Quick guide to indirect funding

EU sources of finance

Europe is providing a balanced mix of financing to SMEs: through Structural Funds, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, Progress Microfinance as well as lending from the European Investment Bank. EU financial instruments are managed by financial intermediaries such as banks, credit institutions or venture capital funds. To access EU financial instruments, please visit the European Investment Fund website to locate banks or venture capital funds that provide finance in your country.

National sources of finance

The European Commission's financial support for SMEs is complementing finance provided by the Member States. To access national sources of finance, please consult the fact sheets by clicking on your country:

Show all coutries sheets - Hide all countries sheets

For other sources of SME financing, visit YourEurope or contact the nearest member of the Enterprise Europe Network.

2012 – Evaluation of Member State Policies to Facilitate Access to Finance for SMEs

The Commission published an evaluation of public financing programmes in 5 Member States [2 MB] (Germany, France, the UK, Poland and Sweden) to exchange good practice and assess which programmes work best and could be used in other countries. The evaluation complements the country facts sheets above providing a practical guide to national and regional sources of finance.