Financing start-ups is an ongoing challenge for the financial sector. They are considered rightly as a risk population, resulting in a high level of default in banks portfolios. Difficult access to finance for start-ups has been a concern for development strategies; private initiatives have been strongly reinforced by the public support, resulting in a growing use of guarantee funds. Opportunities arise today with the shift from traditional activities to the “new economy”, in an environment offering great potentialities and many facilities for new entrepreneurs. Still, coordination of actors needs improvements in most countries, especially for innovative startups. New forms of financing also emerge, while consequences of the global crisis and tighter risk regulation have set a more severe behaviour in the banking sector.
Challenges in financing start-ups and potential solutions
Relator: Mr. Jean-Louis Leloir
Special Adviser to the Board of Directors, European Association of Guarantee Institutions BelgiumJean-Louis Leloir, 65, graduated from the French High Business School ESCP. He has filled since 1979 various responsibilities (at Head Office and Branches), mostly in the field of loan guarantee schemes, in the Bpifrance group, French public development institution supporting SME financing. Formerly Credit Department Manager and Auditor, he was for the last 10 years Head of Technical Assistance and Consulting, addressing acquired expertise to foreign guarantee institutions, mostly in MENA Region and Africa, in assignments from Donors and International Institutions (World Bank Group, AFD, OECD, and European Commission). Since 2015 he has been Special Adviser to the Board of Directors of the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM).
