The average amount received is around 14.000 euros and about 63% of the beneficiary companies had not found another source of alternative financing to face the consequences of the pandemic.
806 companies have been able to benefit from the Bizkaia Aurrera! microloans that the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has made available to companies and startups since June 2020 to face the consequences derived from the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. In total, 11,2 million euros in microcredits have been granted and the average amount has been 14.000 euros.
Seed Capital microloans have been once again an effective tool in times of crisis and an ally for our business fabric, especially for small companies, that can find in the Provincial Council of Bizkaia an ally and an alternative, fast and simple financing tool. The Department of Economic Promotion has granted more than 11 million euros in microloans. Small loans at zero interest and cost that have helped more than 800 companies in the territory to meet the expenses related to their commercial, productive and organizational reactivation in these difficult months of the pandemic. Up to 63% of the cases have been companies considered vulnerable. Companies that would not have found another way of financing to face the impact of the coronavirus on economic activity, explains the deputy for Economic Promotion, Ainara Basurko.
The microloans are managed through Seed Capital, a provincial company dependent on the Department of Economic Promotion and have been granted in two phases: in a first phase the maximum amount was 7.500 euros and in a second phase the maximum credit amount was raised up to 15.000 euros, and from 5 to 10 the number of people employed in the applicant companies.
In both phases, the conditions were identical. The loans target startups in the technological field with a maximum of 5 years old and small companies, all of them with tax residence in Bizkaia. And the advantageous conditions that apply to loans have made them a good instrument at the service of companies in the territory to contribute to their reactivation:
- No interest (APR 0%)
- No commissions
- No guarantees nor personal endorsements
- Maximum repayment period of 5 years with a 1-year grace period
- Quarterly amortization instalments
- Possibility of early repayment at no cost
Seed Capital has granted 88,4% of the loans requested. At the same time, from the total number of companies that have been approved for credit, 89,4% are micro-SMEs and the rest are startups. Services (27%), tourism and commerce (15%) and industry (11%) are the main sectors to which companies receiving the microcredits are linked.
Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro
Since its creation in 2014, Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro has supported a total of 130 companies in Bizkaia, in which it has invested more than 2,4 million euros over the years. And with the implementation of this special program framed within the Bizkaia Aurrera! Plan, Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro reaffirms its key role in the development, promotion and dynamization of the business fabric.
