EIF, EC launch new pan-European venture FoF programme

Sponsored by the EU, the new programme is understood to be part of a number of initiatives under the Horizon 2020 banner, including the Investment Plan for Europe, the Capital Markets Union Action Plan and the Single Market Strategy.

Keeping in mind that the average size of a European VC fund is relatively small, the programme is seen as an effort to close Europe's equity gap, address the fragmentation of the VC market, and attract additional private funding from institutional investors into the EU venture capital asset class by creating a structure that would be able to better meet the minimum investment that global investors traditionally seek to make.

It is understood that EC is aiming to attract a minimum of €1.6bn in funding overall, while pledging up to €400m in funding as a cornerstone investor. Further, EIF's investment will be capped at 25% of the vehicle's total investor commitments. The selected funds-of-funds will in turn invest in investee funds on the basis of their investment strategy. The maximum size of each investment in a selected fund-of-funds will be limited to €300m.

Once applications are received, EIF will select financial intermediaries that will then make the new finance available to European SMEs across a range of sectors. Carlos Moedas, the EU Commissioner for research, science and innovation, stated that he hopes that the initiative would lead to higher levels of investment in new generations of innovative European firms.

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• Topics
• Fund-of-funds
• Venture
• Funds-of-Funds
• Venture