This initiative represents a concrete step towards reinforcing an ecosystem where economic innovation and social value go hand in hand, providing Piedmontese cooperatives with the tools they need to play a leading role in an inclusive and sustainable transition.

For the Torino Social Impact ecosystem, this measure offers a significant opportunity to combine accessible financial instruments with social, environmental, and employment impact objectives.

A Key Tool for Impact Entrepreneurship: Workers BuyOuts

Foncooper remains the main public instrument supporting Workers BuyOuts (WBOs), business recovery operations in which employees take over companies in crisis or ensure the continuity of productive activities through a cooperative model.

From an impact investing perspective, the scheme encourages these initiatives through specific provisions, including access to financing for newly established cooperatives that have not yet filed their first two financial statements. In doing so, it recognises and rewards workers’ capacity to safeguard employment and preserve local expertise and productive know-how.

Sustainability and Ecological Transition

In line with the challenges and opportunities facing the social entrepreneurship ecosystem, the programme supports investments aimed not only at business development but also at environmental sustainability.

Eligible projects include those focused on:

• Improving climate and environmental performance;
• Contributing to the circular bioeconomy and the efficient management of natural resources;
• Enhancing energy efficiency and reducing emissions.

Financing Features

The scheme is designed as a form of “patient capital” for cooperatives and offers highly competitive financing conditions:

• Coverage: up to 70% of eligible expenses;
• Maximum amount: up to €2 million per project;
• Preferential interest rate: equal to 25% of the European reference rate;
• Duration: up to 8 years for movable assets and up to 12 years for real estate investments and fixed installations.

Eligible Beneficiaries

The measure is open to Piedmont-based SME cooperatives (excluding housing cooperatives) operating across various sectors, including the primary production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products.

To qualify, cooperatives must comply with the principle of prevailing mutuality or meet the mutualistic requirements established by the Italian Civil Code, reinforcing the social identity of the cooperative model.

How to Apply

The application window officially opens at 9:00 AM on 8 June 2026 and will remain open until 31 December 2026, unless available funds are exhausted earlier.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis according to the order in which they are received.

Applications must be submitted exclusively through the online platform available on the Bandi Piemonte portal.

Further information