The European Union is negotiating with several investment entitiesamong which is the Spanish Criteria Caixafor launch the Scale Europe fundwhich will be launched within the framework of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, and which will focus on offering support to EU companies and startups focused on the development of technologies considered critical and strategic, such as AI and quantum computing.
In addition to Criteria Caixa, the EU is negotiating with the Danish Sovereign Fund, EIFO; as well as with the Novo Nordisk foundation, to invest in Scale Europe. The initial economic objective of those responsible for the fund is to obtain 5,000 million euros, and for the moment they have managed to commit funds worth 3,000 million euros. Another additional 1 billion would come from the EI accelerator, the European Innovation Council.
Looking at the future of the fund, the European Commission’s objectives for it are much more ambitious, since they hope to be able to obtain 25 billion euros to invest in technology companies in the EU. In order to achieve this, the Commission is going to hold a meeting today, Tuesday, with several potential investors.
The EU division in charge of financing, the European Investment Bank, will attend this meeting, although it is still evaluating whether it will participate in this fund, which is public-private in nature, and which will focus on investment rounds of more than 100 million euros, according to documentation to which Bloomberg has had access.
Until now, Europe has had difficulty preventing its most promising technology companies from being sold to buyers, especially in the technology sector, from outside the EU. Also to retain them in the region and prevent them from moving to the United States.
Hence the launch of this fund, established so that companies that receive financing from it have to maintain their headquarters and main operations in Europe. Scale Europe also wants to be a pillar for the EU to maintain its autonomy in trade and industrial policy, in the face of trade tensions that have arisen due to the policy of the United States, and also in relation to China.
Scale Europe will focus on advanced technologies considered crucial by the EU. In addition to AI and quantum computing, these will include robotics, advanced materials, clean energy and biotechnology. According to the Commission’s plans, by January 2026 they will appoint an external person to take charge of the management of the fund.
Of course, the Scale Europe fund is seen for now as a starting point to cover the gap that exists in Europe in terms of financing scaleups to boost their growth, because the investors believe that a much more important economic reserve will be needed to achieve the Commission’s objectives.
This is in line with the complaints of the founders of this type of companies in Europe, who complain that they have difficulties in raising capital at a critical point in its growthin which the alternatives if they do not obtain financing are to sell, move to the United States, or collapse.
