The MARC Impact Programme is a high-impact enterprise scaling initiative designed to support businesses that combine social or ecological impact with sustainable business growth. The programme is aimed at social enterprises, startups, nonprofit-developed businesses and for-profit companies seeking to develop an impact-oriented business arm.

The initiative provides an opportunity for eligible enterprises to strengthen their business models, develop their impact potential and scale their operations while maintaining a strong focus on both commercial sustainability and positive social or environmental outcomes.

According to the programme’s application information, eligible applicants must be legally registered entities based in one of seven participating European countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia or Serbia.

What Is the MARC Impact Programme?

MARC is described as a High-Impact Enterprise Scaling Programme, developed as a joint initiative involving ERSTE Foundation, ERSTE Social Finance Holding, IFUA Nonprofit Partner and SIMPACT.

The programme is intended for businesses that do not view financial performance and social or environmental impact as competing priorities. Instead, applicants are expected to demonstrate that they are committed to building sustainable enterprises while creating measurable positive impact.

The programme is particularly relevant to organizations that have moved beyond the earliest idea stage and are looking to strengthen their operations, business model, market position and capacity to grow their impact.

The programme’s application page states that it is looking for enterprises that:

• Have a clear social or ecological mission.
• Recognize the importance of both impact and business success.
• Have an established legal entity in one of the eligible countries.
• Already generate revenue or have a credible go-to-market strategy.
• Have a capable team supporting the business.
• Are committed to business growth and increasing their impact.
• Are prepared to dedicate time to the development process.

Who Can Apply to the MARC Impact Programme?

The programme is not designed for individual applicants applying in their personal capacity. Instead, it targets businesses and organizations with an established enterprise model and a social or environmental impact dimension.

Several types of organizations can potentially apply.

1. Social Enterprises and Startups

Social enterprises and startups with a clearly defined ecological or social mission are among the expected applicant groups.

This means the business should have an identifiable purpose beyond generating financial returns. Its products, services or operations should contribute to addressing a social or environmental challenge.

Examples may include enterprises working on areas such as:

• Environmental sustainability
• Circular economy
• Climate-related solutions
• Social inclusion
• Employment and livelihoods
• Education
• Community development
• Access to essential services
• Sustainable production
• Other measurable social or ecological challenges

The important consideration is that the enterprise should have a genuine impact orientation alongside its business activities.

2. Businesses Developed Within Nonprofits

Organizations that originated within nonprofit institutions can also fall within the programme’s target applicant group.

A nonprofit may, for example, have developed a business or revenue-generating activity designed to address a social or environmental challenge.

Such an enterprise can potentially be considered where it has developed sufficiently as a business and meets the programme’s other requirements.

3. For-Profit Businesses Developing an Impact Arm

The programme also welcomes for-profit businesses that want to develop an “impact arm.”

This is particularly relevant to established companies that want to introduce or strengthen a component of their operations dedicated to generating measurable social or ecological impact.

Rather than requiring every applicant to be structured exclusively as a social enterprise, the programme therefore recognizes that conventional businesses can also develop impact-oriented activities.

Key Eligibility Requirements

Applicants should carefully consider the programme’s eligibility requirements before starting an application.

1. The Organization Must Be Legally Registered

One of the central requirements is that the applicant must be a legally registered entity.

The organization must also be based in one of the programme’s seven eligible countries.

These are:

1. Austria
2. Croatia
3. Czechia
4. Hungary
5. Romania
6. Slovakia
7. Serbia

Organizations located outside these countries are not identified as eligible under the application criteria provided on the programme website.

2. The Business Should Have a Social or Ecological Mission

The programme is intended for enterprises that combine business activity with an identifiable impact mission.

Applicants should therefore be able to clearly explain:

• What social or environmental problem they are addressing.
• How their business contributes to solving that problem.
• Who benefits from their work.
• How their solution creates impact.
• How the enterprise intends to expand that impact as it grows.

