KfW extends €2bn COVID-19 support by six months
The German government has authorised the country's development bank, KfW, to extend the €2 billion package of measures for start-ups and SMEs until 30 June, 2021 to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The original deadline was 31 December, 2020 but the extension will allow young companies to continue to receive equity and equity-like financing under the package for another six months.
The package have been available since mid-May 2020 and is based on two pillars: Pillar 1 builds on the existing cooperation between the German Federal Government, KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund to make funds from the package of measures available to private venture capital funds to invest in start-ups.
Pillar 2 is available to start-ups and small SMEs that do not have access to Pillar 1 through a VC fund: in this case, the funds from the €2 billion package are provided to companies in the form of mezzanine or equity financing through the promotional institutions of the federal states – either directly or through other intermediaries such as family offices, business angels or the SME investment firms of the federal states.
