Background information

Almi Företagspartner AB is owned by the Swedish government and is the parent company of a group consisting of 16 regional subsidiaries. It promotes the development of competitive SMEs and stimulates the development of new enterprises, aiming at creating growth and innovation in Swedish business life.

Almi was founded in 1994 with the specific aim of promoting the manufacturing sector. While it now stimulates growth and development across all sectors, Almi is still known best among companies in the manufacturing sector.

The fiscal budget of Almi Företagspartner AB was further extended to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Swedish jobs and businesses.

Content of measure

The instrument is available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Almi offers to SMEs loans in those cases where other actors in the market are not willing to take the risk, intending to support a company's potential rather than merely looking at its assets. To compensate for the higher risk taken, and to ensure that Almi does not compete with private sector players, the company charges an interest rate that is higher than the average interest rate offered by banks. Almi's lending activities are often conducted in collaboration with other lenders, and banks are important partners.

The first-round investment from Almi is usually in the range of €200,000-€450,000. Over the lifetime of an investment, a company can receive up to around €1.1 million. The overall aim of the investment is to develop companies' potential and to create a high yield to be able to sell the shares for a good profit. Almi operations are organised in three business areas, namely: loans, venture capital and business development.

To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Swedish jobs and businesses, a range of measures were presented to make it easier for Swedish businesses, particularly SMEs, to access finance. Almi Företagspartner AB received a capital contribution of €300 million to increase its lending to SMEs throughout the country. This reinforcement of the loan fund will increase Almi’s preparedness to meet the needs of businesses whose activities have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The capital contribution to Almi has resulted in a bridge loan targeting normally economically sound SMEs that have due to the COVID-19 breakout suffered from negative effects.

Use of measure

Almi’s clients typically have fewer than 20 employees. Almi meets with approximately 100,000 clients each year and around 21,000 become involved in extensive development programmes. In total, 3,336 companies were granted loans in 2019, amounting to €187 million.

Between 1994-2019, Almi has given 80,000 loans, invested €250 million in venture capital and conducted 300,000 activities in the area of business development.

In 2021, Almi had 6,000 new loan taking clients, gave advice on 12,500 instances and paid out a total of SEK 2,2 billion in loans.

In 2023, the number of loans paid out was 2,691 for a total of SEK 2.1 million (€186,000). In business development, 17,598 activities were carried out.

According to a report by Bisnode, companies who have received loans and counselling from Almi between 2009 and 2012 have increased their revenues by 20 % compared to a control group who only increased their revenues by 10%. The companies who received loans and counselling from Almi also had higher added value as well as a higher rate of employment than the control group.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	SMEs	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government Public employment service	European Funds Local funds National funds Regional funds Other

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: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 01 January 1994: Almi (www.almi.se)
• 18 November 2014: Almi (2014), Tillväxt hos Almis lånekunder och rådgivningskunder mot kontrollgrupp 2009-2012, Nationell Rapport (dokodoc.com)
• 13 March 2018: Almi (2017), Års- och hållbarhetsredovisning (www.almi.se)
• 19 March 2020: Almi (2019), Års- och hållbarhetsredovisning (www.almi.se)
• 31 March 2022: Annual report 2021 (Års- och hållbarhetsredovisning 2021) (www.almi.se)
• 15 February 2024: Almi (2024) Bokslutskommuniké (www.almi.se)