Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI) initially started with a pilot project, in June 2015, implemented by Impulse Europe in Romania and Bulgaria. The aim of the project was to build a pipeline sufficiently large to support the creation of a specialized financial institution for Roma entrepreneurs, but also understand the entrepreneurial potential and challenges in the Roma communities. As a result, REDI pilot project successfully mapped 1106 Roma entrepreneurs, reached more than 450 Roma entrepreneurs in the two countries, provided pre-loan technical assistance services to about 150 entrepreneurs, and facilitated the connection between Roma entrepreneurs and several banking and non-banking financial institutions in Romania and Bulgaria.
REDI NGO was established in June 2016, in Romania. In 2018, REDI opened legal entities in North Macedonia and Serbia. Currently, REDI has offices in Bulgaria, Belgium and Italy, and collaborators in Greece, Germania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Germany.