Growth Finance Fund
The Growth Finance Fund is a £30m fund backed by The British Business Bank, Invest NI and NILGOSC.
The Fund will provide commercial loans of between £500k and £2m to fund growth.
Loans will be provided on a flexible basis over a 2-7 year period. In addition, the fund will retain the ability to provide capital and/or interest moratoriums and partial bullet repayments to align with the cash-flows of the business.
The loans will typically be provided on an unsecured basis however second ranking charges or appropriate security may be sought where relevant.
Funding is complementary to existing sources of finance including banks, trade finance and equity
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Eligibility Criteriaadd_circle
- Must be an SME based in Northern Ireland which can demonstrate growth potential and generally be in the manufacturing, engineering or tradable services sectors with export potential.
- Companies must be able to demonstrate ability to service loan repayments from projected cashflows.
- Applicants cannot operate in the excluded sectors, such as coal mining, steel making, shipbuilding, as defined by the EU Risk Capital guidelines or be a company in an insolvency process.
- Must have an identified funding gap in a proposed investment.
- Informal approaches over the telephone are welcomed to discuss the loan proposal, but in due course a business plan will be required to progress a loan application.
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What We Doadd_circle
- Provide loans to established SME companies seeking access to growth finance. Whilst a positive trading history is desirable, where this is not evident businesses should be able to demonstrate a recent return to profitability with a clear plan to build on this.
- Loans will be provided between the range of £500k and £2m, on a 2-7 year term. Payment terms can be tailored to suit the cashflow needs of the business.
- Pricing will depend on risk assessment of each company, plus an additional annual charge.
- Loans provided are expected to be complementary to existing sources of finance including banks, trade finance sources and equity investors.
