The Coup de Pouce (A Little Boost) loan programme, launched in late 2016, had raised a total of 6.4 million euros in loans for 343 young companies in Wallonia by the end of June, L’Echo reported on Thursday. These loans were provided mainly by friends and relatives of the applicants.
The programme was launched in Wallonia in October 2016 as a pilot project. It was then extended until the end of 2019. It focuses on stimulating the provision of loans by private individuals and enterprises to start-up companies.
In addition to the interest generated by their loans, the lenders receive a tax credit of up to 4% of the loan amount in the first four years and of up to 2.5% in the following four years. The starter company can borrow up to 100,000 euros from different lenders, each of which can provide loans of up to 50,000 euros.
From October 2016 to the end of June 2018, a total of 343 loans were registered in Wallonia, L’Echo learned from the region’s financial arm, the Sowalfin. Private individuals and companies provided loans averaging 18,700 euros each, while the startups raised an average of about 29,800 euros each.
The Brussels Times
