255 Firms Supported through BSE Mentoring Program

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) has supported the development of 255 Hungarian-owned medium-sized companies with a total of HUF 2.1 billion through its mentoring program, BSE announced on Wednesday.

The statement recalled that the BSE's program for the development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector was launched in 2018 with EU funding.

The mentoring program originally supported companies in two ways: it financed 100% of their participation in the ELITE Program, an international business development training program, and contributed up to 50% of consultancy costs that directly served the company's listing on the stock exchange.

A total of 19 companies received IPO support and 37 companies completed the ELITE Program, which provides business development and financing skills and international networking opportunities.

Thanks to the Ministry of Finance, the opportunity has been extended from 2019, so that the entire domestic small and medium-sized enterprise sector can apply to the BSE for non-reimbursable support, they reminded.

They also pointed out that in 2022, the program was extended to include green financing and ESG project elements, ESG training was launched, with nearly 200 SMEs participating, and 39 SMEs successfully applied for the ESG consultancy pilot program.

“The BSE and EY Hungary have also jointly developed an ESG rating methodology for SMEs to help calculate the environmental, social and governance indicators of domestic companies," notes a statement outlining the elements of the program.