Background information

Qredits' Corona bridging loan is a loan-scheme for entrepreneurs who established their company in the first half of 2020. The loan is in addition to a prior measure presented by Qredits in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate as part of the government's aid package for entrepreneurs. The reason this scheme was introduced was based on the fact that in practice, businesses established in the first half of 2020 (Registered at KvK from 1 January and 30 June 2020) could not make much use of the existing schemes, such as the COL. For this reason, Qredits wanted to support this group and provide the opportunity to be eligible for this special form of credit.

Content of measure

The measure provides a microcredit loan for working capital and investments of a maximum of €35,000. The term of the loan is in principle 60 months up to 72 months maximum, and the first 12 months there are no repayments. The loan has a 1.75% over the term of the loan. Additionally, Qredits also provides the opportunity to use a coach and training courses for entrepreneurs.

To provide a proper assessment, the following documents are required to be eligible:

• A brief description of the business activities (or business plan)
• An investment budgets
• Preliminary figures 2020
• Tax declaration 2020

Use of measure

Corona bridging loans were given through Qredits until the second quarter of 2021. Corona bridging loans totaled 1,270 in 2020 and 750 from the beginning of 2021 to the second quarter of 2021. Over time, demand has stayed relatively stable. The majority of bridging loans (489) were given in the last quarter of 2020 and in the first of 2021 (475). In the second quarter of 2021, the fewest loans were made. The hospitality industry received the most loans (15.2%) up to and including the second quarter of 2021, followed by the healthcare sector (13.1%), business services (12.6%), retail (9.2%), and construction and real estate (9.2%).

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Solo-self-employed SMEs One person or microenterprises Start-ups	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Unknown.

Views and reactions

Unknown.

Sources

• 31 March 2020: Overbruggingskrediet voor Starters (qredits.nl)
• 09 June 2021: Toezegging gedaan tijdens het Commissiedebat Ondernemen en Bedrijfsfinanciering van 9 juni 2021, over een tussentijds overzicht gebruik coronaregelingen (zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl)