Stage 4 · Traditional SME
Financing your SME's growth
New markets, hiring, strengthening equity: the financing that supports acceleration.
- 52
open schemes - 2
closed schemes (history) - 10 national
25 local or regional - 5
funding families
Growth consumes money before it generates any: hiring sales staff, opening a new market, increasing production, financing working capital needs that grow with revenue. The financing at this stage mainly consists of unsecured loans, bank guarantees and equity contributions.
The catalogue lists {{ouvertes}} open schemes for this stage, including {{nationales}} national ones, mainly Bpifrance, and {{locales}} regional or local ones: regional investment funds, regional growth loans, growth honour loans.
What needs financing to grow?
An SME's growth is financed on three fronts.
Intangible investments
Hiring, marketing, business development: hard to finance with a conventional loan, hence unsecured loans.
Working capital needs
More stock, more customer receivables: cash flow tightens as activity increases.
Equity
To finance growth without over-indebting the company, and to reassure lenders.
What are you looking for?
Key schemes
The national schemes that most often finance growth.
Prêt Croissance
Bpifrance
Up to €5,000,000
From €50,000 to €5,000,000, capped by equity, with no collateral on the company or the business owner.
Prêt Boost
Bpifrance
Up to €75,000
Unrestricted-use cash flow loan of €5,000 to €100,000, over 3 to 5 years, taken out online.
SIAGI - Garantie Croissance
SIAGI
Up to €4,000,000
Guarantee of 20% to 70% on development loans, from €5,000 to €4,000,000.
Accélérateur Croissance Sud
Financeur non résolu (DGE)
Up to €15,330
Closed on 14 Oct 2026
Regional accelerator example: a programme to structure the next growth stage.
France Active Investissement (FAI)
Financeurs privés, France Active
Up to €500,000
Impact investment for social and solidarity economy (ESS) and impact companies, particularly through participating loans.
Prêt Croissance or Prêt Boost: what's the difference?
Bpifrance's Prêt Croissance finances a development programme: from €50,000 to €5,000,000, capped by the company's equity and quasi-equity, with no collateral on the company's assets or the business owner's personal assets. It generally accompanies bank financing.
Prêt Boost, distributed online by Bpifrance Flash, is an unrestricted-use cash flow loan for small businesses and SMEs: from €5,000 to €100,000, over 3 to 5 years with a grace period, at a fixed rate. It meets a one-off cash flow need linked to the business.
Regional guarantees and equity
SIAGI guarantees development loans for small businesses: a coverage rate of 20% to 70% depending on whether a co-guarantor is present, for loans of €5,000 to €4,000,000, over up to 15 years. Regions also have investment funds (the catalogue lists several, in Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Corsica and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) that strengthen the equity of SMEs in their area.
Accelerators and hiring
Bpifrance's accelerators, national or regional, support business owners for several months to structure their growth: strategy, organisation, international expansion. These are paid programmes, partly subsidised. Lastly, several local authorities subsidise hiring, particularly of export managers or specific profiles; these grants are listed in the catalogue for this stage.
All schemes for this stage
52 schemes open — page 1 of 3
Fonds 'France Investissement Tourisme'
Bpifrance
Up to €10,000,000
Prêt Croissance
Bpifrance
Up to €5,000,000
Prêt Croissance International
Bpifrance
Up to €5,000,000
Prêt Croissance Relance
Bpifrance
Up to €5,000,000
Soutien aux fonds propres des entreprises via le fonds d’investissement Major Capital
Financeurs privés, Région Normandie
Up to €5,000,000
Garantie Classique Bpifrance — Financement bancaire entreprises
Bpifrance
Up to €5,000,000
SIAGI - Garantie Croissance
SIAGI
Up to €4,000,000
Fonds direct 'IRDI'
Bpifrance, Financeurs privés, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Région Occitanie
Up to €1,500,000
Pays de la Loire Participations
Financeurs privés, Région Pays de la Loire
Up to €1,500,000
Fonds d’Investissement 'Croissance et Proximité 2'
Financeurs privés, Région Normandie
Up to €800,000
Prêt de Développement Outre-Mer (PDOM)
Bpifrance
Up to €750,000
Fonds direct 'Femu Quì'
Bpifrance, Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, Financeurs privés, Union Européenne-FEDER
Up to €600,000
France Active Investissement (FAI)
Financeurs privés, France Active
Up to €500,000
Prêt participatif Grand Est
Financeurs privés, Région Grand Est
Up to €500,000
Breizh Up - Fonds régional de Co-investissement
Région Bretagne, Union Européenne-FEDER
Up to €400,000
Prêt d'Accompagnement
Bpifrance
Up to €300,000
Prêt Région Industrie Croissance
Bpifrance, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Up to €200,000
Aide au recrutement des TPE, PME ou ETI
Le Mans Métropole
Up to €100,000
Closed schemes (history)
These schemes are no longer open to applications; they stay listed for reference and in case they reopen.
Schemes linked to this stage after individual review (unreviewed proposals are never shown). Scope is "national" or "local" based on the territory declared by the scheme; 17 scheme(s) with no territory on record are counted in neither.
Steps to secure funding
- 1Build the growth planMarkets, hiring, investments and the associated cash flow need.
- 2Assess borrowing capacityGrowth loans are capped by equity.
- 3Strengthen equity if neededRegional funds, participating loans, growth honour loans.
- 4Put the financing togetherGuaranteed bank loan plus a complementary Bpifrance loan.
Useful resources
Frequently asked questions
Does Prêt Croissance require a personal guarantee from the business owner?
No: it is presented as having no collateral on the company's assets or the business owner's personal assets. It is, however, capped by equity.
Can you combine a Bpifrance loan with a bank loan?
Yes, that is in fact the usual arrangement: the Bpifrance loan supplements bank financing, often guaranteed.
Do regional funds take a majority stake?
They generally take minority stakes, in shares or quasi-equity; the terms depend on each fund.
Is your growth going international? Export prospecting insurance, VIE placements and export guarantees are detailed in the Export stage.
See exportOfficial sources
- Prêt Croissance — Bpifrance — fiche Capital OS relue en octobre 2026 (source officielle citée)
- Prêt Boost — Bpifrance Flash — fiche Capital OS relue en octobre 2026 (source officielle citée)
- La garantie de la SIAGI — fiche Capital OS relue en octobre 2026 (source officielle citée)
- Accélérateurs Bpifrance — fiche Capital OS relue en octobre 2026 (source officielle citée)
Your situation is unique
Finance your SME's growth
Enter your SIRET number: the report applies your company's actual criteria — activity, size, age, location — and only keeps the schemes you're eligible for.