A strong application should demonstrate a clear relationship between the organization’s business model and its intended impact.

3. Impact and Business Success Should Both Matter

Applicants are expected to believe that impact and business success are equally important.

This requirement is significant because MARC is not simply an impact-focused initiative seeking organizations based only on the strength of their social mission.

The programme also looks for enterprises with a viable business perspective.

Applicants should therefore be prepared to demonstrate how they intend to achieve both:

• Sustainable business growth; and
• Increased social or ecological impact.

4. Revenue or a Solid Go-to-Market Plan

The application criteria indicate that an enterprise should either:

• Already generate revenue; or
• Have a solid go-to-market plan.

This suggests that the programme is intended for businesses that have progressed beyond simply having an undeveloped concept.

Organizations already generating revenue can demonstrate market validation through their existing operations.

For businesses that have not yet generated significant revenue, a credible go-to-market strategy can demonstrate that they have a realistic plan for bringing their product or service to customers or beneficiaries.

A go-to-market plan may cover areas such as:

• Target customers
• Target markets
• Product or service positioning
• Pricing strategy
• Sales channels
• Marketing strategy
• Customer acquisition
• Market expansion
• Revenue projections
• Partnerships and distribution

5. A Well-Equipped Team

The programme also expects applicants to have a well-equipped team behind the business.

This means the organization should be supported by people capable of executing its strategy and managing its growth.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate relevant capabilities within their team, including areas such as:

• Leadership
• Business development
• Operations
• Finance
• Marketing and communications
• Product or service development
• Impact measurement
• Partnership development

A strong team can help demonstrate that the enterprise has the capacity to make effective use of the programme’s development opportunities.

6. Commitment to Business Growth

Applicants must be committed to growing their business in order to accelerate their impact.

The programme therefore looks beyond enterprises that simply want to maintain their current operations.

Applicants should have a clear ambition to expand their activities and increase the scale of their positive social or ecological contribution.

This could involve:

• Reaching more customers or beneficiaries.
• Entering new markets.
• Expanding products or services.
• Increasing revenue.
• Developing new partnerships.
• Increasing employment.
• Expanding geographical coverage.
• Improving impact measurement.
• Scaling an existing solution.

7. Willingness to Invest Time in the Development Process

Participation requires a meaningful commitment of time.

Applicants are expected to be willing to invest their time in the development process associated with the programme.

This is important because enterprise scaling requires active participation from founders, managers and other key team members.

Organizations considering applying should therefore ensure that the appropriate members of their team have sufficient time and capacity to participate.

Eligible Countries for the MARC Impact Programme

The MARC Impact Programme currently identifies seven countries from which eligible entities can apply.

Austria

Organizations legally registered and based in Austria can apply through the designated Austria application process.

Croatia

Eligible Croatian entities can submit their application through the programme’s Croatia application channel.

Czechia

Organizations based in Czechia are included among the programme’s eligible applicants.

Hungary

Hungarian enterprises meeting the programme requirements can apply through the designated Hungary programme.

Romania

Legally registered organizations based in Romania are also included among the eligible applicants.

Serbia

Serbian enterprises that meet the programme requirements can apply through the designated Serbia application process.

Slovakia

Organizations legally registered and based in Slovakia are also eligible to apply, subject to meeting the remaining criteria.

How the MARC Impact Programme Can Be Relevant to Growing Enterprises

The programme is particularly relevant to businesses that have already developed a foundation and are now considering how to move to the next stage of growth.

For an enterprise with a social or ecological mission, scaling can present several challenges. These may include developing a sustainable revenue model, accessing new markets, building an effective team, strengthening operations and maintaining impact while expanding.

The MARC approach is designed around the relationship between enterprise growth and impact acceleration.

