Equity Capital for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The silent participation of the Capital Participation Company NRW mbH (KBG) is aimed at aspiring and established small and medium-sized enterprises headquartered in North Rhine-Westphalia. Within the framework of this corporate financing, silent participations ranging from €50,000 to €1.5 million are provided to strengthen the equity base and realize investment projects – from business start-ups and consolidation costs of young companies to business takeovers and forward-looking modernizations. The term is 7 to 10 years depending on the project, optionally with a minimum 5-year commitment to allow classification as economic equity. Bürgschaftsbank NRW assumes up to 70% of the silent participation guarantee; the residual risks are borne proportionally by the shareholders. An essential selection criterion, in addition to sufficient equity capital, is a convincing, sustainable market concept as well as the professional qualification of the applicants. The funding is continuously available and can be submitted at any time via the application form.

Applicants submit documents such as CVs, business evaluations, profitability and liquidity forecasts, and, if applicable, draft purchase agreements for a prompt review. Mandatory components also include a personal (partial) guarantee from the shareholders as well as proof of company size according to the EU SME definition. Additional advantages include unbureaucratic processing, no influence on operational business, and the possibility to combine with further promotional loans or default guarantees. Based on these framework conditions, the KBG represents a smart alternative to bank loans that preserves entrepreneurial freedom and sustainably expands the financing scope of companies in NRW.