German Corona Matching Facility (CMF)

The EIF is acting as an implementing partner of the German Corona Matching Facility alongside KfW Capital.

This Corona crisis programme forms part of the German Federal Government’s EUR 2 billion assistance  package for start-ups and small enterprises, announced 1 April 2020 by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Finance. 

It has been deployed in two pillars focussing on ensuring access to finance for businesses in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

Under the first pillar – the Corona Matching Facility – the EIF and KfW Capital in cooperation with KfW have supported VC funds targeting start-ups and young growth enterprises located in Germany and having a sustainable business model. The aim was to enable such companies to continue their growth despite the current period of hardship. The EIF leveraged its existing partnerships in the market to ensure a rapid pace of delivery, as detailed in the initiative’s terms.

Further options for securing financing for start-ups and small businesses that have no access to the CMF have been made available through the second pillar deployed by KfW in further cooperation with the federal states, including their promotional institutions (Landesförderinstitute).

The CMF was open for applications until 31 March 2021 for financing rounds until 30 June 2021 and has been supporting 17 general partners, 22 investment schemes and 99 companies to date.