EU’s €5bn tech superfund officially open for business

After a year of planning, negotiations and legal proceedings, the European Commission's €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund has officially launched for business. The fund, managed by Swedish investment firm EQT, is set to begin investing in European scaleup companies, with its first deals expected in the coming weeks. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the fund's official opening, stating that it will enable scaleups to find the necessary resources to grow into world-leading companies within Europe.

EQT is leading or co-leading several funding rounds, such as French AI company Mistral, which is reportedly targeting €3 billion in new capital. The fund has also been in talks with Franco-German space technology company The Exploration Company for a potential investment round worth approximately $350 million. EQT has disclosed a pipeline of over 100 startups and typically leads or co-leads investments in the range of €100 million to €500 million.

The company is still helping to raise the remaining €5 billion target, with existing limited partners including Novo Holdings, EIFO of Denmark, Santander/Mouro Capital, APG Asset Management on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Wallenberg Investments, and Allianz.

Some countries, like the UK, were reportedly in discussions to invest in the Scaleup fund via the British Business Bank. However, the French government has expressed opposition to these initiatives. Anne Sraders, a senior reporter at Sifted, covers the VC industry and deeptech startups and has reported on the fund's launch.