Venture capital provides capital to businesses which are either in the early stages of developing new products or services or in their expansion phase. Investment by the EU is made into venture capital via venture capital funds, which are financing vehicles especially established for this purpose.
Venture capital funds are very selective about the businesses in which they will invest. Typical areas of investment by venture capital funds are information technology and life science/biotechnology fields.
Who benefits from venture capital?
SMEs benefit from venture capital. Venture capital funds identify their own investment opportunities, depending on their investment strategy.
Who benefits from the EU’s venture capital investments?
The EU provides venture capital through the High Growth and Innovative SME Facility (GIF) which is available under CIP.
GIF covers investment into venture capital funds which have an early stage focus, including seed funds and funds dedicated to technology transfer activity, plus funds with a focus on SMEs with high growth potential in their expansion stage.
The GIF venture capital funds are managed for the European Commission by the European Investment Fund (EIF), which is an EU financial body with expertise in making venture capital investments.
A part of the budget has been set aside for proposals that promote eco-innovation.
To see a list of venture capital funds supported by the EU, please click here.
