The smallest companies in the Baltics will be eligible for up to €15 million in loans as a result of an initiative that alternative financing provider Capitalia is undertaking with support from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Capitalia will use an EIF guarantee to offer crowdfunded loans to microenterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over three years.

Microenterprises, which have fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or total assets below €2 million, often struggle to secure funding from traditional lenders because of limited collateral or credit history.

Capitalia will offer Baltic microenterprises loans of as much as €50,000 with maturities of up to 36 months, reduced interest rates and no hard collateral requirements. The initiative is projected to support almost 700 loans with an average size of about €30,000.

“We are excited to extend these benefits to our investors through the crowdfunding platform,” said Capitalia General Manager Juris Grišins. “Loans backed by the EIF guarantee help us provide more accessible financing to Baltic companies.”

The EIF is providing its loan guarantee to Latvia-based Capitalia through the European Union’s InvestEU programme. The initiative marks the first time that loans by a crowdfunding platform in Europe benefit from InvestEU protection.

“We are strengthening access to affordable finance for microentrepreneurs who face barriers in securing credit,” said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “This InvestEU-backed transaction is a great example of how innovative financing can be used to mobilise retail investors in support of small businesses across the Baltics.” 

The structure of the agreement strengthens Capitalia’s ability to marshal retail investors, aligning with broader EU goals to channel more private investment towards small enterprises. The InvestEU protection covers a share of Capitalia’s credit risk, enabling the company to channel retail investor funds into safer, more accessible loans for micro‑businesses while offering borrowers better financing conditions.

The new accord marks the second guarantee-based cooperation between Capitalia and the EIF. Under a previous microfinance-guarantee programme known as Employment and Social Innovation, or EaSI, Capitalia issued 523 loans with a total value of more than €9.8 million to small businesses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Background information 

Capitalia
Capitalia is a licensed crowdfunding platform and provides business loans to companies in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. Since its establishment in 2007, Capitalia has financed more than 5,000 companies in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland, with total deployed financing exceeding €100 million.

EIF
The European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, designs venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that absorb part of the risk that is taken by a wide range of selected financial intermediaries when they finance businesses, individuals and infrastructure projects, thereby improving access to finance in Europe. This encourages funds to invest, banks to lend and private investment to be crowded in to boost innovation, competitiveness and climate action, as well as improve sustainability, social impact and skills.

InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the EU’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the EU together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.