Webinar: Tax incentives for investing in innovative companies and alternative investment funds
On 15.12.2021, we held a webinar on the topic of tax incentives for investing in innovative companies and alternative investment funds (AIF). Since one of the key issues we are dealing with as a project is improving the AIF approach for innovative companies, with special attention to the establishment of Venture Capital funds, this webinar was a great opportunity to present current and potential tax incentives and regulatory constraints for financial institutions and other investors in the process of investing in innovative companies and AIFs.
The webinar was held by Slobodan Zebić, Serbia Innovates team leader for access to finance, Vladimir Pavlović, Director of WM Equity Partners, Svetislav Kostić, Serbia Innovates tax expert, Miloš Bajčetić, Financial Analyst at Erste Bank and Christoph Berndt, financial analyst and member of CFA Society Serbia.
Among the essential conclusions of the webinar was the opinion that the state is working on improving existing and introducing new tax incentives for investing in innovative companies and AIF.
The participants also agreed that there is a need for additional sources of finance on financial markets that are as bank-centric as the Serbian, and for a suitable way to support innovative startup companies like state grants and private investment from business angels and VC funds. Finally, it was determined that for the full effectiveness of the new state instrument - the Fund of Funds program - the regulatory framework must be changed to allow financial institutions to invest a specific part of their assets in VC funds.
You can watch the whole video of the webinar here.