For applicants, this means the opportunity can be particularly relevant if the organization is asking questions such as:

• How can we scale our solution?
• How can we reach more beneficiaries?
• How can we strengthen our business model?
• How can we increase our revenue while maintaining our impact?
• How can we expand into new markets?
• How can we strengthen our team?
• How can we develop an impact-oriented business arm?
• How can we grow without losing sight of our social or ecological mission?

What Applicants Should Demonstrate in Their Application

Organizations considering applying should ensure that they can clearly communicate the fundamentals of their enterprise.

A strong application should provide a clear picture of the organization’s:

Business Model

Explain what the organization does, what products or services it provides, who its customers are and how it generates or plans to generate revenue.

Impact Model

Explain the social or ecological problem being addressed and how the organization’s activities contribute to solving it.

Market Opportunity

Applicants should be able to demonstrate that there is a market or clearly identifiable demand for their product or service.

Growth Strategy

Explain where the organization wants to go next and how it plans to achieve that growth.

Team Capacity

Show that the organization has the people, skills and leadership required to implement its strategy.

Go-to-Market Strategy

For organizations that are not yet generating revenue, the go-to-market strategy should clearly demonstrate how the product or service will reach its intended customers or market.

Commitment

Applicants should demonstrate that they are prepared to dedicate sufficient time and resources to the development process.

Application Process

The MARC Impact Programme provides country-specific application channels.

Applicants should select the application option corresponding to the country in which their legally registered entity is based.

The available country programmes are:

• Austria
• Croatia
• Czechia
• Hungary
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia

Applicants should ensure that they use the correct country-specific application channel rather than submitting through a different country’s programme.

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Important Points to Consider Before Applying

Before submitting an application, an organization should review whether it satisfies the major requirements.

A prospective applicant should be able to answer yes to the following questions:

1. Is our organization legally registered?
2. Is our organization based in Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia or Serbia?
3. Do we have a social or ecological mission?
4. Are we a social enterprise, startup, nonprofit-developed business or for-profit company developing an impact arm?
5. Do we consider business success and impact equally important?
6. Are we already generating revenue, or do we have a credible go-to-market plan?
7. Do we have a capable team behind the organization?
8. Are we committed to growing the business?
9. Can business growth help us increase our social or ecological impact?
10. Are we prepared to dedicate sufficient time to the programme’s development process?

Meeting these conditions can help an organization determine whether it broadly fits the programme’s stated applicant profile before beginning the application.

Deadline

Deadline: The application information provided does not state a general closing deadline.

Applicants should therefore check the official MARC application page and the relevant country-specific application portal for the current application status and any country-specific deadline before applying.

Who Qualifies for the Opportunity?

Category of people/organizations: Social enterprises, startups, nonprofit-developed businesses and for-profit businesses developing an impact arm.

Key qualification: The applicant must be a legally registered entity based in one of the seven eligible countries and must have a social or ecological mission, revenue or a solid go-to-market plan, a capable team, a commitment to growth and a willingness to dedicate time to the development process.

Eligible countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia.

Continent: Europe.

Race/nationality: The published eligibility criteria are based on the location and legal registration of the organization, rather than race. The programme does not state a race-based eligibility requirement in the information provided.

Visit HERE for more information about the MARC Impact Programme 2026.

Conclusion

The MARC Impact Programme offers a scaling opportunity for enterprises that want to combine sustainable business growth with measurable social or ecological impact. It is designed for a range of organizational models, including social enterprises, startups, businesses developed within nonprofits and for-profit companies seeking to establish an impact arm.

The programme places particular emphasis on having a clear impact mission, viable business model, capable team, market strategy and commitment to growth. Applicants must also be legally registered and based in one of the seven participating countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia or Serbia.

For eligible enterprises that are already generating revenue or have developed a credible go-to-market strategy, the programme can provide a structured pathway for thinking about how business expansion can translate into greater social or ecological impact.

Organizations interested in participating should carefully review the official country-specific application requirements and confirm the current application status before submitting their application.

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