Hellenic Development Bank: 400 million euro funding for SMEs

The Hellenic Development Bank is launching a new program to support Greek businesses through resources from the Resilience and Recovery Fund, in the context of the activation of the Equity Platform tool of the “Greece 2.0” plan.

Through the “Q-Equity” program, 400 million euros will be invested in new venture investment funds that will aim to strengthen Greek entrepreneurship through investments, mobilizing at least an equal amount of private capital.

The project is implemented within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with the funding of the European Union – NextGenerationEU:

The goal of “Q-Equity” is to create a suitable environment of investment confidence for the activation of domestic investment funds, but also to strengthen the attraction of foreign investment funds.

The program will function alongside existing alternative sources of financing, as an additional financial tool that will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of Greek businesses.

50% Participation

The Hellenic Development Bank will make investment decisions based on financial criteria and will participate, with a percentage of up to 50%, in newly established venture capital funds/private equity funds that will invest through equity/quasi equity tools in companies that maintain an establishment within Greek territory at the time of making the investment.

New financial tools

The Minister of Development and Investments, Mr. Adonis Georgiadis emphasized that the “Q-Equity” financing tool that is adding another link to the chain of initiatives and measures for the diverse support of Greek entrepreneurship and the implementation of investments in order to strengthen Greek businesses for the implementation of productive and innovative investments, which, in turn, will improve competitiveness and extroversion as well as increasing the Greek production base.

Support for SMEs

The Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, Mr. Yiannis Tsakiris noted that ‘Q-Equity’ and the contribution of the Recovery Fund, are laying the foundations for further smart financing for fast-growing businesses, while expanding the set of financing tools to support SMEs through venture capital.

Continuous funding flow

The managing director of the Hellenic Development Bank, Ms. Antigoni Lymberopoulou stated that the bank works seamlessly with the activation of Q-Equity in order to further strengthen the creation of new funds that will invest in Greek companies, through a very wide range of investment strategies. The bank’s goal, she said, is for its programs to have continuity and complementarity so that there is no funding gap in the market.