EIF and BT Mic, a new InvestEU guarantee commitment to facilitate access to finance for 10,000 small businesses

The InvestEU microfinance and social investment guarantee and skills development product provides access to finance for 10,000 micro-enterprises in various sectors, including agriculture.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and BT Microfinance NFI (BT Mic) have signed a commitment to increase the InvestEU guarantee covering an additional loan portfolio of up to 714 million lei for 10,000 small businesses.

The objective of the increased guarantee is to further increase access to finance for small businesses in all areas of activity, especially those with an annual turnover of less than RON 1 million.

The initial agreement with BT Mic was signed in September 2022 and was the first InvestEU commitment in Romania, with the objective of supporting the financing of a portfolio of RON 500 million and 7,500 microenterprises. It has been successfully implemented for more than 5,000 entrepreneurs, with BT Mic being the first lender for 75% of them, showing the company's focus on financial inclusion. More than 20% of the micro-enterprises financed are start-ups, less than 12 months old.

Marjut Falkstedt, EIF Executive Director, says: "European instruments for microfinance are efficient in enhancing access to financial resources for those economic actors who are most in need. For this reason EIF is renewing the collaboration with BT Mic via InvestEU. Our partnership aims to reinforce the capacity to serve the microentrepreneurial sector in Romania."

Cristina Sindile, BT Mic CEO, says: "Doubling the value of the InvestEU guarantee commitment just one and a half years after signing the initial contract shows us both the increased need to support small businesses and our determination to finance these businesses responsibly. As a result, together with the EIF we will facilitate access to finance for a further 10,000 entrepreneurs."

About InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilize private investments for EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of EUR 26.2 billion. The entire budgetary guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least EUR 372 billion in additional investment.

About the European Investment Fund
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the EIB Group. It supports Europe’s small businesses by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit providers and private equity funds. The EIF designs and offers equity and debt financing instruments fostering EU objectives in support of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, the green and digital transitions and employment.

About BT Mic
BT Mic is part of the Banca Transilvania Financial Group and addresses companies with an annual turnover of up to RON 1 million from all fields of activity. BT Mic ensures the access to financing: over 75% of the customers obtained their first business loan via BT Mic, the largest microfinance provider in Romania, with more than 18,500 active clients and more than 30,000 loans granted since the start of its operations in 2017. BT Mic supports micro-entrepreneurs with non-financial services, such as: the only online acceleration program in Romania for small business; (2) free training programmes; consultancy services; seminaries in finance and banking; conferences and courses organized at Stup, which is a physical (in Bucharest) and virtual place, dedicated to supporting the entrepreneurial community. Under the #sefacelastup umbrella, Banca Transilvania and BT Mic have created the right infrastructure to connect entrepreneurs with service and product providers for business start-up and management.