Financing Services for Finnish Business Dr. Pauli Heikkilä, Managing Director, Finnvera plc

By granting financing, Finnvera promotes  the exports and internationalisation of enterprises  the operations of SMEs  implementation of the government’s regional and industrial policy goals

Finnvera plc 27,000 clients Outstanding commitments as at 30 June 2006 credits and domestic guarantees EUR 2.2 billion export credits and special guarantees EUR 4.8 billion Share capital: EUR million Balance sheet: EUR 1,504 million Personnel: 404

Finnvera’s strategic goals  Increasing enterprise activities  Meeting the service challenges posed by enterprises set on growth and internationalisation  Promoting Finnish exports

Main principles  The private sector should have the leading role  Governmental organisations complement these only  when truly necessary  acceptable by EU rules and international agreements; for example, in  pre-seed funding  risk-sharing in long-term projects  R&D  implementation of regional policies  export credits

Finnvera as an intermediary for EU funding Finnvera acts as an intermediary for EU funding to Finnish SMEs  global loans from the European Investment Bank  co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for interest subsidies and coverage of credit losses EU multiannual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship  partial guarantee from the European Investment Fund  reducing the Growth Guarantee commission payable by SMEs

Public special funding and services in Finland loans and guarantees, pre-seed capital, export credits focuses on selected programmes and projects National Technology Agency R&D grants, loans and capital loans Finnish Industry Investment Ltd equity capital investments and funds services for entering international markets TE Centres start-up grants, regional investment aids, …

Financing a Business Operation in Finland Finnvera Group venture capital, loans, guarantees and export credits TeSi, Sitra, TE Centers, Tekes, EU, …Finpro …private funding is expected to be the main driver all the way… Growth International- isation Exports Start-up

Conclusions  The Finnish innovation system is pragmatic and well laid out  several actors, so good co-operation required  the availability of financing is currently not the biggest issue  the latest additions complement stage start-up funding  sources of private funding have become more versatile  other issues in Finnish SMEs: availability of workforce, risk appetite, sales & marketing, product development, networking, …

Focusing on future Thank you!