Amplify Europe

Amplify Europe supports the business sustainability of the most promising independent digital media companies from selected countries in Europe. Its mentoring and other forms of assistance seek to help media increase their management capacity, build audiences and generate sustainable and diverse revenue streams.

Funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery and the German Postcode Lottery, Amplify Europe is piloting its support in Bulgaria and Romania from November 2022. Support will be extended to other select European countries in 2023.

Phase 1 participants comprise two media companies from Bulgaria, Mediapool.bg and Otzvuk.bg, and 5 from Romania: G4media.ro; Hotnews.ro and Panorama.ro (which joined the program as one participant); Recorder.ro; Spotmedia.ro; and Uh.ro.

What is Amplify Europe?

Amplify Europe provides tailored mentoring, capacity building and targeted grants to support revenue development and business sustainability of the most promising digital media from selected countries in Europe. With a focus on encouraging digital-led business models with diverse revenue sources, it supports forward-thinking strategies that support social impact and increase media plurality.

Building on MDIF’s established regional and country-based capacity and innovation support programs in South and Southern Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amplify Europe’s coaches provide a range of specialist advice and venture support to promising young digital media, with the following features:

Diverse expertise in media business to drive projects forward, hand-picked experts with a successful track record of working with MDIF portfolio companies.
Media start-up specialists to help young media companies identify and develop revenue and business strategies and models.
Focus on developing new revenue streams with an understanding of market opportunities and limitations.
Seeking to expand traffic reach from various sources while maximizing engagement and audience/ customer experience.
Advise on organization, leadership, project structure and execution workflow.
Benchmarking performance, setting short-term and long-terms goals.
Other support based on identified needs.

Amplify Europe interventions will focus on one-on-one coaching to support media as they seek to grow their business. They will also include specialist technical assistance from subject experts, workshops and trainings, networking and community-building, and other bespoke support tailored to the needs of each media participant. Small, targeted grants tied to capacity support may be provided to maximize the effectiveness of interventions.

As media organizations grow, Amplify Europe will also provide a pathway to loan and equity investment and ongoing capacity and venture support through MDIF and its Media Advisory Services technical assistance hub.

Application criteria

Amplify Europe is piloting its support in Bulgaria and Romania before expanding to other countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. It seeks to support revenue and audience development of promising independent digital media, who must meet the following criteria:

Applicants must be small or medium-sized independent media companies, at least 6 months in existence, with digital at the core of their business.
Applicants should have a particular business/ revenue/ transformation project they are planning to work on over the next 12-24 months (or early stages of an existing project), addressing one or more of the following focus areas:
- New revenue opportunities: Innovative solutions to revenue challenges that media companies face – opening up new revenue streams to make media organizations more sustainable and independent
- Digital native products: New approaches to collecting news and information, and to reporting, storytelling and distribution, that embrace the possibilities of technology and contribute to the viability of news operations.
- Reaching communities outside capital/ big-city bubbles: Innovative approaches to reach that empower people outside of major urban areas and those generally underserved by existing news media.
- Innovation in distribution: Media technology and tools that help to distribute local and relevant news in a cost-effective and sustainable way.
- Transition to digital: Finding and implementing solutions, products or processes that assist legacy media to transform their businesses.

Application

The application is now closed.

For further information, see Frequently Asked Questions below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Media from which countries can apply?

In this first pilot stage, only media from Bulgaria or Romania can apply.

Will Amplify Europe be extended to other countries later?

Yes. In 2023 Amplify Europe will open to media from other select European countries.

Will you give me a grant?

Amplify Europe principally provides capacity-building support, supplemented by targeted grants of up to EUR50,000.

How can I apply?

The application is now closed (the deadline was November 30, 2022).

Will an application submitted in a language other than English be considered?

No. While Amplify Europe supports and encourages local language projects, the application must be in English.

Can non-profit media organizations apply?

Yes, but they must provide us with business information, including about revenues and projects.

I have another question that isn’t answered here.

If you have a question that isn’t answered here, please contact us by email.