Overview

Note:

As announced at Budget 2021, the EFS Venture Debt Programme is enhanced to support the growth of later-stage enterprises. The maximum loan quantum will be raised from S$5 million to S$8 million for new applications initiated from 1 April 2021.

Finance the growth of innovative enterprises using Venture Debt and Warrants.

This form of financing is typically suited for high growth startups that do not have significant assets to be used as collateral under traditional bank lending. The warrants, or rights to purchase equity, is to compensate for the higher risk of loan default.

Enterprises may use the Loan to:

Grow and expand existing capacity
Diversify into other product lines
Augment working capital needs
Undertake new projects
Undergo merger and acquisitions

Maximum Loan Quantum	S$8 million / borrower Note: Borrowers are subject to an overall borrower group limit of S$20 million for EFS-VD. In addition, there is an overall loan exposure limit of S$50 million per borrower group¹ across all facilities.
Maximum Repayment Period	5 years
ESG Risk-Share	Risk share is at 50%. Young enterprises² may receive a risk share of 70%. The borrower is responsible to repay 100% of the loan amount. When defaults occur, the Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) are obligated to follow their standard commercial recovery procedure, including the realisation of security, before they can make a claim against Enterprise Singapore for the unrecovered amount in proportion to the risk-share.
Interest Rate	Subject to PFIs’ assessment of risks involved.

¹ Borrower Group consists of the following:

a.	Borrower; and
b.	Corporate shareholders holding more than 50% at all levels up; and.
c.	Subsidiaries where the Applicant company holds more than 50% shareholdings and subsequent subsidiaries at all levels down
d.	Subsidiaries where the Applicant’s Ultimate Parent Company holds more than 50% shareholdings and their subsidiaries at all level down

² Young enterprises refer to firms formed within the past 5 years with at least 1 employee, and more than 50% equity owned by individuals.

SME should meet the following criteria:

Is a business entity³, registered and physically present in Singapore
Has at least 30% local equity held directly or indirectly by Singaporean(s) and/or Singapore PR(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership
Has Group Annual Sales Turnover of not more than S$500 million

³ ACRA registered Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnerships and Companies are eligible to apply for the scheme. Approval of the loan is subject to the PFI’s assessment.

Click here for frequently asked questions on EFS.