European Investment Fund (EIF)

Good news from #France 🇫🇷 Our CE Marjut Falkstedt joined EIB VP Ambroise Fayolle at the EIB Group's annual press conference last week. With over €2.6bn in financing for SMEs and startups, France was the EIF’s most active European market in 2024. The event, held at the EIB Group's new headquarters in Paris, also included engaging roundtable discussions on the Group's strategic priorities. Highlights included an in-depth panel session on the #CapitalMarketsUnion and the announcement of two EIF financing initiatives: ✔️ Green Private Credit - a new initiative signed with BPCE Assurances, MACIF Médicis, la mutuelle retraite des indépendants et entrepreneurs, Thélem assurances, L'Auxiliaire BTP, MUTUALIA GRAND OUEST to promote sustainability and climate financing, aiming to invest in 10+ private credit thematic funds, benefiting over 300 European companies with a target size of €200m. ✔️ Fonds Stratégique des Transitions - €40 million investment to support the development of the low-carbon industry in France. Managed by ISALT, the fund aims to back 15-20 French industrial SMEs and mid-caps in key sectors such as alternative energy, decarbonised industry, quality of life, and technological innovation. Thank you to everyone who attended the EIB Group event in Paris!

With €14.4 bn committed in 2024, last year’s activities highlighted our dedication to sustainability and green transformation, which accounted for 49% of our activity, making it our top priority 🌱 Additionally, 23% of our commitments were focused on competitiveness and growth 📈 22% on innovation and digitalisation 💡 and 6% on social impact, skills, and human capital 👥 directly benefiting a significant number of people. Our efforts are expected to mobilise €133.5 billion for the European economy. 🇪🇺 Our public policy goals are the starting point of our work and are clearly reflected in our deals with our financial intermediaries. We remain aligned with EU public policy and the EIB’s eight strategic priorities, with a special focus on digitalisation and #innovation, #cohesion, #capitalmarketsunion, and #climate. Explore the highlights of our year in https://lnkd.in/d3pv7xVT

As part of the #AIActionSummit international business day in Paris, the EIF's Nicolas Perard took part in the event 'The Future of Responsible VC Investing and AI & Data: A Transatlantic LP Perspective' organised by VentureESG and Project Liberty. 📊 At the European Investment Fund (EIF), we have supported funds that have made more than 2400 investments in companies active in the area of #AI & #machinelearning, having invested more than €5bn in the last 5 years. 🗣️ As a leading provider of SME finance in Europe, we are not only supporting AI innovation, but also making financing available for disruptive technologies, life sciences, and the digital transformation, so that #SMEs can navigate and leverage the AI revolution - with €27bn expected mobilised in 2024 alone.

Back from IPEM 2025 👇 Matteo Squilloni, Adrien Desbois, CFA and other EIF #privatecredit and #privateequity market experts were in Cannes to share insights and our contribution to the European ecosystem. 🗣️ While private credit has grown significantly over the past decade, there is still potential for expansion. The EIF plays a crucial role in supporting its emergence across the EU and contributing to the development of the Capital Markets Union, with over 20 funds invested in 2024 with commitments of around €460 million. 🌍 Achieving a net-zero economy requires balanced climate action: adopting the best technologies already available to reduce energy consumption and decarbonise businesses & developing new technologies to provide new solutions. Capital across VC, PE, PD, & Infra is key - asset classes in which the EIF invests to support the climate transition. In 2024 alone, we invested over €2 billion in almost 50 venture capital, private equity, private credit and infrastructure funds supporting green technologies, decarbonisation and energy transition. Thanks to the organisers and see you again next year!

ICYMI: Last week, we joined the #EuropeanSpaceConf in Brussels ➡️ The EIF's Nabil B. highlighted 3 key actions to accelerate Europe’s space ecosystem: ✔️ Expand late-stage financing for European startups: Ensuring a sustained capital flow is critical for scaling the EU space sector. The EIF has been investing a €600m facility dedicated to space since 2022 and has supported the development of several dedicated space funds. Additionally, we are investing a €175m facility dedicated to defence, with two deals already signed and more in the pipeline. ✔️ Continue building on existing efforts while enhancing firepower: Strengthening the network of financiers and increasing the number of larger funds capable of making significant investments in high-potential space ventures. We are currently carrying out advisory activities to support investment and build the ecosystem. ✔️ Explore alternative financing mechanisms. A broader toolkit of investment solutions beyond traditional equity funding is crucial. We are working to boost Europe's space technology ecosystem ✨

