The project aims to use the experience, the tools, the capacity and the partners’ knowledge in order to address a common innovation support challenge namely to improve the efficiency and minimize the risk of financial instruments for innovation for SMEs through the integration of designing thinking skills and processes into the design and management of the financial instruments in order to become user friendly. The project will create a full guide that will help funding agencies/innovation agencies and managing authorities to improve the performance using design thinking. The toolbox/guide, entitled “Design Option Paper”, will help innovation agencies/ funding agencies to : - Minimize investment risks of the financial instruments by developing a method that can be used during the investment decision phase of all the financial products - Create user-friendly financial instruments by using the tool Financial Instrument Blueprint that will be developed - Understand what are the needs of their target groups (SMEs) by using “Persona tool” - Map SMEs journey when participating in a Financial Instrument by using the “Business Journey Tool” - Identify the level of SMEs satisfaction per type and stage of a financial instrument - Find the gaps/ issues and improve the process/ structure of the Financial Instruments - Learn to test the new financial instrument before the full launch in the market by using “Prototyping Methods” The Peer learning activity will serve to learn from the best and to share good and bad practices regarding the performance of financial instruments. The realized Design Options Paper will serve as a “guide” or a “handbook” to other organizations that design and/ or implement financial instruments for SMEs.