Background

• Almi is fully owned by the Swedish state and has two parts: Almi and Almi Invest
• Almi offers loans to companies with growth potential and assists in their business development
• The government is providing an additional SEK 3bn in funding so Almi can provide loans to small and medium sized Swedish companies that are suffering due to the corona virus
• The loans will be bridge loans (Sw Brygglån)
• Startups can borrow up to SEK 500k and SMBs more - Almi sets no official cap but says unusual that they would lend over SEK 5m
• Applications made online → link here
• General FAQ available here (in Swedish)

Eligibility

• The company needs to have been viable (Sw. bärkraftigt) before the corona crisis and should be considered to be sustainable even after the crisis
• Each applicant will also go through Almi's credit scoring for eligibility

Terms and conditions

• Almi categorizes companies into two categories: 1) startups and 2) SMBs ("established" companies)
• There are no definitions published on the categories - it seems Almi will categorize each company themselves
• Startups can borrow up to SEK 500k and SMBs more - Almi sets no official cap but says unusual that they would lend over SEK 5m
• If an SMB borrows more than SEK 3m, Almi requires that there is co-financing (Sw "medfinansiering") in place from a bank or in equity
• Interest rates are set on an individual basis. They will be varied and are capped at 4.95%