Roger Havenith has overseen, driven and experienced so much of the change that has characterised the European Investment Fund (EIF) that we felt we couldn’t let him go without some reflections in hindsight 💡 We caught up with him just before he left to get his thoughts on EU financial policy, the role of the EIF, and where we should be heading next. We wish him the best of luck 🙌

Here's a snapshot of our year in review! 🥳 In 2024, the EIF deployed €14.4 billion through 376 transactions, expecting to mobilise 133.5bn for #SMEs, infrastructure and individuals in Europe. It’s been a busy year, expanding our reach and support with a range of instruments - here are the highlights ⬇️ 🙌 We supported 365,000 European entrepreneurs, from seed to scale-up stages. 💚 43% of our activity was aimed at climate action & sustainability, up from 34% and 21% in previous years. 📊 More than half our activity was equity, hitting a record at €7.2bn - 28% increase from last year - supporting industries like #space, #deeptech, #greentech, and #lifesciences, as we seek to boost innovation, competitiveness and growth across Europe. 🚀 To tackle the #scaleup financing gap, we bolstered ETCI support, investing €2.1 billion in 8 funds, supporting 18 companies. 🖊️ We signed our first two defence deals and an MoU with the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF). ❤️ Our #socialimpact activity reached record volumes, supporting 10 funds with €212 million, including the first pan-European migration-focused fund, Impact Newcomer. 📈 We doubled our private credit fund activity to €711 million, addressing challenges non-bankable SMEs face in accessing finance. 🌍 45% of our activity focused on #cohesion regions, contributing to stronger European capital markets and striving for progress with the Capital Markets Union. 🤝 We signed transactions with 96 new intermediaries—25% of our total deals last year. 🇪🇺 Continued deployment of the European Commission’s #InvestEU programme, representing around 40% of our work last year. 🙋♀️ Collaborated with partners to enhance diversity in venture capital, launched a new mentoring programme, and saw over half our equity investments meet gender criteria. Looking ahead, the EIF will continue bolstering the innovation ecosystem, supporting ambitious fund managers, and focusing on pan-European investment initiatives driving the Capital Markets Union. Our goal is to make financing as accessible as possible for European SMEs 🖇️ Explore our #smefinance activity in: https://bit.ly/EIFin2024 #EIBGroup

ICYMI: EIF experts joined the CEE Securitisation Summit 2025 in Vienna to explore the future of #securitisation in the CEE region and in Europe ⬇️ As the EIF head of securitisation Georgi Stoev confirms, Europe is a world leader in synthetic securitisation and the CEE region is booming, but traditional #ABS suffer. We also touched base on the legal and regulatory landscape, covering topics such as the divergent EU and UK frameworks, the current regulatory constraints on pan-European structures, and the evolution of the STS regime 💬 "The securitisation market can play a crucial role in advancing the #CapitalMarketsUnion," remarked Alessandro Garelli. Cyril du Boispean, CFA provided some key messages on securitisation at the EIF: Over the last eleven years (2013-2024), €110bn of SME loans have been unlocked thanks to the EIF and EIB securitisation activity, benefiting over 750,000 SMEs for this period. ✔️ We aim to make securitisation more accessible, sometimes by being the first investor in new jurisdictions - Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria or Norway are recent examples. Thanks to Francesca Cockcroft and Invisso for organising this event and see you next year! 👏

A diversity-driven approach is now at the core of the EIF’s investment strategy 👏 We spoke with EU GROW’s Astrid Bartels about the long journey we’ve been on together to make this a reality. Together with EU Business, the EIF made a pledge on #EmpoweringEquity, making the European #venturecapital and #privateequity more inclusive. Watch here our interview recounting some of the milestones! 🎧 ➡️ In case you missed it, we’ve got plenty more resources from our work for women in VC, alongside a mentorship initiative: bit.ly/empowering-equity

A warm welcome to Merete Clausen, our new Deputy Chief Executive, on her first day at the European Investment Fund (EIF) office. As someone who knows the EIF well, Merete brings her expertise and fresh energy to the organisation as we step up our efforts to deliver on key EU policy areas for SMEs #innovation #sustainability #competitiveness #inclusion 🙌 We're delighted to have you on board!