The map, low to high
| Country | Minimum capital |
|---|---|
| Netherlands (BV) | €0.01 |
| UK (Ltd) / Ireland (LTD) | Nominal — a share will do |
| France (SARL/SAS) / Belgium (BV/SRL) | €1-class; adequacy over amount |
| Spain (SL) | €1 under the startup-era reform (formalities attached) |
| Luxembourg (S.à r.l.) | €12,000 |
| Germany (GmbH) | €25,000 (€12,500 paid in); UG variant from €1 with reserve duty |
Reviewed 18 August 2026.
What replaced the capital test
Modern regimes — the Dutch one led the way in 2012 — swapped fixed capital for director accountability: distributions require a balance-and-liquidity judgment, which protects creditors better than parked cash ever did. Capital became a design variable: set it to what the business plan needs, adjust by notarial amendment when it grows.
The founder’s takeaway
Choose capital for optics and operations rather than law: €1,000–€10,000 reads naturally on a working BV’s balance sheet, banks care about the file rather than the figure (the banking map), and the cent stays available for holdings whose value lives in what they hold: the holding layer.