Around fifteen entrepreneurs from Lleida took part in this seminar to share projects and future challenges, as well as to assess the different credit solutions that the ICF makes available to them to help drive their business. During the first six months of 2019, the ICF funded 16 companies for an amount of almost 13 million euros (+183% up on the same period in 2018).
Today the ICF held the first edition of its "Business talent encounter" cycle in Lleida in order to share with the province's main businesspeople the projects and challenges faced by their companies, in addition to the various credit solutions provided to them by the institution to help drive their business. In total, fifteen executives from Lleida took part from various activity sectors.
The ICF offered advice to the companies during the session and explained how it can accompany them along the various stages of their business through the different funding solutions it makes available to the province's economic fabric. In this regard, the ICF has highlighted its role as a supplementary and alternative player in the private finance sector.
The ICF's commercial delegate in Lleida, Vicenç Bascuñana, explained that "with this meeting the ICF intends to get closer to the core companies driving the region, listening to their initiatives and challenges in order to jointly find the credit solution that best suits their needs".
Credit in Lleida
During the session, the ICF announced Lleida's activity figures during the first half of 2019. Specifically, the institution has funded 16 companies for a total amount of 12.7 million euros, which has increased the credit amount by 183% compared to the same period last year.
As regards the sectors, the most prominent operations are concentrated among manufacturing industries (53%), followed by agri-food industries and the primary sector (24%) and trade, tourism and transport (18%). In particular, most of the projects were funded either due to working capital needs or due to investments for purchasing machinery and/or facilities.
In 2018, operations formalised in Lleida represented 9% of all the projects funded by the ICF. Specifically, it helped to drive 47 business projects for a total amount of 22 million euros.
About ICF
The ICF is the public financial entity of Catalonia, whose main mission is to promote financing for the business community in Catalonia in order to contribute to growth, innovation and the sustainability of the Catalan economy. The ICF acts as a complement to the private sector by offering a wide range of financing solutions focusing on loans, guarantees and venture capital. Since 2014, it has been a member of the European Associations Public Banks (EAPB), which groups a large proportion of the banks and public financial entities operating in Europe.