EIC Selects EQT to Lead €5 Billion Scaleup Europe Fund

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund Board has chosen EQT as the preferred investment adviser and fund manager for the Scaleup Europe Fund. The decision follows a rigorous and highly competitive selection process to lead the EU's €5 billion initiative designed to empower the continent's most innovative deep tech scaleups.

The Fund will provide critical growth capital to high-potential companies in strategic deep-tech sectors, including AI, quantum computing, dual-use technologies, clean energy, space technology, biotech, and medical innovation, ensuring Europe remains at the forefront of global technological leadership. The Fund is designed to bridge the late-stage financing gap and incentivise Europe's most promising scaleups to choose to stay in Europe.

The Scaleup Europe Fund was developed in collaboration with a coalition of potential founding investors, who, alongside the European Commission, were also involved in shaping its structure and investment framework: Novo Holdings, EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), CriteriaCaixa, Santander/Mouro Capital, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo / Intesa Sanpaolo / Fondazione Cariplo, Dutch pension fund ABP (with APG as Asset Manager), and Allianz. Beyond this group, further investors have signalled their interest.

”Europe's competitiveness hinges on scaling our own innovation, in our own strategic sectors, with our own capital. The Scaleup Europe Fund is our bold step forward, where we unite public and private capital behind a shared vision for European leadership. With the newly selected fund manager and a coalition of Europe's most respected long-term investors, this is proof of what Europe can achieve when we align our resources,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, EC Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.