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New terms of COL 2.0 known; additional €200 million made available

On May 20, the Cabinet announced an additional €150 million for the Corona Bridging Loan (COL). A week later, the budget was increased by another €50 million and the application period was extended to October 1. In order to be able to help as many entrepreneurs as possible with the available budget, we looked at how the conditions could be adjusted. Today formal agreement came from Brussels on the design of the COL 2.0.

Adjusted review process; applications possible until Oct. 1

Applications submitted until May 19 will be assessed according to the conditions as applicable from the start of the COL at the end of April. Applications submitted between May 20 and October 1 will be weighed against each other (tender system). The mutual weighing of the applications will take place in three time blocks: May 20 - July 1, July 1 - August 16 and August 16 - October 1. In addition to the formal criteria, qualitative criteria such as number of FTEs, connection to mission-driven innovation policy, connection to ecosystems and the importance of the innovation will then be considered.

A minimum of €50 million will still be available for these between July 1 and October 1. The outcome of the various tenders will be announced within three weeks of the respective time period. The modified evaluation process is visualized in the pdf below.

Notwithstanding COL 1.0, in situations where existing shareholders cannot act as co-funders, or external shareholders are not yet in place, third parties may act as co-funders.

Over 600 million requested since start of COL

Since the COL opened on April 29, nearly 1,800 companies applied. In total, they applied for over 600 million and the average amount applied for is almost €360,000. Meanwhile, nearly 1,300 applications have been processed of which about 500 have been granted. Almost 500 applications are still pending.

About COL

The Corona-OverbruggingsLening (COL) is an emergency loan for innovative entrepreneurs and SMEs without a bank credit relationship who have run into financial difficulties due to Covid19. This scheme was created in intensive cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK), the joint Regional Development Companies (ROMs) and TechLeap.nl with also close involvement of Invest-NL. At the request of EZK, the ROMs provide bridging loans between €50,000 and €2 million.

More information can be found at:
https://www.rom-nederland.nl/corona-overbruggingslening
https://www.techleap.nl/content/bridgefinancing-portal/