In a press release today the Danish Ministry of Business Affairs and Growth (Erhvervs- og vækstministeriet) announced an agreement between the partners behind Growth Plan DK (Vækstplan DK), to launch a new loan system for entrepreneurs, ahead of schedule.
We heard about Vækstplan DK back in April, and the news now is that the ‘Vækstlån til iværksættere’, designed to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs who have a financing gap of 2 million DKK (€270,000), planned for 2015, will be available much sooner. The Government, Left, Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Parties have agreed to launch the scheme this year.
“We have sped up the system so that entrepreneurs now have better access to financing. The group of entrepreneurs who have started their business, and have the opportunity to accelerate their activities further, are very important for growth and jobs in Denmark. So I am very pleased with the loans now being launched ahead of schedule.” –says Business and Growth Minister, Henrik Sass Larsen in today’s EVM press release.
Director of Business Development Finance Christian Motzfeldt also stated that the scheme will provide more help for more entrepreneurs,
“We estimate that about 50 entrepreneurs per year will benefit from the new scheme. But it may well be more, depending on how diligent banks and businesses are to take advantage of the new opportunities.”–Director of Business Development Finance Christian Motzfeldt
Specifically, Vækstfonden will provide entrepreneurs with up to 350 million DKK. per year (€47 million), up to and including 2017. Vækstlån is targeted at entrepreneurs and young companies with a relatively large capital and a customer base, but where access to finance is hampering progress. A 25% private co-investment is required.
Also, entrepreneurs and business angels took this as good news. Amongst other Thomas Madsen Mygdal tweeted:
Big day for danish entrepreneurs, new growth loans ready for the 1st of january 2014 instead of 2015, http://t.co/2TyhAjRbSn
— Thomas Madsen-Mygdal (@mygdal) December 2, 2013
This article is in collaboration with Øresund Startups, originally by Kristina Persson. Øresund Startups is a news site focusing on startups in Copenhagen and the other cities around the Øresund strait; Malmö, Helsingborg and Lund. It was initiated by Karsten Deppert and covers news about startups and events from the startup scene. You can follow them at @Oresundstartups.
