What Cesgar does

Cesgar (Asociación Española de Sociedades de Garantía Recíproca) is a Spanish non-profit confederation founded in 1980 and headquartered in Madrid that coordinates the country's 18 regional Mutual Guarantee Societies (Sociedades de Garantía Recíproca, or SGRs). SGRs are non-profit financial entities supervised by Banco de España under the dedicated SGR legal regime (Law 1/1994 and subsequent modifications), with counter-guarantee from CERSA; they provide personal guarantees to banks and other lenders so that SMEs and autónomos without sufficient collateral can access credit. Cesgar's role is representation, regulatory liaison, coordination of the network and operation of shared infrastructure. In 2025 the SGR network formalized 50,076 guarantees and intermediated €3,084 million in financing for SMEs and autónomos, with outstanding risk up 6% year-on-year.

Cesgar's core products and infrastructure are the Con Aval Sí digital portal (launched 2017) that connects borrowers with their regional SGR online, the Aquisgrán financing vehicle (expanded to €260 million in April 2024 with ICO and the European Investment Fund) which channels wholesale funding into the guarantee network, and the annual XV Informe sobre Financiación de la Pyme published since 2016, which has become a reference document on SME financing in Spain. Cesgar also holds a Vice Presidency in the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM), positioning the confederation at European level. Recent ecosystem extensions include a €50 million debt fund structured with Kenta Capital and Avalis to finance Catalan SMEs, signalling movement into fund-based origination alongside traditional bank lending.

Cesgar is a non-profit confederation; it does not separately disclose top-line revenue. Its operating budget is funded through contributions from the 18 member SGRs and shared-service fees, while individual SGRs generate income from study commissions on guarantee requests and annual guarantee commissions on outstanding guarantees. Pricing for end borrowers is set at the SGR level rather than centrally, and the customer base is structurally fragmented across Spanish SMEs and autónomos, giving the network low concentration risk but limited pricing power versus lenders.

Name

Cesgar

Legal name

Asociación Española de Sociedades de Garantía Recíproca, CESGAR

Website

https://cesgar.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cesgar is the Spanish non-profit confederation coordinating 18 regional Mutual Guarantee Societies (SGRs) that provide credit guarantees to SMEs and autónomos lacking sufficient collateral, supported by the Con Aval Sí digital platform and the Aquisgrán financing vehicle.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Annual guarantee commission: SGRs charge an annual commission as a percentage of the outstanding amount of the guaranteed operation. This is the primary ongoing revenue stream from guarantee operations.
2. Study commission: A study commission is charged upon formalization of the guarantee operation, covering the analysis and evaluation of the requested guarantee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cesgar is a non-profit confederation that coordinates 18 regional Mutual Guarantee Societies (Sociedades de Garantía Recíproca or SGRs) across Spain, delivering mutual guarantee services that enable SMEs and self-employed workers to access bank credit on better maturity and interest rate terms. Its core offerings include direct financial and technical guarantee issuance through the SGR network, the Con Aval Sí digital platform for online guarantee requests (live since 2017), and the Aquisgrán complementary financing vehicle of €260 million initiated by the SGRs with ICO and FEI backing.

Product overview

Cesgar operates as a confederation coordinating 18 Mutual Guarantee Societies (SGRs) across Spain, offering a portfolio centered on guarantee and financing services for SMEs. The primary offerings include Con Aval Sí (digital platform for guarantee requests), Aquisgrán (alternative financing vehicle of €260M), and direct SGR guarantee services covering financial and technical guarantees. The network also produces the annual XV Informe sobre Financiación de la Pyme research publication. The architecture combines physical SGR member presence nationwide with the Con Aval Sí digital platform for online service delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Con Aval Sí: A web platform launched in 2017 that facilitates the request and processing of guarantees by SMEs and self-employed. Operated by CESGAR member SGRs.
• XV Informe sobre Financiación de la Pyme en España

Products and services

• Con Aval Sí Web platform operated by Cesgar member SGRs since 2017 that enables SMEs and self-employed workers to request and process mutual guarantees online, serving as the digital gateway to access SGR guarantee services and underlying bank financing.
• Aquisgrán Complementary financing instrument initiated by the SGRs at the initiative of Cesgar member societies, providing SMEs and autónomos with an alternative funding source to bank credit to carry out their projects. Expanded to €260 million through additional investments from ICO and FEI.
• SGR Mutual Guarantee Services Mutual guarantee services delivered through the 18 SGRs enabling SMEs and self-employed to access bank credit on better maturity and interest rate terms. Covers financial guarantees (bank guarantees, loans, leasing) and technical guarantees (government contracts, third-party obligations), supported by CERSA re-guarantee and subject to Banco de España supervision under Law 1/1994.

