Berlin – The German parliament has approved a billion-euro “future fund” to help fledgling companies expand their business.

Early on Friday, after a marathon 17-hour budgetary meeting, the German Bundestag approved a massive investment of state capital to promote start-ups in the country. The 2021 budget will see the government provide 2.4 billion Euro via Germany’s developmental bank, the KfW, and other channels to help new and growing companies scale up their activities.

The government has committed to investing a total of 10 billion Euro between next year and 2030. It is hoped that this financial infusion will create an additional EUR20 billion in private venture capital investments.

“The Bundestag has created the necessary budgetary conditions for significantly improving the financing of start-ups in Germany,” the president of the Federal Association of German Start-Ups, Christian Miele, told German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

Robert Hermann, the CEO of the German national economic promotion agency Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) welcomed the parliament’s decision.

“This is fantastic news,” says Hermann. “Business advocates have long called for better access to domestic venture capital for young German companies – a need the governing German cabinet and parliament have now addressed. The allocation of such a large sum shows that amidst all of the economic disruption going on right now, there are significant positive changes as well. For innovative young companies, this could be a very good time to consider expanding to Germany.”