Sent Sep 13, 2022, 4:11 pmUpdated September 13, 2022 at 5:08 pm
Entrepreneurship has never been easier in Seine-Saint-Denis. The entrepreneurship support associations Initiative Grand-Est Seine-Saint-Denis and Initiative Plaine Commune, which together cover the entire department, are merging into a single structure. Objective: to increase their visibility to facilitate partnerships with companies and above all to pool teams in order to improve the effectiveness of the support and management of loan requests.
Funds still unused
In fact, the Initiative France network, which has more than 200 local associations, including Initiative Seine-Saint-Denis, has earned a reputation thanks to the zero-interest loans it offers to young entrepreneurs. After being granted by an evaluation committee, these loans, considered to be quasi-equity funds, have a strong leverage effect for obtaining a bank loan. Added to support through mentoring for 7 years, this allows the network to post a rate of duration of 3 years of its members by about 90%, much higher than the national average (74% according to INSEE).
However, if the loan funds of the two departmental associations are supplemented by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation and private partners, their operating budget is much more limited, with only 11 employees. Result, not all files can be processed. Half of the available funds were granted last year to 155 beneficiary companies.
More women
Combining its strengths, the new network hopes to reach 190 companies this year, which is 20% more each year. “If there are fewer demands in one area, teams can, for example, strengthen those in another location. Furthermore, the merger will allow us to be more easily identified by potential private partners who will increasingly seek to finance our operating budget “, explains Francine Savidan, co-president of the association and former president of Initiative Grand-Est Senna- Saint-Denis.
Another important development axis, the new network, which has established gender equality at the level of its presidency and its management, wishes to achieve it quickly for its beneficiaries. Currently, only 40% of the people assisted are women. They weren’t 32.3% of female entrepreneurs in France in 2021 .
Finally, the network wants to give even more priority to entrepreneurship in the districts of city policy (QPV), “which requires specific support, since this public must be cultured in entrepreneurship and not necessarily know the aid for its delivery, in particular the ours “, observes Jean-Pierre Bodnar, the other co-president of the new entity.
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