Founding with a guarantee

Craftsmen were once again the most frequent customers of guarantee banks in 2019. More than half of all guarantees and warranties issued went to start-ups. Succession financing also played an important role.

This article is part of the special feature GründerNavi – for founders and young companies

Guarantee banks support commercial enterprises and freelancers with loan or equity financing. The guarantees they issue serve as full collateral for the borrowers' primary banks. Around 57 percent (more than 3.000) of the guarantees issued in 2019 went to start-ups.

Over half (54 percent) of the financed business start-ups involved guarantees and sureties for business successions.

"In recent years, guaranteed financing in the area of ​​business succession has increased significantly, which is also attributable to the rise in purchase prices," reports the Association of German Guarantee Banks . For the association, this also confirms "how important and effective the guarantee instrument is for managing the financial aspects of business succession."

Loans and investments of around 1,7 billion euros

In 2019, guarantee banks secured financing for around 5.300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through guarantees and sureties totaling more than €1,1 billion . This enabled these companies to raise loans and equity investments of approximately €1,7 billion.

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The most frequently supported businesses were tradespeople (1.254), service providers / other industries (1.225) and trading companies (1.037).

These are the finalists for the 2020 Craftsmanship Award of the Guarantee Banks

Submit your financing request in minutes

Companies can now submit financing requests via a financing portal . Entrepreneurs, freelancers, those interested in starting or taking over a business, as well as credit institutions and consulting firms, can digitally submit financing requests for their company or their customers and clients to the respective guarantee bank in their federal state.

"The challenges in the corporate banking sector are currently enormous. With our digital platform, guarantee banks can also reach companies directly in order to promote and support more future projects together with the banking industry," says Guy Selbherr , Chairman of the Board of the Association of German Guarantee Banks, promoting the new platform.

Source: VDB