The recent FI4INN knowledge exchange in Slovenia offered valuable insights into how financial instruments can better support innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable growth across Europe. Discussions among partners and stakeholders revealed key lessons from Slovenia’s approach to designing impact-oriented financial tools and fostering collaboration between the business, public, and creative sectors.
A central theme was the integration of financial innovation with broader innovation policy goals. Slovenia’s coordinated funding landscape—spanning ministries, agencies, and financial institutions such as ARIS, SPIRIT, SID Bank, Eko Fund, and the Slovene Enterprise Fund (SPS)—demonstrates how targeted instruments like guarantees, soft loans, and grants can stimulate competitiveness and technological advancement in SMEs and start-ups.
Participants also explored how non-financial support measures—such as vouchers for ESG reporting, prototyping, and internationalization—help bridge capability and financing gaps. This approach reinforces that financial tools alone are not sufficient; they work best when combined with mentoring, training, and accelerator programmes that strengthen innovation capacity and sustainability awareness.
Another key takeaway was the growing strategic role of ESG principles in business development. The ESG Accelerator for SMEs, presented by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, exemplified how environmental and social responsibility can be turned into a competitive advantage. Embedding ESG into financing models not only improves access to capital but also supports companies’ integration into international value chains and aligns innovation with long-term sustainability goals.
Interdisciplinary collaboration emerged as a further driver of innovation. The Kersnikova Institute showcased how artists, scientists, and technologists can co-create solutions addressing ethical and societal challenges linked to emerging technologies. Creative spaces such as Center Rog and Rog Lab illustrated how art, design, and experimentation can complement traditional financial support mechanisms by fostering new ways of thinking and doing.
Finally, the exchange underlined the importance of evidence-based and experimental policymaking. Small-scale policy experiments were highlighted as tools to test and refine financial instruments in real contexts, ensuring they respond effectively to entrepreneurs’ needs.
Overall, the shared reflections in Ljubljana confirmed that impactful innovation finance depends on a holistic ecosystem approach—linking public and private actors, combining financial and non-financial support, and connecting creativity with entrepreneurship. Slovenia’s experience offered an inspiring model for designing financial instruments that are adaptive, inclusive, and future-oriented.