The European Investment Bank and all 27 EU governments launched a second phase of a fund aiming to mobilize up to 80 billion euros for European technology scaleups.
The EIB is seeking to raise up to 15 billion euros directly for the new fund, roughly four times the size of its 2023 predecessor, with the goal of unlocking as much as 80 billion euros in total investment across more than 1,500 companies. The bank itself will contribute up to 1.25 billion euros, with the fund’s final size set later this year once participating governments and private investors finish their commitments.
The original fund, launched in 2023, backed 15 large venture capital funds and helped 12 European startups grow into billion dollar companies.
This phase takes a different approach. Rather than focusing only on large venture funds, the expanded program will also invest in mid-sized growth funds holding more than 300 million euros in assets, aiming to anchor over 100 funds in total, including up to 45 large ones investing roughly 200 million euros per company. Officials describe the shift as a direct response to Europe’s persistent shortage of late-stage financing, the gap that often pushes fast-growing companies to raise money, or relocate, abroad. “It is a decisive step to address the funding gap for scale ups,” EIB Group President Nadia Calviño said.
Private investors backing the program include Spain’s AltamarCAM, Banco Santander and BBVA, Italy’s Azimut Holding, Green Arrow Capital and Compagnia di San Paolo, and Denmark’s Danske Bank, with more expected to join. The initiative sits inside the EU’s broader TechEU framework, a financing platform exceeding 70 billion euros meant to support technology companies from early concept through a public listing, and is designed to work alongside national programs including France’s Tibi initiative and Germany’s WIN scheme.
The fund’s sector priorities point to where EU policymakers see the greatest strategic stakes: artificial intelligence, biotech, cleantech, defense, fintech and deep tech all featured heavily in the first phase and are expected to anchor the second. Crypto and blockchain ventures are notably absent from that list.
