Financial and Business Location NRW

Fin.Connect.NRW sees itself as a network and competence center for transformation financing, i.e. the financing of companies' investments in sustainable and digital business models, products or processes. This refers to fundamental changes in markets, technologies, legal requirements or social expectations. The main target groups are SMEs and banks from NRW, as most SMEs finance their investments from cash flow, shareholders' equity, loans from house banks and, if necessary, with subsidies.

Systematic dovetailing with thematically related initiatives or networks in the state played an important role here. These include the chambers of industry and commerce, city business development agencies, the Efficiency Agency, Energy4Climate, NRW.BANK, NRW.Global Business and the NRW Climate Adaptation & Business Network.
The idea behind it is to create transparency about what the publicly financed information and advisory services offer, how they differ and what they have in common to enable and finance transformation projects by companies.

The most important goal of all Fin.Connect.NRW activities is to involve and address SMEs and banks in order to show both relevant and practice-oriented approaches to current requirements and thus more efficient solutions.

This includes, for example, the implementation of the CSRD Directive or answers to the question of the role and function of auditing firms in the preparation or auditing of sustainability reports.

Fin.Connect.NRW is run jointly by ZENIT, the IHK NRW and the IW. The ZENIT office publishes its own newsletter once a quarter and provides information on overarching topics, networking with state stakeholders, new publications and events.

There is a wide range of publicly funded information and advisory services in NRW. These cover important aspects of transformation investments, such as energy and material efficiency, the environmental economy, climate adaptation as well as funding and innovation advice - be it general or specialized, for example on digitalization and artificial intelligence.

Fin.Connect.NRW pursues the goal of networking existing offers and making the best possible use of them. We are therefore happy to highlight good examples of transformation from companies and services, in particular

• Efficienzagentur NRW: The Efficiency Agency, partner of Fin.Connect.NRW, uses numerous practical examples to show how subsidies from state or federal programs and loans from house banks can be used successfully. It also offers a free initial consultation.
• Kompetenznetzwerk Umweltwirtschaft: The KNUW promotes environmental innovations through targeted industry profiling and intensive networking. Similar to Fin.Connect.NRW, it focuses on events, publications and active exchange within networks.
• Netzwerk Klimaanpassung & Unternehmen NRW: The network helps companies to develop specific skills for adapting to climate change and establishes links to taxonomy and sustainability reporting.

• NRW.Energy4Climate (E4C): EE4C acts as a think tank and advisory platform for various target groups such as state politicians, companies and local authorities. Together with Fin.Connect.NRW, industry-specific knowledge, solutions and funding programs are prepared and communicated.
• NRW.BANK: The state's development bank is a prominent partner of Fin.Connect.NRW . It provides various financing instruments for companies and thus facilitates the overall financing of investments together with the companies' principal banks. NRW.BANK offers direct funding, for example for sustainable and/or digital business models, processes and products.

In our interview and blog series, we present small and medium-sized companies from NRW that have already successfully integrated sustainability into their business model. At the same time, the founders report on the challenges posed by bureaucracy and financing conditions - and highlight the opportunities offered by an early switch to climate-friendly processes.

• “We've turned the store inside out” - Interview with Bochum-based print service provider Niggemeyer Pro Imaging
• Building climate-friendly data centers: Prior1 GmbH is working on it

• “When it comes to sustainability, bureaucracy sometimes puts the brakes on” - Interview with the founder of the European Anatomy Campus in Mülheim
• “We look at every investment: Could it also be sustainable?” Danny Meurs on the transformation of the hotel Der Brabander
• From the tree to the mailbox: Gundula Ullah on the FUNKE Media Group's sustainability strategy
• New TRICOR site for swelling board in Goch
• Flame cutting for steel construction: Breuer metalworking wants to make it climate-neutral