As of now, there is Entrepreneur Impuls Fryslân, an initiative of the Frisian Development Corporation (FOM), Ynbusiness and the province of Fryslân. Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân is a bridging loan designed to help Frisian micro and small businesses come out of the corona crisis as strong as possible. 'It is the little lego that was still missing in finance land.'
As elsewhere, the coronavirus has hit Frisian businesses hard. To contain the impact of the crisis, the need for funding and support is great. Larger perhaps than ever before. However, a number of sectors and forms of business fall outside the criteria of existing funding opportunities and specific corona schemes. Think of small business services, recreation and the hospitality industry. Sectors that are widely represented in Fryslân. Or better: they are important drivers of the regional economy.
Solution
Hence the FOM, Ynbusiness and the Province of Fryslân have joined forces to see together what they can do for these companies. Where is there still a hard-to-fill funding question? And especially: what solution can we offer for that? 'That eventually resulted in Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân,' says Diederik Jongema, Investment Manager of the FOM. 'Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân provides loans of €50,000 to €250,000 to enterprises in the Frisian micro and small business sector. It is an emergency instrument, intended for all for-profit companies that, as a result of the corona crisis, have a funding issue.
Healthy enterprise
Companies up to 50 employees, sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited liability companies. All can claim the scheme, with the exception of the primarily agricultural sector and the real estate market. Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân should help them come out of these turbulent times as strong as possible. For example, to finance necessary investments, meet working capital needs or make future-proof adjustments to the business model. A condition is that a company can demonstrate that it was a healthy business before the corona crisis and can be so again in the post-corona era.
First year grace-free
'Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân is the little lego that was still missing in finance land,' stresses Dennis Carton of Ynbusiness. 'When it comes to small and large funding, there are still opportunities for micro and small businesses. In between, it was often difficult and above all expensive to get suitable funding in this day and age. With the new bridge loan, we were forced to jump into that gap. We tried to keep the funding costs as low as possible. For example, loan has a term of four years, with the first year being grace-free and interest of 6.5% added. The following three years the loan is repaid monthly on a straight-line basis.'
The application
Ondernemersimpuls Fryslân has a size of 2 million euros and runs until December 31, 2020. With proven success, the scheme can be extended by 2 million euros. As of now, the loan can be applied for at www.ondernemersimpuls.frl.'FOM is the primary lender and also responsible for assessing the application,' Jongema explains. 'Ynbusiness guides entrepreneurs through the entire application process if desired. Together with their broad network, they are ready to answer substantive questions and can offer assistance in creating a well-supported financial model.'