The EIC Fund was launched under the pilot phase of the EIC to invest in companies selected under the EIC pilot Accelerator. The equity investments, ranging from €0.5 to €15 million per company, complement the grant financing of up to €2.5 million, which has already been provided through the EIC Accelerator. Under Horizon Europe, the EIC Fund has taken so far 35 investment decisions. They amount to a total equity investment of around €190 million. In other words, the EIC Fund provides equity from €0.5m to €15m to breakthrough innovation companies selected for EIC Accelerator blended finance support (grant and equity).
Under Horizon Europe, so far 313 companies have been selected for support under the EIC Accelerator.
The EIC Fund
- provides patient capital in the form of equity or quasi-equity (which may also be blended with a grant component) to SMEs and start-ups selected through the highly competitive and rigorous EIC Accelerator.
- bridges the funding gap for start-ups with seed capital to series B financing, where market entry is at most in a pilot phase to prepare the scaling up of breakthrough European innovations.
- aims to crowd in other investors, further sharing risks by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow on funding
- has an investment strategy that covers all areas of technology including in particular health, green and digital. It aims at achieving “impact” and crowding in other investors (see Investments Guidelines).
How does the EIC Fund work?
- The EIC Fund has been restructured as an alternative investment fund (AIF) with investment decisions taken and managed by an external (alternative investment) fund manager (AIFM), fully compliant with the AIFM Directive.
- The Fund Manager takes investment decisions on all start-ups and SMEs selected through the EIC Accelerator evaluation process to receive blended (grant and equity) or equity-only financing. The selection of companies is based on criteria such as the breakthrough nature of the innovation (in particular in “deep tech”), the potential to scale up, and with risk levels that are too high for private investors alone. The investment decisions follow a due diligence performed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and must be in line with the EIC Fund’s Investment Guidelines.
- The EIC and SME Executive Agency (EISMEA) manages the application and evaluation process for the EIC Accelerator, to provide the grant support and business acceleration services to the selected companies, and to ensure a coordinated approach with the EIC Fund investments to maximise the companies’ chances of success. The EIC Board provides independent high-level advice on the strategy and implementation of the EIC.
Would you like to co-invest alongside the EIC Fund?
Are you a private investor seeking to invest in future breakthrough innovation, together with the European Innovation Council (EIC)?
The EIC Fund provides a single point of access to an aggregated (Europe wide) deal flow of relevant investment opportunities.The EIC Fund offers companies for co-investment which
- are selected by means of a competitive process where highest potential companies are selected
- are granted an EU innovation subsidy of up to €2.5m with 2-year term and for which implementation monitoring is ongoing
- are subject to due diligence (ongoing or finalised)
- are part or will be part of a continuous business acceleration process to improve their investment readiness.
Co-investing in companies carefully selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC) is a great investment opportunity as well as an opportunity to support breakthrough, market-creating innovations across Europe and beyond. Under the pilot phase of the EIC Accelerator, a total of 293 start-ups and SMEs were selected to receive a grant and/or a direct equity investment to support their scale-up.
Source: European Commission, 2023