In the first month and a half of this year, banks have already issued loans to SMEs secured by intellectual property in the amount of 619 million rubles, secured by independent guarantees from the SME Corporation. This is stated in the message of the Corporation.
In 2021, SME Bank, a subsidiary bank of the SME Corporation, will provide loans to SMEs secured by rights to IP in the amount of at least 5.5 billion rubles, including with guarantee support from the Corporation.
Financial and guarantee support of companies that offer intellectual property as collateral is one of the priorities of the SME Corporation. The use of intellectual property as a collateral for a loan allows an entrepreneur to implement a project with a minimum level of material costs, that is, we are talking about a significant expansion of the toolkit for supporting SMEs. This is especially true for startups, for high-tech companies, IT, for representatives of the creative industry.
“I would like to emphasize separately that it is important for us not only to ensure the achievement of target indicators for the volume of loans issued with such collateral, but also to be sure that the events being implemented and the created services are available and in demand among businesses,” said the CEO of the SME Corporation Alexander Isaevich, “We know examples of the assessment of world high-tech companies, when their intangible (intellectual) property, for example, brand, technology, software, is valued significantly higher than the value of production assets. I am sure that Russian business has good potential for development in this direction.” .
For Russian banks, the market for lending secured by intellectual property is relatively new, and the product itself is in many ways unique. It cannot be said that a large number of players are developing this type of lending, but together with the guarantee coverage of the SME Corporation, loans secured by intellectual property are becoming more and more affordable.