Against the background of the need for alternative or additional financing channels for SMEs, this paper analyses the market segment of Debt Funds. Often, the need for alternative financing mechanism and the increase of non-bank lending / bank-disintermediation is voiced – the text provides...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees/securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO June 2014. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of equity...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees/securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO December 2014. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of...

SMEs are the backbone of the European economy. The financing situation for European SMEs is slightly improving, but also differs very much from country to country. In Europe, SMEs' financing strongly depends on banks and also after the crisis banks will remain the main external financing source...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO June 2015. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of equity...

In the past 20 years, the European Investment Fund (EIF, the Fund) has been the leading public provider of risk capital, and in particular of venture capital (VC), to young and innovative European startups. VC is an essential source for startups to achieve growth and create value through...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO December 2015. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO June 2016. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of equity...

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO December 2016. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of...

The vast majority of firms in Europe are micro firms. Still, we know little about their financing patterns. Our paper aims to close this gap. Based on a large European firm-level data set, we find that micro firms differ in their financing patterns from small and medium-sized companies. Our...