The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Banque Populaire have signed a guarantee agreement to support lending to innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This transaction benefits from the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe.

This new agreement will allow Banque Populaire to provide EUR 300m of loans to innovative SMEs in France over the next 2 years via its regional network of Banques Populaires. The loans will be guaranteed by EIF under the “EU InnovFin finance for Innovators” initiative with financial backing from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. 

Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, declared it is an important agreement and it shows the concrete impact the Investment Plan for Europe is having in France. 

For more information about InnovFin.