NRW.Bank expands promotion for start-ups

To this end, NRW.Bank has further developed its venture fund. There is now a Venture Circle and an Investment Committee, and the bank is also increasing its support for other funds.

Up to now, North Rhine-Westphalia has not been known as a major promoter of unicorns. The state therefore wants to further expand its support for start-ups: For example, the state-owned NRW.Bank is intensifying its commitment to venture capital. The NRW.Venture brand, which was established specifically for this purpose, is the further development of the previous venture fund, explains board member Michael Stölting and goes on to say: "As the development bank for North Rhine-Westphalia, it is our concern that every good idea receives the right financing."

Part of the realignment is a six-member Venture Circle, which informs NRW.Bank about current trends and advises on potential investments. In addition, there is now the Venture Investment Committee, which is the body that decides on the Venture Fund's investments. The new name NRW.Venture will streamline processes and make them more market-oriented. Part of this is also the increase of NRW.Bank's capital in other funds from EUR 100 to 150 million.

In 2020, NRW.Bank gave more than EUR 13 million in 15 financings, and in the first half of 2021 alone, it already gave EUR 11 million in seven rounds.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Economics and Digital Minister Andreas Pinkwart is pleased with the state bank's commitment: "With this latest package of measures, NRW.BANK is making its own important contribution to ensuring that North Rhine-Westphalia can develop into one of the leading venture capital locations in Europe."