HRVATSKA AGENCIJA ZA MALO GOSPODARSTVO, INOVACIJE I INVESTICIJE

Their core work

HAMAG-BICRO is Croatia's national agency for SME development, innovation, and investment. It serves as the country's main public body supporting small and medium enterprises in accessing EU funding instruments, innovation coaching, and technology transfer. The agency operates as Croatia's gateway within the Enterprise Europe Network, helping local SMEs navigate H2020 programs like the SME Instrument, FTI, and FET-Open. It also organizes national innovation events connecting Croatian enterprises with EU-wide opportunities in areas such as AI, energy, and ICT.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014–2018, HAMAG-BICRO focused narrowly on key account management and innovation coaching for Croatian SMEs within the Enterprise Europe Network, essentially acting as a national intermediary for H2020's SME Instrument. From 2019 onward, their scope broadened significantly: they began advising on a wider range of EU instruments (FTI, FET-Open), coordinated a major national innovation event covering AI, energy, and ICT, and joined a peer-learning initiative on open innovation with start-ups. The trajectory shows a shift from a single-program advisory role toward becoming a broader national innovation ecosystem orchestrator.

HAMAG-BICRO is expanding from a narrow SME Instrument advisory role toward coordinating national innovation events and facilitating open innovation between established companies and start-ups.

How they like to work

HAMAG-BICRO predominantly participates as a partner (6 out of 7 projects), stepping into the coordinator role only once for its flagship national event. With only 7 unique consortium partners across 3 countries, their network is compact and regionally focused — typical of a national public agency whose primary mission is domestic rather than pan-European research. Working with them means engaging a public-sector intermediary with strong national reach but limited cross-border consortium experience.

HAMAG-BICRO has collaborated with 7 unique partners across 3 countries, reflecting a compact, regionally concentrated network. Their partnerships are driven by EEN and CSA program structures rather than broad European consortia building.

What sets them apart

HAMAG-BICRO is Croatia's official national innovation agency — the public body mandated to support SME growth, access to finance, and EU funding uptake. Unlike research institutes or private consultancies, it has institutional authority and direct access to the national SME population. For consortium builders targeting the Croatian market or needing a credible public-sector partner in Southeast Europe, HAMAG-BICRO is the default entry point.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HAMAG-BICRO
  Their only coordinator role with EUR 350,000 — Croatia's Innovative Enterprise Week 2020, by far their largest project, covering AI, energy, and ICT.
• MEETING
  Represents their strategic expansion into open innovation and start-up ecosystems, with a peer-learning approach among European innovation agencies.
• SSBI-CRO-KAM
  The first in a five-year series of consecutive KAM projects, establishing HAMAG-BICRO's sustained role in the Enterprise Europe Network.