How to Apply for KOSGEB Loan? What Does It Cover? Who Can Benefit?

The world of entrepreneurship is expanding its scope by being fed with new business ideas. As businesses prepare to change the world with ideas that make a difference, they seek financing and cash loans to grow faster. Moreover, thanks to KOSGEB's low-interest loans and various grant support programs for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is possible to continue on the road without finding an investor.

How to Apply for KOSGEB Loan?

KOSGEB offers SME Finance Support Program for businesses that are currently operating to obtain low-interest loans from banks. According to this program, SMEs can benefit from business loans, machinery-equipment loans and emergency support loans.

To apply for SME loans:

• Register in the database by entering your tax/TC identity number and your starting date from the e-services section of the KOSGEB website.
• After you have entered your information completely, fill in the SME Declaration to determine whether your business is included in the SME class.
• Apply to the banks included in the protocol for loans within the specified limit.
• After your application is reviewed and approved by the bank, you can use the support loan.

Which Business Lines Does KOSGEB Support Support?

KOSGEB supports are vital for businesses in their infancy. Of course, in order to benefit from advantageous loan opportunities, it is necessary to provide services in the areas supported by the program. So, which jobs do KOSGEB supports?

The main business areas supported by KOSGEB are:

• Mining and quarrying,
• Production,
• Production and distribution of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning,
• Water supply, sewage, waste management and remediation activities,
• Build,
• Wholesale and retail trade,
• transportation and storage,
• Accommodation and food service activities,
• information and communication,
• Finance and insurance activities,
• Professional, scientific and technical activities,
• Administrative and support service activities,
• Education,
• Culture, art, entertainment, recreation and sports,
• Other service activities.

If you are serving in one of these business lines, your business must also be considered as an SME or new venture in order to benefit from KOSGEB loan opportunities.

Small and medium-sized businesses are classified as:

• Micro Business: Businesses with less than 10 employees and annual net sales revenue not exceeding 5 million TL.
• Small business: Businesses with less than 50 employees and annual net sales revenue not exceeding 50 million TL.
• Medium Business: Businesses with less than 250 employees and annual net sales revenue not exceeding 250 million TL.

​Steps to Follow When Applying for KOSGEB

Now you know what the basic application requirements for credit support are. Then you can look for an answer to the question of how to get a KOSGEB loan. Because there are many tricks to consider from the beginning of the applications to the evaluation process for new ventures.

If you are wondering how to get KOSGEB support for a new business idea, you can follow the steps below.

Entrepreneurship Training, Company Establishment and KOSGEB Application

• First, check if your startup is among the supported sectors. You can find the detailed list of business lines on KOSGEB's website.
• Entrepreneurial loan support is given to active businesses established with the support of KOSGEB. For this, you need to complete one of the Traditional Entrepreneur Education or Advanced Entrepreneur Education programs, depending on the business you will establish.
• Free entrepreneurship trainings, which everyone can attend, are held online with e-government verification via KOSGEB e-Academy.
• After the training, you should establish it as a capital or sole proprietorship as defined in the Turkish Commercial Code. Ordinary Partnerships are not supported by KOSGEB as they fall under the Turkish Code of Obligations. To open a sole proprietorship, you can read our article on this subject.
• After establishing the company, you can register in the KOSGEB database and apply for the New Entrepreneur Program; however, you must have established your company at least one year before the application date.

Evaluation of KOSGEB Applications

• Traditional entrepreneur applications are made by the KOSGEB Directorate; On the other hand, advanced entrepreneur applications are examined by the board after being subjected to preliminary evaluation.
• Entrepreneurs learn the evaluation results through the SME Information System.
• While evaluating the application, whether the entrepreneur has the competence to run the business, the applicability of the business model offered, and the suitability of the requested machinery, equipment and software to the business activities are taken into consideration.
• In addition, the necessity of the support items required by the enterprise model, their costs and the adequacy of the resources that the enterprise should provide are among the evaluation criteria.

New Entrepreneur Program Supports

• The positive KOSGEB application results are communicated via e-notification, and then the support program begins.
• The new venture support program covers two years after the adoption of the business model.
• Accordingly, non-refundable establishment support of 5.000 TL is provided to sole proprietorships and 10.000 TL to capital companies.
• Within the scope of non-refundable performance support, support is also provided for the SSI premiums of the personnel employed by the enterprise. The amount of this support varies according to the number of premium days of the personnel.
• If you are accepted to the advanced entrepreneur program, in addition to establishment and performance support, you can also receive machinery, equipment and software support according to the technology level of the enterprise.
• Machinery, equipment and software supports; It is provided non-refundable up to 100.000 TL at low and medium-low technology level, up to 200.000 TL at medium-high technology level, and up to 300.000 TL at high technology level.