million dinars financial instrument to support the startups most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Financed by the CDC and “INNOV’I”, a European Union program implemented by Expertise France, “Save” is an initiative created after the formation of a taskforce composed of the CDC, ATIC, Tunisian Startups and Smart Capital.
The objective is to survey, support the ecosystem weakened by this crisis, analyze its needs and come out with an offer that can meet its challenges, the Ministries of Finance and Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation said in a joint statement Monday.
Deployed by the Ministries of Finance and the Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation, “SAVE” is a repayable advance ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 dinars for labeled startups that run the risk of liquidation or staff layoff.
To benefit from this funding mechanism, startups are called to submit their applications, until August 23, 2020, on the Startups Portal save.startupact.tn.
Reimbursement is required if the Startup achieves certain objectives such as fundraising.
Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem, Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation said the SAVE instrument is intended to be “an appropriate response to this need”.
Of the 292 Startups labeled to date, several have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis and need support to overcome its impact and regain their viability, he pointed out.
