Normandy Defense Initiative, a regional fund to support companies in the sector.

Normandie Defense, that is the name of a new regional investment fund launched by the Region. It is exclusively targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and intermediate-sized enterprises (ETIs) in Normandy related to the defense sector. The goal: to provide them with the means to invest, grow, and hire.

Access to financing, the key to success

With around a hundred companies and nearly 12,000 jobs, the defense sector represents an important part of Normandy’s industrial fabric. Many SMEs contribute to the manufacturing of military equipment, often in the shadow of large groups. “For example, there are companies that manufacture spare parts for aeronautics or armaments, such as specific nuts for the Rafale aircraft, electronic cards for radars, or subsystems,” explains Alain Dulac, president of the Normandie Defense fund and head of the Bayeux-based company Factem, specializing in transmission and communication products. However, these SMEs face a recurring problem: access to financing to expand and increase their production.

Increasing capacities

Specialized funds in defense exist, but they generally target very large companies, “with investment tickets of 10 or 20 million euros. Our companies, on the other hand, need more modest financing, as they are smaller, often in the range of a few hundred thousand euros. It is these needs that the Normandie Defense fund will be able to meet,” promises Herve Morin, President of the Normandy Region. Currently endowed with around 4.3 million euros and created with the support of partners such as Credit Agricole and Groupama, Normandie Defense intervenes by entering the capital of companies. “By having more equity, these companies can more easily take on debt, and therefore invest, develop a new production line, and ultimately hire,” emphasizes Herve Morin.

Normandy is the first region to create such a dedicated fund for defense. It anticipates increasing needs in a context of growing international conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East.