Quantifiable outcome

• €3,084 million injected to SMEs in 2025 (+14% YoY)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Banco de EspañacoreOthers · 16 June 2026SGRs are subject to supervision and inspection by Banco de España. Banks benefit from SGR guarantees as risk is eliminated and operations do not require insolvency provisions.
• AECM (Asociación Europea de Caución Mutua)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESGAR is a founding member and currently holds the Vice Presidency of AECM. Represents common interests of members and consolidates the role of Guarantee Institutions at European level. Zenón Vázquez holds one of the Vice Presidencies of AECM representing CESGAR.
• CEOE and CEPYMEmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCESGAR is a member of the board of directors of both CEOE and CEPYME. Joint actions are carried out from these institutions to support small and medium enterprises.
• AquisgráncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComplementary financing instrument to banking, constituted at the initiative of SGRs, so that SMEs and autónomos have an alternative source to carry out their projects. Expanded to €260 million with ICO and FEI investments.
• CIEM (Confederación Independiente de Empresarios y Autónomos)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExtraval signed collaboration agreement with CIEM to analyze new collaboration avenues to bring financing instruments and guarantees closer to Extremaduran SMEs and autónomos.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau): KfW is Germany's state-owned development bank offering guarantee programs for SMEs and Mittelstand. Same conceptual role as Cesgar in providing state-backed credit risk absorption to support SME access to bank financing, though at a national-promotional scale well beyond Cesgar's coordination remit.
• European Investment Fund (EIF): EIF is an EU body that supports SME access to finance via counter-guarantees and securitization — a direct partner of Cesgar/CERSA and contributor to Aquisgrán. Higher-level counter-guarantor serving mutual guarantee schemes across Europe including Cesgar's network.
• Bpifrance: Bpifrance is the French public investment bank supporting SME financing through guarantees (Bpifrance Garantie), direct loans, and equity. Same SME segment and public-private risk-sharing model as Cesgar's SGR network, but operating at significantly greater scale and with a broader product suite.
• ICO - Instituto de Crédito Oficial: ICO is a Spanish state-owned bank attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs that provides credit support to SMEs — including through SGR-guaranteed facilities and co-investment in the Aquisgrán vehicle (€260M). Broader SME financing mandate via direct lines of credit rather than pure guarantees.

Regional players

• Elkargi: Elkargi is one of the largest Spanish SGRs serving País Vasco and Navarra and a Cesgar board member. Operates the same mutual guarantee model within a smaller regional footprint; comparable on product/target but not on territory given Basque/Navarre concentration.

Direct peers

• Confidi System / Federconfidi (Italy): Italy's Confidi are mutual guarantee consortia providing SME credit guarantees, organized under Federconfidi. Same mutual guarantee model, same SME/autónomo-equivalent segment, same intermediation between SMEs and banks — direct European comparator.
• AECM - European Association of Mutual Guarantee Institutions: AECM is the pan-European trade body of which Cesgar is a founding member and current Vice Presidency holder. It consolidates the role of mutual guarantee institutions across EU jurisdictions and is the closest structural analogue to Cesgar as a coordinating/advocacy body for the mutual guarantee model.
• SPGM - Sociedade Portuguesa de Garantia Mutua: SPGM is the Portuguese mutual counter-guarantee society serving SMEs via the Sistema Português de Garantia Mútua. It operates the same business model as Cesgar's SGR network — credit guarantees facilitated by counter-guarantee — making it the most direct cross-border analogue.
• Bürgschaftsbanken (Germany): The German Bürgschaftsbanken are regional, state-backed mutual guarantee banks serving German SMEs, coordinated via VDB (Verband Deutscher Bürgschaftsbanken). Functionally equivalent to Cesgar's 18 regional SGRs in serving collateral-constrained SMEs through bank-issued loan guarantees.
• CERSA - Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento: CERSA is the Spanish state counter-guarantor that re-guarantees SGR operations and collaborates with the European Investment Fund. As Cesgar's structural counterparty in the SGR system, it is the most directly counter-positioned peer in the same Spanish SME guarantee value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=Yk10uSsY82w
• Xx.com/sgrcesgar
• Facebookfacebook.com/cesgarSGR

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cesgar