Hamburg expands protective shield

"The pandemic will continue to occupy us in 2021 and companies can still get into difficulties through no fault of their own. We are not relaxing our aid programme for Hamburg's economic sector," said Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics. "For this reason, we are extending CRF until June 30, 2021. I'm also pleased that as a result of the extension and the grest demand, we have been able to double the volume from EUR 50 million to over EUR 100 million." Prof. Norbert Aust, President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the extension of the corona protective shield, and stressed: "Our goal remains: 'No previously healthy company should go bankrupt because of corona.'" 

More than EUR 5.5 billion in aid has been provided from March 2020 to early 2021. The priority is to continue aid for Hamburg's diverse cultural and media scene among others, Aust remarked. Last year, Hamburg provided around EUR 90 million in additional aid for culture and most recently a good EUR 14 million as part of relaunch grants for solo self-employed artists and creative professionals. Additional funds will be available this year and in 2022.

Demand for silent partnerships is enormous, according to Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB Hamburg). Nearly 100 investments with more than EUR 35 million in funding have been committed via IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH and BTG Beteiligungsgesellschaft Hamburg mbH since the launch of CRF last July. For the funded startups and companies, recapitalization is the only means of remaining active on the market and to continue development given the corona-induced restrictions and threats to their existence.

Beagle Systems, a drone startup founded in 2019, needed more capital in 2020 to progress from prototype to full-scale production, according to Oliver Lichtenstein, joint founder. The company develops and operates long-range drones for inspection and transport flights. The corona-induced crisis had forced Beagle Systems to postpone certain customer projects. Securing investments from private individuals has proven challenging. "The CRF has covered some of our capital requirements and boosted confidence among private investors that the bottom line in funds has been reached.  As a result, we are starting 2021 from a good position and are confident that we are one step closer to achieving our mission namely to make any place on Earth accessible at the press of a button."

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