The European Commission is joining forces with venture capital to support European innovation in cutting-edge technology, in order to fill the competitiveness gap that Europe presents, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana stressed in her interview in Athens Ivanova, in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments Zois Raptis, launching for this purpose a “network of trusted investors”.

The network is made up of investment schemes, ready to invest jointly with the European Union (EU) in innovative high-tech companies in Europe, which have high growth potential but are facing financing problems.

These are European investments that come from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, within the framework of the EU research and innovation program “Horizon Europe”.

The first group consists of 71 investors from across Europe, including venture capital firms, public investment banks, foundations and corporate venture funds. These investors represent assets of more than 90 billion euros, highlighting the network in a key initiative to leverage capital to advance cutting-edge technology.

The participants committed to implement a “trusted investor network map”, with shared values ​​for building companies in Europe and for co-investing with the European Innovation Council Fund. The two sides will accelerate investment initiatives and exchange best practices for their implementation.

The creation of the network responds to the need to increase funding for these companies to grow in Europe and lays the foundations for further growth in 2025, according to the political guidelines of the next Commission.

The network also highlights the growing importance of the European Innovation Council Fund, which has now invested almost €1 billion in 251 of Europe’s most promising start-ups. The said Fund has attracted co-investments of more than 4 billion euros from approximately one thousand investors, with a leverage of more than 4 euros for every 1 euro invested. The “Trusted Investor Network” is expected to further strengthen these co-investments and provide companies operating in critical technology areas with access to the larger investments they need to compete globally.

The opening took place in the context of the first “EIC Scaling Summit”, in which 120 companies participated for the first time, selected from the EIC portfolio and national programs and with the potential to expand and become global champions in their fields.

The 72 of these companies were today added to the 48 members already registered with the EIC Scaling Club. The EIC provides personalized support to the members of the EIC Scaling Club, with the aim of 20% of them scaling up and becoming unicorns, i.e. companies worth more than €1 billion. Collectively, these member companies have raised over €73 million to date, with new funding rounds expected soon.

Today’s initiative is a continuation of the preparations made by European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova who in February and June had invited a group of investors to discuss this new form of cooperation. The charter signed today and the launch of the network are the tangible result of these consultations, but also a next step for the EIC to secure financing for the expansion of high-risk, high-tech enterprises that have great potential, but often struggle to find the right investors in the European market.

The network is open to other investors with the same principles, who can contact the ESK Fund team through a special e-box.

It is noted that the ESK Fund was established by the Commission to invest in companies selected through the ESK Accelerator program. It is supported by the European Investment Bank, which acts as the Fund’s sole investment advisor, while it is managed by an alternative investment fund manager. The Fund aspires to support over 500 companies during the current period 2021-27.