Investment requirement of 1.3 million euros
On Thursday, May 19, 2022, the network meeting of the neustart22 project took place in Café Morgenlicht. This meeting was about investments and the acquisition of funds, a topic that remains a challenge for the target group of refugees as founders.
neustart22 consultant Samira Iraki introduced the guests of the network meeting to the various funding programs of the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). These include, in particular, the DigitalPrämie and the InvestitionsBONUS.
The investment bonus in particular attracted a lot of interest from many of those present. Through it, the IBB is trying to help small and medium-sized companies, self-employed people and freelancers who have been particularly weakened by the pandemic. There is another bonus for companies that want to invest the money in a particularly sustainable way, for example by reducing waste or noise.
But the financial difficulties of many refugee-owned businesses existed even before the pandemic began. It remains a major challenge for them to acquire money through bank loans. A survey of all those present showed an investment requirement of 1.3 million euros, an average of 100,000 euros per founder.
Raising such a sum through a conventional loan remains a high hurdle, not least because in the context of the right of residence there is a high risk factor for loan defaults for banks and companies. The neustart22 project is therefore working with its partners at all levels to ensure that a solution is found in the state of Berlin.
