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Financing a Business in Luxembourg

When seeking business finance it is important to research as much as possible. The first port of call is perhaps your accountant. Money is their business and they can offer advice and help.

Here are possible ways of obtaining finance

• Bank Financing A well planned and researched business plan can help a business to obtain credit from their bank.
• Public Aid - small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have access to limited financial resources. In order to assist entrepreneurs in finding financing, the Luxembourg Board of Economic Development (http://www.bed.public.lu) offers numerous sources of financial support.
• Floating your company on a public stock exchange is a way of raising money for future growth. AIM, the junior partner of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), has established itself as the preferred route for younger companies wanting to go public.
• Tax Relief the portal of the Chamber of Commerce offers a description of tax relief. A useful link to the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce is http://www.cc.lu/index.php?page=54
• European Aid grants are direct financial contributions from the EU budget or from the European Development fund. It is worth checking out your possible grants, funds and programmes by following the link and looking under a particular section i.e. Agriculture, Energy or Audiovisual and Media. http://ec.europa.eu/grants/index_en.htm

There are over 450 funding sources for reimbursable grants, aid schemes, individual fellow and traineeships, loans and guarantees. These can be awarded from such organisations like the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Investment Bank and others. Helpful links are: http://www.eubusiness.com/funding/eu-funding/european-funds/ and http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/finding-sources_en.html

For small to medium sized enterprises (SME) and the self employed there is The Participation Fund. These are EU backed loans that offer the following:

• The Starteo Loan for companies that have been operating for less than four years. The loan will be no more than €250,000 at a preferential rate of 3% for the first two years. The loan will be granted for five, seven, or ten years and will never be more than four times the investment made by the business.
• The Optimeo Loan Similar to the Starteo Loan is for companies of four years and over in age. The loan is limited to three times the investment made by the business.

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