According to the quarterly report produced by the Directorate-General for Industrial Policy, Competitiveness and SMEs of MISE, in collaboration with MedioCredito Centrale, in the period 2013-2021, the Guarantee Fund for SMEs has managed 19,901 financing operations, potentially providing guarantees on € 4.3 billion of granted loans to innovative Italian startups and SMEs and guaranteeing over € 3.4 billion of those loans.
A total of 17,397 operations were authorised by the Fund, guaranteeing over € 2.8 billion of more than € 3.5 billion of loans towards innovative startups and SMEs.
Indeed, innovative startups and SMEs wishing to apply for funding can benefit from the Guarantee Fund for SMEs coverage through a bank free of charge, following a highly simplified procedure (essentially, MedioCredito Centrale, the entity managing the Fund, does not make any additional credit assessment beyond what already carried out by the bank).
The guarantee covers 80% of the loan, which can amount to up to € 2.5 million per company. This amount can be used through one or more transactions, up to the set cap, without limiting the number of transactions that can be made.
The guaranteed rate and the maximum guaranteed amount have been temporarily increased by Law Decree 8th April 2020, n. 23 (“Liquidity Decree”) to support access to credit by enterprises in the Covid-19 emergency phase. Until 30th June 2021, the guaranteed rate is 90% for all loans of up to 6 years, with the possibility of reaching 100% if certain conditions are met, and the guarantee amount is € 5 million.
INNOVATIVE STARTUPS
As of 31 December 2021, the Guarantee Fund for SMEs has managed 14,540 operations toward innovative startups, representing a potential total amount of loans of more than € 2.6 billion.
Then, the total operations authorised by the Fund and resulted in a loan were 12,540, for a total fund coverage and disbursement of approx. € 1.7 billion.
The innovative startups that have obtained bank loans through the Guarantee Fund were 6,888; some have received more than one loan (so the total number of operations is higher). Overall, the average amount per operation is € 165k, with an average duration of the loans of about 60 months.
INNOVATIVE SMEs
As of 31 December 2021, the Guarantee Fund for SMEs has managed 5,361 operations toward innovative SMEs, representing a potential total amount of loans of more than € 1.6 billion.
Then, the total operations authorised by the Fund and resulted in a loan were 4,900 (91.4% of the total). The operations involved 1,324 companies, with a total fund coverage and disbursement of approx. € 1.2 billion.
The average value per operation is approx. € 307k, while the average duration of the loan is around 51 months.
For more info on the Italian Innovative Startup: Legal framework for innovative start-ups
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For the detailed analysis, the full Report (in Italian) is available at the following link: https://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/30_rapporto_Fondo_di_Garanzia_-_startup_e_PMI_innovative_IV_trimestre_2021_.pdf