The initiative is called “European Tech Champions” and succeeds a smaller fund. The umbrella fund itself is endowed with around 15 billion euros – four times as much as its predecessor. Through the participation of private investors, including Spain’s Santander Bank, Danske Bank and Italy’s Green Arrow Capital, the total volume is expected to rise to 80 billion euros.
EIB Nadia Calviño said the focus is “above all on scalability and speed.” The consortium closes a financing gap for so-called scale-ups – young companies with high growth potential. Technologies developed in Europe should also be economically successful here in the future, Calviño said.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called the initiative “a strategic investment in Europe’s future.” It strengthens competitiveness, technological sovereignty and prosperity. German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU), who is otherwise rather critical of state aid, said: “With this, we are setting the course for Europe’s technological sovereignty.”
In a first round of the initiative, the EIB had already supported large funds that invest in European start-ups. Twelve unicorns were promoted – young companies with a value of over one billion euros. KfW CEO Stefan Wintels praised the expansion and called for a genuine capital markets union as the next step to channel savings efficiently into investments.
Source: www.spiegel.de
