30 million Euros for the creative industries of North Rhine-Westphalia: The new equity fund of the NRW.BANK is destined to support creative businesses from sectors such as film and television, music, design, arts and games. Before launching the NRW.BANK.Kreativwirtschaftsfonds the bank commissioned a study which documented the great potential of creative industries in economic growth and employment.

The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy welcomes the new fund: “Creative industries are among the most dynamic economic sectors in Europe and are important drivers for economic development and innovation in other sectors too. Everywhere people start realizing that knowledge and creativity are our only unlimited resources”, says Secretary of State Jens Braganz.

In cooperation with other co-investors the Creative Industries Fund will provide young as well as established businesses with capital resources to finance investment, acquisition and cooperation projects. In fact the insufficient access to capital markets is one of the creative industries’ major problems. “We consistently find creative companies do not have enough capital resources”, Ernst Gerlach, president of NRW.BANK, explains. According to him this is due on one hand to the small business structure which is typical for creative industries and does not give access to the capital market; and on the other hand to the reluctance of banks and investors given the difficult economic evaluation of creative contents and the market opportunities of the companies.

Prof. Dieter Gorny, president of the bank’s creative industries committee and artistic director of RUHR.2010, European Capital of Culture, also appreciates the launch of this new financial instrument: “I am convinced that this fund will contribute to initiate interesting and innovating projects which in turn will have an impact on the job market.”

Source: Welt Online, 9.3.2009