InvestEU: EIF and Laboral Kutxa sign €145 million guarantee to support micro and social entrepreneurship in Spain

EIF grants Laboral Kutxa a guarantee for €145 million in micro and social loans. This is the seventh agreement between the EIF and Laboral Kutxa, who have been working together for 10 years to support the social economy and microenterprise in Spain. The guarantee agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme which aims to mobilise more than €372 billion of additional investment over the period 2021-2027 in the European Union.

San Sebastian, 14 November 2023 – The European Investment Fund (EIF) grants Laboral Kutxa a guarantee to provide up to €145 million in loans to support microenterprises as well as social enterprises and entrepreneurs in Spain. The guarantee agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme which aims to mobilise more than €372 billion of additional investment over the period 2021-2027.
Thanks to the backing of the EIF, Laboral Kutxa will provide new financing on favourable terms to more than 5,000 micro and social enterprises in the country. The agreement, which is part of InvestEU’s Social Investment and Skills Programme, also aims to foster the creation and consolidation of employment by this dynamic sector. The EIF guarantee will allow Laboral Kutxa to grant financing of up to €2 million for social enterprises.

This new agreement builds on and consolidates a 10-year cooperation between the EIF and Laboral Kutxa in the field of social economy. During these years, more than 15,000 micro and social enterprises have received support through financial products and advisory services, creating more than 24,000 jobs.

“We are delighted to renew our support to the micro and social enterprise sectors in Spain,” said Marjut Falkstedt, EIF Director General. “This is a very dynamic sector with great potential to transform people’s lives. Despite the profound and very direct impact they can have, micro and social enterprises often find it difficult to access finance. That is why we are pleased to extend our collaboration with Laboral Kutxa to benefit these excluded entrepreneurs, ultimately making the funding have a double impact”.

Óscar Muguerza, Business Development Director at Laboral Kutxa, highlighted the support of the EIF’s intervention for the bank’s ongoing efforts to promote the social economy and entrepreneurship: “With these new lines of guarantees in place, we reaffirm our vocation for a different way of banking, accompanying the people and companies that need it most, contributing to a more inclusive and cohesive society”.

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About the European Investment Fund (EIF)
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its main mission is to support European micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by facilitating their access to finance. The EIF designs and develops venture capital and expansion capital instruments, guarantees and microfinance instruments specifically targeted at this market segment. Through its activity, it contributes to key EU policy objectives such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

About InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with key long-term financing by mobilising substantial private and public funds to support a sustainable recovery.It also helps to leverage private investment for EU policy priorities such as the European Green Pact and the digital transition.The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof a multitude of financial instruments that the EU currently has available to support investment in its Member States, making the financing of investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners investing in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The full budget guarantee will support the implementing partners’ investment projects, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion of additional investment.

About Laboral Kutxa
About Laboral KutxaLABORAL Kutxa is a credit cooperative with more than 60 years of history that carries out its financial activity providing products and services to more than 1,150,000 families and companies.Its network of branches totals more than 280 points of sale located in the main centres of population in the northern half of Spain.
LABORAL Kutxa’s business model is based on wage solidarity and the participation of employees in management, as they are, in turn, owners of the institution.The figures for the end of 2022 show a balanced balance sheet, with €28,955 million in resources under management and €15,476 million in loans and receivables, where the high levels of solvency stand out, with a Core Capital (Tier1) of 22.24%, and a consolidated net profit after tax of €151 million.